# Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson

14 Hacker News commenters recommended Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson and 2 criticized it, November 2025 to November 2026. It was recommended in 7 of 13 months. It meets the Hacker Approved badge rule.

**Verdict:** People love this series for its anarchist culture and memorable moments. The most common caveat is that it can feel boring.

## Why people recommend it

- Loved as a favourite series (4 comments): "This is one of my favourite book series ever; it has so many points for learning and humanity." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46940340)) "one of the most memorable moments of any book I've ever read" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46939105)) "Seriously though I adore the trilogy." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938146))
- Anarchist culture explored in fiction (3 comments): "Lovely series. One of the first science fiction series I read that gave a proper anarchist culture a shot." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46938159)) "provide a nice fictional exploration of this idea" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49083965)) "examples of anarchy in fictional action" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=48051803))

## What people warn about

- Can feel boring or slow (2 comments): "highly recommend, as long as you don't get too bored by descriptions of rock" ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46348141)) "It's boring because it's Steinbeck." ([source](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=46482663))

## Alternatives hackers recommend

- [Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir](https://hackerapproved.com/p/project-hail-mary.md): 117 recommend
- [There Is No Antimemetics Division by qntm](https://hackerapproved.com/p/there-is-no-antimemetics-division.md): 98 recommend
- [Blindsight by Peter Watts](https://hackerapproved.com/p/blindsight.md): 96 recommend
- [Dune by Frank Herbert](https://hackerapproved.com/p/dune.md): 82 recommend
- [Accelerando by Charles Stross](https://hackerapproved.com/p/accelerando.md): 71 recommend

## Where to get it

- [See price on Amazon](https://www.amazon.com/dp/000812177X?tag=hackerapprove-20) (affiliate link)
- [Bookshop.org](https://bookshop.org/a/130825/9780008121778) (affiliate link)

## Cite as

Hacker Approved, "Mars trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson", https://hackerapproved.com/p/mars-trilogy/ (counts from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026).