After wading through Red Mars, I was a little hesitant to pick this book up. But, the ending was interesting, so I gave it a shot, and I'm glad I did. This book had it all, from the interaction between the characters, the development of Mars, the colonisation efforts, and even the speculative science fiction were fascinating. I couldn't put the book down. I enjoy science fiction the most when the science is sound and when the characters are interesting and easy for me to care about (or hate them, as the case may be). This book came through in both criteria. Highly recommended.