Rating: 
Summary: Almost tops EON but not quite ...
Review: Finally we have great characters & a great concept fully realized. Bear's spin on Mars makes me believe it; similar to Kim Stanley Robinson's MARS TRILOGY except without the info overload. Bear's few of future Earth is intriguing & makes me want to see more, but the idea & the main character are the stars.
Rating: 
Summary: Mars, Science and Politics - what more can you ask for
Review: This book blew me away, to be quite honest. Like many others at first, I found the science part of it to be slightly difficult, but you get the impression that this book needs a second reading. First to understand the main point of the novel and politics behind the situation, and second to get to grips with the science behind the political background. The build-up is slow, but that is necessary, because of the complexity of the idea of Moving Mars. This is hard sci-fi and needs to be approached in a mature way.
Rating: 
Summary: Not one of his best but not his worse either
Review: As others have said, this book mainly focuses upon the political aspects of Mars as it struggles to develop its own government under the watchful eyes of Earth. Having read some of Bear's other works I had high expectations for this novel but unfortunately it didn't come close. The story seemed to slow to a crawl in some places with little or no substance to push it along to the next point until around the last 100 pages. Even the last 100 pages seemed kind of ho hum. However, I don't want to completely turn you off from this book. It had its interesting points such as the thinkers and nanotechnology as well as some interesting points of view on the relations between Earth and its "colonies." If you enjoyed the Mars books by Kim Stanley Robinson then Moving Mars would probably be a good pick for you.
Rating:
Summary: Good thing or bad thing, it's all politics, really.
Review: Moving Mars is like nothing I have read. Since it IS set in the future, and on an alien world, I was expecting a lot of science in this work of science fiction, much like other Mars stories,.(such as Kim Stanley's Robinson's Mars Trilogy, which is pure science) But not so. Unlike so many other Mars stories, Moving Mars focuses more on the politics of the planet. Told from a young woman's point of view, it really is an interesting contemporary perspective. Moving Mars reads well, too. It had a fairly fast pace, and although at times I felt trapped in Mars' version of Dawson's Creek, I never grew bored with it. I'm not a big fan of politics in my SCIENCE fiction, but it was a welcome alternative that I don't regret reading.
Rating: 
Summary: Is his name on the cover big enough? (hint of righteousness)
Review: Behold! Greg Bear. The Hugo award winning author whose watched one too many stupid movies on TNT monster vision. Wow, never have I endeavored to so painfully sumbmit myself to reading such boring tripe. Look at everyone else's reviews, they too even admit that the book doesn't start until the last 100 pages-- that is until after you've wasted time reading the first 300 or so. This book is like one of those cheap low-budget straight-to-video piles of dung that you rent for .99 cents at the video store. I guess I shouldn't have read all of Arthur C. Clarke's work first-- I have yet to read any other sci-fi novels which can even compare Clarke's. Every aspect of this book makes me sick; everything from the big fat unnoticable GREG BEAR taking up half the cover, to the cliche story line and characters, to the unnecessary foul languge-- which makes the characters seem even more like b-movie gun slingers-- and to all the fluff on the back cover praising this waste of molecules. Epitome of typical sci-fi pulp. Full of all the same sub-plots and unoriginal stuff-- ironically it's the author's attempt to be so different which makes this book so boring; i get tired of trying to understand his cryptic if not bad descriptions of what he's trying to describe. For instance he gives you an obscure abbreviation such as FGIJK, then about three pages later after you've been racking your brain he finally tells you what it is. Now imagine having to think about every little doo-hicky he's talking about. He needs to work on describing things better. After awhile i just got fed up and started borrowing mental images from the movie Total Recall to fill in the gaps his book left me with. I suggest Arthur C. Clarke or H.G. Wells-- real sci-fi writers.
Rating:
Summary: Prima donnism of Casseia is why I gave it 4/5 instead of 5.
Review: Wow, What can I say? I guess I'll start with my GRIPES. The reason the film gets 4 rather than 5 stars. I didn't care for Cassiea's view of courtship and the roles that are played. If her view is the Martian view at the time then I hope to God we never go through that phase. Cassiea would act like a prima donna sitting back and deciding if a suitor was worthy of her. I was disgusted. She felt that a woman's only duty in courtship was to be initially receptive and show an interest. After that, it was HIS job to take care of the rest. I understand that she wanted to be valued but the suitor should be valued as well. My gripes ceased after the last hundred or so pages when she began to be more giving to her male companion. The great outweighs the bad. Casseia and Charles are the best drawn characters of any novel I have read...ANY! I sorely missed them after finishing the book and almost cried when Casseia told Charles that she 'loved him'.(Please tell me how u felt about their relationship - littlemac55@hotmail.com) I was immensely relieved to see that in the end they found each other again. From the beginning I knew that they belonged to each other. Aside from the character aspect I think Bear did a great job in drawing martian life. The martians are hardy good nature folk and the technology was believable...kudos to Bear. I was mesmerized by Descriptor Theory and the possibilities. Bear did a great job of allowing us to see the theory put into practice. The turmoil between Earth and Mars was greatly realized. The conflicts that arose because of martian technological advances is a tribute to Bear's genius. When Charles saved the day via teleporting Phobos I could've let out a "Yahoooo!" The last 100 pages was one GIANT highlight of the book. I immensely enjoyed the Olympians not to mention Ti Sandra another strong character. It is rare for a sci-fi novel to win me over because of strong character development but that is just what Moving Mars did. Bravo to a job well done! A great read. Not perfect in my opinion but Highly recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Good, solid SF story.
Review: I couldn't help but compare this novel to K.S. Robinson's "Red/Green/Blue Mars" series. This novel has a less ambitious scope, but feels much more solid. The main character's growth is great to read, as she plays a pivotal role in the politics of the young Martian colony. As in KSR's trilogy, politics play a large part in this novel, so some people will probably find it too dry... but it's really a fascinating read with interesting, believable characters. Recommended.
Rating:
Summary: Scientifically Thrilling
Review: This book was very deep and intense. It tells about the colonization of Mars and the political and scientifical troubles Mars faces. Greg Bear is able to eloquently express the inner conflicts between Mars and Earth with passion. I encourage hard-core science-fiction readers to read this novel.
Rating:
Summary: Moving the planet, yes, but emotions, a little less
Review: It's pretty amusing in parts as a kind of future political potboiler - a "Primary Colors" for Martian government. Bear, based on my readings of his books Eon and Eternity, really likes talking about democratic political maneuvering in the midst of ecological or worldwide devastation. It's charming with some notable Asimov-like stilted characters who don't quite sound anything like real people. But there are plenty of more realistic characterizations to enjoy. (And Bear nicely adopts the Heinlein convention of unconvential marriages to adopt to hostile climates.)
Rating:
Summary: That's it. I've read this book and I can die happy.
Review: To say that Moving Mars is a good book would qualify as the largest understatement of my life. It was a great book, an amazing book, possibly even the best hard sci-fi novel that I have ever read. What could possibly cause such admiration in a reader, you ask? I shall tell! The story admittedly starts out slowly. The reader is left wondering exactly what a student revolt at a Martian University has to do with anything. The first 100 pages, while far from boring, don't give you a glimpse of the marvels in the rest of the book. However, once you pass that mark, their is no going back. Cancell all of your appointments and call in sick at work, you will not be able to put this book down. Greg Bear masterfully weaves together a plot full of political intrigue, character interests, imaginative future technology (that actually makes sense when explained! ), and of course the threat of total armaeggedon. I don't want to give away too much, but by the end you will no doubt consider yourself a Red Rabbit (Martian) and be so wrapped up in the lives of the characters that you will almost forget that we are still confined to this lonely planet Earth. Bear's portrayal of the not-so-distant future is truly monumental. I have read a great many hard sci-fi novels and this one outshines them all, with the possible exception of Forge of God (also by Greg Bear).
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