Great SF!

Kim Stanley Robinson creates a believable world in Red Mars. Both a book about the first settlers of Mars and the politics of the environment, it is a realistic science fiction. This isn't one of those shiny-covered, gadget-heavy, fly books. Instead some might find it a bit dense. The characters are rich, and it makes you think about politics and human relations.

The other two books in this trilogy, Green Mars and Blue Mars are also worth reading, but Red Mars remains my favorite. (via joe)

I can't remember if I made it all the way through the Red Marse, Blue Mars, Green Mars series, but its realistic (by 1990s standards, anyway) portrayal of how Mars colonization might happen has stuck with me.