Moving Mars was published by Tor Books in 1993 and won the Nebula Award for Best Novel. It is Bear’s most politically sophisticated work — a novel that uses the colonization of Mars as a lens through which to examine the dynamics of revolution, independence, and national identity.
Casseia Majumdar is a young woman from one of the founding families of Mars — the “Binding Multiples” (BMs) that constitute the Martian equivalent of states or clans. The novel follows her from student activism through political career to leadership during the crisis that defines Martian independence. Earth, growing increasingly authoritarian, attempts to bring its Martian colonies back under control; Mars, with its tradition of individual liberty and its suspicion of centralized power, resists.
The novel’s scientific premise is as ambitious as its politics. Martian physicists have developed “descriptor theory” — a way of manipulating the fundamental mathematical description of matter, allowing objects to be moved instantaneously by changing their coordinates in space-time. When Earth threatens military action, Mars uses this technology to literally move the planet — to relocate Mars to a different orbit, beyond Earth’s reach. The scene in which an entire planet shifts position is one of the most stunning set pieces in all of science fiction.
Collecting Moving Mars
First edition (Tor Books, New York, 1993): Cloth binding, dust jacket. Nebula Award winner.
Market values:
- First edition in dust jacket: $15–$40
- Paperback editions: $5–$10