White Mars - Brian W. Aldiss

WHITE MARS is Brian Aldiss' Utopian vision of Mankind's future in space, written in collaboration with distinguished physicist Roger Penreose. Halfway through the next century, an organisation called EUPACUS, consisting of all the leading industrialised nations, has found a way to colonise Mars. They have, however, decided to protect the planet for scientific research. Human beings will live in great, self-perpetuating domes, producing their own food and oxygen, while drawing water from the planet's core. The option of terraforming the planet, bombarding it with CFCs in order to give it an atmosphere, has been discontinued.

Owing to economic collapse on earth the martian colony is cut off from the mother planet ('Downstairs' as they call it). The head of the colony, Tim Jefferies, sets out to create a perfect society. Some, however, only want to get home, and think that the Utopian ideals (which are all broadcast back to Earth) will only hamper their rescue. An arresting novel of ideals and conflicts WHITE MARS contrasts the warmth of community in the domes with the icy wastes of Mars.