Kim Stanley Robinson already got a mention in here, but his "Mars Trilogy" (Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars) is an interesting and often depressing look into how humanity of the 1990s-2000s might've handled international joint colonization of Mars by humanity. It's still largely applicable now days, although the Russians in the book(s) were raised in the USSR.

It's hard to explain the books beyond what I wrote, I think. I'd suggest just start reading Red Mars and if you aren't hooked in the first chapter by the jaded, misanthropic-ish Frank Chalmers then you probably won't like the series.