Tuesday, June 02, 2020
Aurora
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Aurora is the story of the starship Aurora, launched from Earth to colonize the solar system of Tau Ceti. The colonists are descendants of the original ship's complement, the fifth or so generation born on the journey. The ship itself contains a number of artificial biomes, which replicate various regions of Earth, to carry a representation of other flora and fauna. There have been challenges along the way, but now the end of the journey is in sight.
Typically, a story like this would tell the straightforward tale of either the challenging journey, or the tale of the colonization of the planet. Mr. Robinson doesn't stick to so simple of a narrative. He recounts at least four "adventures" of the crew on the Aurora, along with personal stories of individual characters. His settings and characters are rich. While the book isn't a fast paced thriller, I still found myself eager to discover what would happen next.
Check it out.
Labels: CheckItOut, KimStanleyRobinson
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
Blue Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
The third volume of Mr. Robinson's Mars trilogy, Blue Mars is set in the era when terraforming has made some areas of Mars inhabitable by humans without excessive life support equipment. As a society, Mars tries to make its way in tension between Earth and the other, newer human colonies of the solar system. As for the remanants of the First Hundred, the initial colonists of Mars, they're dealing with the challenges of longevity and the effects of their minds and memories.
Very good waiting room material, though it started slow.
LibraryThing link
The third volume of Mr. Robinson's Mars trilogy, Blue Mars is set in the era when terraforming has made some areas of Mars inhabitable by humans without excessive life support equipment. As a society, Mars tries to make its way in tension between Earth and the other, newer human colonies of the solar system. As for the remanants of the First Hundred, the initial colonists of Mars, they're dealing with the challenges of longevity and the effects of their minds and memories.
Very good waiting room material, though it started slow.
LibraryThing link
Labels: KimStanleyRobinson, MarsTrilogy, WaitingRoomMaterial
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Green Mars
by Kim Stanley Robinson
Like most sequels, I found Green Mars to be less enjoyable than its predecessor. Red Mars was an adventure--the colonization of Mars--filled with plenty of sci-fi background. Green was just as geeky, but "explore strange new worlds" was replaced by meetings, politics and spiritual issues. (spi-fi?) It's also been over a year since I read Red, so it took me a while to recall the characters from the last book.
Good waiting room material. Lasted me a whole flight and most of a two week vacation.
LibraryThing link
Like most sequels, I found Green Mars to be less enjoyable than its predecessor. Red Mars was an adventure--the colonization of Mars--filled with plenty of sci-fi background. Green was just as geeky, but "explore strange new worlds" was replaced by meetings, politics and spiritual issues. (spi-fi?) It's also been over a year since I read Red, so it took me a while to recall the characters from the last book.
Good waiting room material. Lasted me a whole flight and most of a two week vacation.
LibraryThing link
Labels: KimStanleyRobinson, MarsTrilogy, WaitingRoomMaterial
Saturday, June 13, 2009
The Years of Rice and Salt
by Kim Stanley Robinson
This is an interesting tale on two levels. The basic milieu is an alternate reality--a world in which the Black Death killed off three times the number of Europeans than it did in our world, 99% of the total population. The role that European nations played in world history is now taken by other nations, other cultures. Mr. Robinson postulates the rise of Chinese and Islamic empires that create a history that only vaguely reflects our own. The other premise that makes this novel worth reading (and rereading) is that reincarnation is real. We follow the lead characters from life to life, with a brief scene in the bardo between incarnations. I suppose there might be some spiritual/philosophical insights in the tale, but to be honest, I was too busy enjoying the variety of stories as the characters progressed through a new and intriguing history. Oh, well, it's a good excuse to keep this one on my shelf so I can pull it down for another read someday.
LibraryThing link
This is an interesting tale on two levels. The basic milieu is an alternate reality--a world in which the Black Death killed off three times the number of Europeans than it did in our world, 99% of the total population. The role that European nations played in world history is now taken by other nations, other cultures. Mr. Robinson postulates the rise of Chinese and Islamic empires that create a history that only vaguely reflects our own. The other premise that makes this novel worth reading (and rereading) is that reincarnation is real. We follow the lead characters from life to life, with a brief scene in the bardo between incarnations. I suppose there might be some spiritual/philosophical insights in the tale, but to be honest, I was too busy enjoying the variety of stories as the characters progressed through a new and intriguing history. Oh, well, it's a good excuse to keep this one on my shelf so I can pull it down for another read someday.
LibraryThing link
Labels: KimStanleyRobinson, OnMyShelf
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