A review by glitterbomb47
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
Did not finish book.
2.0
I really tried with this book. I read about 2/3, well over 300 pages. The science hooked me right from the beginning - sunrise on Mercury specifically, as well as the descriptions of "terraria" (modified asteroids). But the fiction...much weaker.
The main character, Swan, was about 125 years old, yet was consistently moody, self-absorbed, and naive to the point of ridiculousness. She was floored when confronted by an evil act, genuinely surprised that evil existed in a "post-need" world. I guess she lived under a rock for 125 years. She was rude, abrupt and abrasive to everyone around her, yet everyone loved her and kept telling her how special she was.
There were some highly implausible societal aspects. Basically a world (or rather, worlds) in which all conservatism and apparently most religion had been eradicated, I think rendered so by technology, in Robinson's view. It was post-gender and post-family. People tried on genders, fathered a kid, mothered a kid, didn't seem to change them a bit, and at 100+ they were still wandering around the solar system debating the meaning of life. It all seemed pretty empty to me.
So I guess my recommendation is this: if you like sci-fi, read the first 100 pages or so to get a sense of the really cool world-building. I just can't bring myself to read more about Swan's angst.
The main character, Swan, was about 125 years old, yet was consistently moody, self-absorbed, and naive to the point of ridiculousness. She was floored when confronted by an evil act, genuinely surprised that evil existed in a "post-need" world. I guess she lived under a rock for 125 years. She was rude, abrupt and abrasive to everyone around her, yet everyone loved her and kept telling her how special she was.
There were some highly implausible societal aspects. Basically a world (or rather, worlds) in which all conservatism and apparently most religion had been eradicated, I think rendered so by technology, in Robinson's view. It was post-gender and post-family. People tried on genders, fathered a kid, mothered a kid, didn't seem to change them a bit, and at 100+ they were still wandering around the solar system debating the meaning of life. It all seemed pretty empty to me.
So I guess my recommendation is this: if you like sci-fi, read the first 100 pages or so to get a sense of the really cool world-building. I just can't bring myself to read more about Swan's angst.