A review by sonofthe
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson
5.0
Reading this makes me appreciate the world around me, makes me want to look at the sky more. Really, the novel is an idea-bomb exploding in my head giving me so many things to think about, but the beauty described in the solar system, especially the lack of regard people living on earth have for their own planet, makes me want to take more notice of things around me.
The language here is much more dense than the stuff I've been reading lately, but it was a refreshing change of pace, especially given how masterfully Robinson writes. I've had books of his sitting on my shelf for a while, but reading this will move them to the top of my to-read pile.
There were things in 2312 that excited me so much when I realized what was going on, how KSR had woven things into the story and used the characters and language to set off a wonderful idea later. Talking about them would be spoilery though, so I'll just say to read this book.
EDIT AFTER BROWSING A COUPLE NEGATIVE REVIEWS:
The things I've been reading lately (and have very much enjoyed) have been most of Scalzi's books in the Old Man's War world, Red Dragon, Throne of the Crescent Moon, and others. Those stories are fun, but they all mostly fit into the standard story structure currently found in popular novels and movies.
This is not that type of story. Which is not to say that there isn't any story here, as a couple reviews suggested. There is certainly a main story, and a world so rich that there can be a hundred others, but the story doesn't try to bring its standard events to the expected highs in the expected ways.
Hope this helps.
The language here is much more dense than the stuff I've been reading lately, but it was a refreshing change of pace, especially given how masterfully Robinson writes. I've had books of his sitting on my shelf for a while, but reading this will move them to the top of my to-read pile.
There were things in 2312 that excited me so much when I realized what was going on, how KSR had woven things into the story and used the characters and language to set off a wonderful idea later. Talking about them would be spoilery though, so I'll just say to read this book.
EDIT AFTER BROWSING A COUPLE NEGATIVE REVIEWS:
The things I've been reading lately (and have very much enjoyed) have been most of Scalzi's books in the Old Man's War world, Red Dragon, Throne of the Crescent Moon, and others. Those stories are fun, but they all mostly fit into the standard story structure currently found in popular novels and movies.
This is not that type of story. Which is not to say that there isn't any story here, as a couple reviews suggested. There is certainly a main story, and a world so rich that there can be a hundred others, but the story doesn't try to bring its standard events to the expected highs in the expected ways.
Hope this helps.