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A review by timinbc
Galileo's Dream by Kim Stanley Robinson
At times this book went well, and it has plenty of history, some "I didn't know that" tidbits, and some weird.
It looks at Galileo as a genius who couldn't ever grasp the process or the importance of politics. Fine. It goes way overboard in describing what a grump he supposedly was. He is old and feeble after a few chapters, then seems to be 70+ forever. Every few chapters we drift back to inclined planes and I wonder if Robinson was paid by the word.
(minor spoilers follow)
Then we have the future folk. Ganymede seems to be the reincarnation of David Suzuki with eight cups of espresso a day; he's said to be charismatic but he's such a tool that it's hard to believe. The whole idea that they thought they needed Galileo is just so damn flimsy that I could never forget what a load of old cobblers it was.
We all fall in love with the too-good-to-be-true Hera, and wait for her to get it on with Galileo. Don't hold yer breath, readers.
By the end, it seems that about half the people in Italy are actually drop-ins from the future. It gets a tad silly by the end.
It also suffers from a bad case of "if those future dudes can do this, and that, and that, why do they have so much trouble doing THIS little item?" And the whole transference thing? We are supposed to believe that the Futures decided it would be cool to waste a couple of planets so they could run their time gate? Puh-leeze.
I don't think I'll read any more KSR. I've now read several of his books in which good stuff mixes with weak stuff and the result is weak. I'd rather read a Banks or a Reynolds or a Sawyer, and I will.
It looks at Galileo as a genius who couldn't ever grasp the process or the importance of politics. Fine. It goes way overboard in describing what a grump he supposedly was. He is old and feeble after a few chapters, then seems to be 70+ forever. Every few chapters we drift back to inclined planes and I wonder if Robinson was paid by the word.
(minor spoilers follow)
Then we have the future folk. Ganymede seems to be the reincarnation of David Suzuki with eight cups of espresso a day; he's said to be charismatic but he's such a tool that it's hard to believe. The whole idea that they thought they needed Galileo is just so damn flimsy that I could never forget what a load of old cobblers it was.
We all fall in love with the too-good-to-be-true Hera, and wait for her to get it on with Galileo. Don't hold yer breath, readers.
By the end, it seems that about half the people in Italy are actually drop-ins from the future. It gets a tad silly by the end.
It also suffers from a bad case of "if those future dudes can do this, and that, and that, why do they have so much trouble doing THIS little item?" And the whole transference thing? We are supposed to believe that the Futures decided it would be cool to waste a couple of planets so they could run their time gate? Puh-leeze.
I don't think I'll read any more KSR. I've now read several of his books in which good stuff mixes with weak stuff and the result is weak. I'd rather read a Banks or a Reynolds or a Sawyer, and I will.