A Sci-Fi Writer Returns to Earth: ‘The Real Story Is the One Facing Us’ - From the New York Times

Kim Stanley Robinson is trying to help change the world.

I had a difficult time with his Mars trilogy.  The depth of research made me feel he could have use an editor.  But after I completed the series, his work percolated in my mind.  I began to appreciate the depth and the detail.  This kind of attention is exactly what takes place in science.

Fiction has often informed our world.  The flip phone came from Star Trek.  The iPad from The Next Generation.

In this article,  Alexandra Alter writes how KSR is focusing his fiction to solving the world's problems.

I am now very intrigued to read more from him. The Three Californias trilogy, the Science in the Capital trilogy, New York 2140 (Excellent by the way), and The Ministry for the Future.

Yes, he will digress into long expositions, but that is actually the point.

As a reader, I will be looking for his research, his lists of facts, his history lessons. I will be reading KSR as a jumping off point for further reading.  

Climate change, geopolitics, and economic change, these things are important.  I may not be able to do much to help create a better world, but I own the world my time to understand the problems.

Kim Stanley Robinson is an intelligent, thoughtful author whom I trust.  I can't think of a better writer to guide the discussion.

New York 2140 by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #302

If you look back to my previous reviews of Kim Stanley Robinson's Mars trilogy I raked him over the coals.

But, as time went on, I kept thinking about those books and what became obvious, is the unbelievable amount of research Robinson put into them.  This is a hallmark of his writing.  He researches his topics to death, to the point of probably being an expert himself.  And this becomes the gift of his novels.  When I reach for something by KSR I am usually interested in the subject, be it climate change or Mars or deep space travel and I know I will get a factual education along with a narrative to hang the details onto.

New York 2140 places a cast of characters in the city after the global oceans have risen by disastrous amounts.  It is a story of survival, adaptation and how the current financial systems and the machinations of globalism, consumerism and capitalism persist.


It was a stunning look at how things could drastically change and some not at all.  It's a well-researched warning as to what could happen if we don't change everything quickly.  Climate change does not necessarily mean the end of humanity, but it could.  Robinson only looked at the effects of sea level rise and not the consequences of pollution, temperature increase and acidification of the waters.

I see it as a call to action to get things right - today.  The decisions we have made to stem the wreckage of the global financial crisis have lasting effects into the future.  In the future of the novel decisions are viewed as short-sighted and lacking.

I loved this story as it helps to crystallize a view of the world as it could be.  Visions of the future are very difficult to imagine and we only try to correct things with images of the present.  This is a trap.

Robinson takes on gigantic topics and did a tremendous job of not spinning this into a trilogy too.  By keeping the subject to one book he has made a strong and potent case for solving our problems now and into a future we can barley grasp.

Well done sir.

Kim Stanley Robinson's Wikipedia page - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Stanley_Robinson

The audio book was narrated by - Jay Snyder, Robin Miles, Suzanne Toren, Peter Ganim, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch, Robert Blumenfeld

Kim Stanley Robinson

Forty Signs of Rain by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #267

It was fortunate that I listened to the audiobooks of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.  It allowed me to understand his voice.  KSR takes his time to develop characters pretty much to the exclusion of a plot.  But you have to wade through it before he allows you to experience the actual reason you’re reading the book.

This was the case with Forty Signs of Rain.  I had to wade through a lot of diaper changes and descriptions of how the National Science Foundation funds research.

Thankfully, the author sprinkled some climate change information between chapters.

In the end, and I mean the very end, the environmental troubles begin to happen and this is where Mr. Robinson shines.  Wading through all the exposition brings the enormity of the problem to light.  As a species, we’ve never had to deal with our impact on the world but we are now at the end of this time of innocence.

Fiction can and must play a role in helping us imagine a new future.  This is where KSR’s towering intellect gives us a well thought out, realistic scenario to contemplate.  He takes his role as a person who can imagine possible human futures seriously.  If you read any of the non-fiction out there on the subject you can come away from it more confused than ever and probably feeling helpless too.

Fiction plays a most important role in that it can make sense of the complex and illustrate the situation along with showing us possible paths through challenging times.  For my part, I try to look at things in terms of “what’s next?”  The non-fiction world is usually pretty thin on solutions or alternatives because it steps into the world of speculation and those authors are uncomfortable with that kind of creative thinking.

This is why it is so very important to read both fiction and non-fiction.  Any time a book can make you stop an think then it made an impact and it was good that you read it.

Highly recommended.  Looking forward to reading book two in the trilogy.

Kim Stanley Robinson

Blue Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #158

10/15/2016

Oh my god.  What a terrible book.  This has got to be the worst thing I have slogged through in years.

Robinson continues his exploration of a plot-less, meandering, point-less, navel-gazing, landscape-describing, list making and thesaurus using non-story of what should have been a compelling tale of humans moving beyond Earth.

The amount of time he spent re-exploring places he had described previously was stunning.  As a matter of fact, after his endless descriptions of the place, I don't want to go.  He bored me to death with his endless descriptions of sand, the colour of the sky and the kinds of snow on the surface.  This would go on for ever without once MOVING THE PLOT FORWARD.

Why is this trilogy so highly regarded?

Sure Robinson is an incredibly smart guy.  He has incredible depth of knowledge of humanities, science, engineering, geology, biology, chemistry and orbital mechanics but he can't tell a story in an interesting way.

He has managed to write over 1,500 pages of "story" that could have easily filled 400 and been far more interesting.

Each book simply gets worse in the telling and I cannot recommend the series.

Sorry, Mr. Robinson.

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #151

03/15/2016

This was another audio book for me in Robinson's Mars trilogy.

Like the last book, I am certain I would have abandoned it if I were reading it.  Robinson has a way of digging into things that, if he were on my couch telling me this story, my eyes would glaze overt.

This time it was even worse.  Although, in the last book, I appreciated all the minute details he went into, this time I found it frustrating.  

I kept thinking "Yes, Mars is wonderful." 

"Yes, the scenery is amazing."

I got all that from the first book. All I wanted from this one was a story.  But every time he moved the plot forward he would spend more time looking under rocks and he would skip over important questions that would come up.

Like, after destroying a large structure in space, I would have been very interested in exploring the reaction from the UNTA, the government in the story.  But he had structured the narrative in such a way that we were limited by seeing events through the eyes of the First 100.

I guess I would have been happier had the book been a bit more aggressively edited.

After finally getting to the end I was left uncertain if I cared enough about this series to complete it.

On the plus side, the book explores just how difficult it would be to create a second planet for human habitation.  The first step is dominated by the engineering; how to get there, land and survive on the surface.  

Once more people start to arrive the problems on Earth are imported to Mars; differing motivations, religious freedoms, political ambitions and corporate influences begin to mix into the realities of life on another planet.

It's all very interesting but gets to be a bit dizzying to encompass it all into a novel, even if it's told over three volumes.  I guess the complaint I have with it is that it is a challenging story.  From the length, the depth of detail and the limited scope of the narration, it is not an easy read.  Or in my case, an easy listen.

Still, I came away from both stories feeling as though I have a much better understanding of the planet and the challenges of the endeavor.  I always come away from the experience feeling that I have spent time with a superior mind.  I guess it should be Robinson complaining about me, instead of the other way around.

Robinson's website -  http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/d/

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson - Book Report #149

01/15/2016

I "read" this book as an audio book loaned from my library.

I was stunned by how much research must have gone into it.

The scope of it was breathtaking.  It wasn't just about the getting there and setting up a base.  No, it went on to city building, immigration issues, corporate shenanigans, political power plays, environmental issues and incredible infrastructure construction.

It felt so real. 

Do not let the fact that it was published in 1992 make you think it's out of date.  It is not.  Everything discussed here is still fresh and relevant. 

A must read for sure.

It felt like a privilege to spend so much time with a superior mind.

KSR website -  http://www.kimstanleyrobinson.info/d/

Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson - short story review

Out Town was a creepy little story that ended with a glimmer of hope.

The art scene is very different in this particular future. Sculpting has changed completely; instead of using clay, or stone, or wood artists are now using humans, grown in vats, and then taught a skill, such as dance.

The artist then "freezes" the subject in a force field and puts it on display.

This stirs up all kinds of ethical subjects and the story is chilling because the attitudes of the characters is opposite to ours today.

I believe that if we could grow humans they would quickly have rights.

Here we meet two artists, one who represents his time and place in the narrative and the other is closer to we readers in the present.

It's a very effective story and I won't spoil it for you by telling you any more. It will stay with you as any great story will.

You can read it HERE

The author's website is HERE

The eZine this story was published in is HERE

PS - I've subscribed to this magazine.