2312

By Kim Stanley Robinson

2312 - Kim Stanley Robinson
  • Release Date: 2012-05-22
  • Genre: Science Fiction
Score: 3.5
3.5
From 481 Ratings

Description

From the acclaimed author of New York 2140 and Red Mars, this NYT bestselling novel tells the story of a future where humanity has populated miraculous new habitats engineered across the solar system -- and the one death that triggers a precarious chain of events that could destroy it all.

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.

Reviews

  • $4 wasted

    1
    By Reader9725
    Couldn’t tell what the whole book was about. I gave up after 30 pages.
  • Slow. Not a believable story arc.

    2
    By atpalermo
    I tried to read this novel 3 times. The third time I pushed further hoping at some point the story would accelerate. I finally stopped halfway - something I never do - because it was just too much. Too much non-story. Too many diversions. I’d rather not read about how Saturns F ring was formed while the characters are gravity surfing after they were just attacked. Is that believable? Would they really do that? This book just didn’t grab me and keep me turning pages like those of Alastair Reynolds and now Peter F Hamilton.
  • The Future???

    1
    By winterbeachmodern
    I thought this would be a good read since this book was nominated for all the awards. I was wrong! The authors politics came through in spite of the length of the vastly boring tale. Global warming (not climate change, but warming), sexual ambiguity, and a cover from the artist famous for "spirit cooking". Sadly, wasted money...
  • The most boring book I have read completely.

    1
    By Captain A-dog
    I pushed through this one only because it numbed my mind. I can't believe anyone likes this book. I expected more from a Nebula award winner. I will stay away from KSR. He just doesn't reach me.
  • Meanders

    2
    By rangertau
    Interesting concept. Uneven writing. Worth being a novella but a drag to read as a full novel.
  • Couldn't Finish

    1
    By Clancy’s Ghost
    Rare is the novel I've been unable to finish, but sadly this was one. I'm a fan of space operas, but this work is long on fluff and short on substance. I could sum up the plot from the first 200 pages in about four words: Existential angst ad nauseum. Those looking for a gripping plot and even a modicum of action should look elsewhere.
  • Good but verbose

    3
    By cyclopsed
    I enjoyed the book, but Mr Robinson always seems to use ten words when five would do. The Lists while an interesting alternative way of conveying the story become something more akin to filler at points. I eventually cared about the characters... But only barely. Maybe that was intended.
  • Where is the story?

    1
    By ilgaar
    After reading the sample I decided I couldn’t waste a penny on the book. In the prologue section it’s just trying so hard to be complicated by big words and uncommon vocabularies. The author spends paragraphs after paragraphs and pages after pages on trying to describe and picture the world man kind inhabits in the future in details, but there is so little plot here. The story, I think... well, if there is one I missed to notice it.
  • Puzzled

    2
    By Bitter Arugula
    Not quite sure why this was even a Nebula contender. It feels disjointed throughout and features a highly unsympathetic protagonist.
  • Price of genius

    5
    By Michael M Collier
    One of the smartest books I've ever read. A true multi-disciplinary accomplishment. Likely to be criticized for the difficulty and effort that's required to penetrate its genius.