 |
 |
Sign in/joinLanguage: English [ others ]
Over forty million books on members' bookshelves.
|
Loading... Forty Signs of Rainby Kim Stanley Robinson
LibraryThing recommendationsMember recommendationsLoading...
won't like
will probably not like
will probably like
will like
will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book. A nice hard SF book, which I read probably past its peak, which is kind of bad considering it was only written four years ago. But basically all of the information in it that was supposed to blow your mind was stuff I already knew. Hm. The other problem I has with it was a typical hard SF syndrome. Basically the people are never described to much level of detail, so you've got a name and a brain and that's about it. SF characters often are a collection of thoughts and viewpoints, but rarely emotions, and I struggled to be interested in it until about 4/5 of the way through. I understand that the ideas are in the spotlight here, but since the ideas affect humans it's be nice to be involved with those humans. I guess it's a fine line especially when creating a semi-disaster book like this one, to not fall over to the Michael Crichton side where everyone is a brain that will be killed or eaten. I can understand not wanting to jump that fence, but I'd like a little more dirt in my laboratory, if you know what I mean. I'll finish off the series and comment further then. (  )kurtankeny | Mar 19, 2009 |   A nice hard SF book, which I read probably past its peak, which is kind of bad considering it was only written four years ago. But basically all of the information in it that was supposed to blow your mind was stuff I already knew. Hm. The other problem I has with it was a typical hard SF syndrome. Basically the people are never described to much level of detail, so you've got a name and a brain and that's about it. SF characters often are a collection of thoughts and viewpoints, but rarely emotions, and I struggled to be interested in it until about 4/5 of the way through. I understand that the ideas are in the spotlight here, but since the ideas affect humans it's be nice to be involved with those humans. I guess it's a fine line especially when creating a semi-disaster book like this one, to not fall over to the Michael Crichton side where everyone is a brain that will be killed or eaten. I can understand not wanting to jump that fence, but I'd like a little more dirt in my laboratory, if you know what I mean. I'll finish off the series and comment further then. ( )kurtankenybeauchamp | Feb 9, 2009 | Preachy and unconvincing. Certainly not one of his best. Mere political diatribe. For an example of the opposite view, see State of Fear by Michael Crichton. Neither book is worth reading. (  )PLReader | Dec 16, 2008 | Kim Stanley Robinson writes books that should, by all rights, be boring. This novel, for instance, the first in a trilogy about climate change, mostly involves a bunch of middle-aged scientists having meetings and caring for their children. But, as always, Robinson somehow manages to weave a deep, engaging story from the threads of everyday things. (  )wanack | Jun 28, 2008 | 1  Kim Stanley Robinson’s Forty Signs of Rain is the first in a trilogy (for now) about abrupt climate change. It’s the stuff of disaster movies, but it has enough grains of truth in it that it started to freak me out as I read it, because I could definitely see some of the events of the book actually happening. Forty Signs of Rain follows several scientists as they identify the necessity of scientists becoming actors rather than just being advocates. By actor, I mean taking an active role in policy changes. When I first started reading the book, I though maybe a wrong signature from another book got stuck in my copy because I couldn’t see how the beginning had anything to do with the plot I was expecting. Forty Signs of Rain really sets up a dire scenario. Years of pollution and interfering with the environment have caused the planet to heat up, the polar ice caps to start to melt, caused droughts and altered weather patterns, and is starting to shut down the North Atlantic current. (The shutdown of this current was the probable cause of the Younger Dryas ice age.) I wasn’t happy with the abrupt end of the book. It felt more like a chapter ending than the ending of a book. But I am definitely hooked on this series. (This review originally appeared on my blog, the Textual Frigate) Reader1066 | May 5, 2008 | 0.063 seconds to build listing  no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Product Description (ISBN 0553585800, Mass Market Paperback)The bestselling author of the classic Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt returns with a riveting new trilogy of cutting-edge science, international politics, and the real-life ramifications of global warming as they are played out in our nation’s capital—and in the daily lives of those at the center of the action. Hauntingly realistic, here is a novel of the near future that is inspired by scientific facts already making headlines.When the Arctic ice pack was first measured in the 1950s, it averaged thirty feet thick in midwinter. By the end of the century it was down to fifteen. One August the ice broke. The next year the breakup started in July. The third year it began in May. That was last year. It’s an increasingly steamy summer in the nation’s capital as Senate environmental staffer Charlie Quibler cares for his young son and deals with the frustrating politics of global warming. Charlie must find a way to get a skeptical administration to act before it’s too late—and his progeny find themselves living in Swamp World. But the political climate poses almost as great a challenge as the environmental crisis when it comes to putting the public good ahead of private gain. While Charlie struggles to play politics, his wife, Anna, takes a more rational approach to the looming crisis in her work at the National Science Foundation. There a proposal has come in for a revolutionary process that could solve the problem of global warming—if it can be recognized in time. But when a race to control the budding technology begins, the stakes only get higher. As these everyday heroes fight to align the awesome forces of nature with the extraordinary march of modern science, they are unaware that fate is about to put an unusual twist on their work—one that will place them at the heart of an unavoidable storm. With style, wit, and rare insight into our past, present, and possible future, this captivating novel propels us into a world on the verge of unprecedented change—in a time quite like our own. Here is Kim Stanley Robinson at his visionary best, offering a gripping cautionary tale of progress—and its price—as only he can tell it. From the Hardcover edition. (retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:58:16 -0400) The first test round has been closed. Visit the Open Shelves Classification group for details. |
Abebooks |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
