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Loading... Icehenge (1984)by Kim Stanley Robinson
 JenneB | Apr 2, 2013 |  The best of the Mars books, Icehenge is a surprisingly philosophical look at the nature of memory and the meaning of history. (  ) paperloverevolution | Mar 29, 2013 | Three connected stories spread over 400 years as humans explore the solar system from the Martian settlements and discover a Stonehenge-like monument on Pluto. Humans who can afford the treatments live 800-1000 years, so 400 isn’t too long to expect the same characters may show up from one story to another. Published before the Mars trilogy, there are some familiar place names and developments mentioned here (e.g., the city of Burroughs, the progress towards a breathable atmosphere), so there was a sense of familiarity in reading this, although the overall future envisioned is more bleak than that explored in the later books. So while it’s a stand-alone novel, it was a welcome return to the Martian world so beautifully explored in the trilogy. It was also neat to see Robinson’s speculation on the development of self-publication on an Internet-like network (this was written in 1984) and find Pluto still described as the ninth planet. (  )1  auntmarge64 | May 2, 2012 | I loved "Red Mars" back in the day, and had somewhat diminishing returns from the two subsequent books. It was good to step back into that world, and fascinating to see what Robinson does with a society with a medical treatment that makes people live for a thousand years. The book is divided into several sections, each with a different narrator, and a few hundred years apart. The arc follows the events that may (or may not) involved the creation of a monolith built from ice. Read it for how characters are affected by eternal life, with very non-eternal memories. mulliner | Jun 16, 2011 | One of my favorite of Robinson's early novels, Icehenge is an extraordinarily well-written combination of hard science fiction and politics. ( ) wanack | Oct 2, 2010 | no reviews | add a review
Amazon.com Amazon.com Review (ISBN 0312866097, Paperback)Voted one of the best science fiction novels of the year in the 1985 Locus Poll, Icehenge is an early novel by Kim Stanley Robinson (author of the trilogy comprising Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars) and takes place in the same universe. The story is part mystery and part psychological drama, divided into three distinct sections.In the year 2248, Mars is ruled by a Politburo-like committee that actively discourages dissent as well as travel and exploration of other planets. Scientist Emma Weil becomes involved in a covert plot to convert a stolen ship into a self-supporting spaceship. She turns down a chance to accompany the starfarers, and returns to her beloved Mars where she joins the revolution already in progress. Three centuries later, archaeologist Hjalmar Nederland unearths a governmental cover-up of the true facts behind the old revolution. At the same time, a Stonehenge-like monument is discovered on the north pole of Pluto, and Nederland sets out to prove his theory that the monument is connected to revolutionaries and their contemporaries who left for the stars. Seventy years later, his great-grandson Edmond Doya becomes convinced that Icehenge is a hoax, and attempts to disprove Nederland's theory. In addition to futuristic issues such as interstellar travel and the terraforming of Mars, Robinson's characters grapple with politics, careers, families, and aging. Icehenge is a worthy introduction to the author's winning combination of hard science and believable characterization. --Bonnie Bouman (retrieved from Amazon Thu, 10 Jan 2013 08:22:53 -0500) No library descriptions found. |
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And sometimes that can be OK, but with full-on "hard SF" like this, I really need some characters that I care about in order to make me interested in the idea part.
And if I have to keep starting over caring about people every time we switch narrators, eventually I will just give up.