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Favorite Kim Stanley Robinson book? (lemmy.world)
submitted 1 month ago by Zombiepirate@lemmy.world to c/sciencefiction@lemmy.world
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Kim Stanley Robinson is probably my favorite living author; I don't think anyone does setting and worldbuilding better than he does, yet his stories are largely character-driven.

Here's my favorites of his that I've read:

  • Aurora, where a generation ship is on it's way to Tau Ceti
  • The Years of Rice and Salt, an alt-history where most of Europe perishes in a great plague in the 14th century
  • Shaman, a fictional narrative about the people who painted Chauvet Cave

I love how his stories are about being optimistic in times where that's a hard thing to be. I like the focus on environmentalism and the sublime (Ministry for the Future is basically a solarpunk novel). He mostly writes hard sci-fi, which is my favorite genre, but also spins off into history and philosophy like in Galileo's Dream.

I think most people know his writing from his Red/Green/Blue Mars series, which I love, but he's done so much more than that.

So what's your favorite of his books?

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[-] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 2 points 1 month ago

I don’t know why but unable to finish a Kim Stanley’s book.

[-] k48r@lemmy.world 0 points 1 month ago

He tends toward extreme optimism about humanity which can be a nice change from constant doom but also rings hollow and feels trite sometimes, depending on my mood.

[-] TribblesBestFriend@startrek.website 1 points 1 month ago

That’s not why I find Stanley hard, kind of like over optimism. My problem tend to be with the flow of his writing

[-] dkppunk@lemmy.world 2 points 1 month ago

Red Mars, but not for the reason you are asking.

My mom bought the paperback edition for me when I was 9 years old, when I was first started reading sci-fi books (thank you Animorphs for that intro). It was my first real “adult book” and it’s been knocking around in my collection for 32 years, moved with me across the US, and various other moves. It’s probably the one book that has been in my collection the longest. I didn’t read it until I was in my early 30s and I enjoyed it. I read Green Mars too, but I need to finish the trilogy.

I am interested in his Ministry of the Future book and I’ll read it at some point.

[-] k48r@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

The Years of Rice and Salt changed my brain

[-] Treczoks@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Red/Green/Blue Mars

[-] th_in_gs@lemmy.sdf.org 0 points 1 month ago

Aurora is somehow simultaneously a pessimistic and optimistic book.

Actually, I guess that’s true for many of his books, but it’s stark in Aurora.

[-] Zombiepirate@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Oh, for sure.

That's what I like most about it: it feels almost crazy by the end to try to be optimistic about the future of humanity.

But it is anyway.

It's easy to be defeatist; being optimistic is a subversive act.

this post was submitted on 24 Oct 2025
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