I have too many books going on at the same time.
In response to the comment from Jennie. An earlier entry about Kim Stanley Robinson. I read, "Years of Rice and Salt" first. I hated this book so much. I forced myself to finish it, believing that perhaps I would like it by the end. Unfortunately, I never liked it. It had a really interesting premise, but I hated how it was implemented. -Then for some unknown reason I picked up "Red Mars" and absolutely loved it. I read through the trilogy as quickly as I could. Sci-fi that I like has enough technology and science to move the story along and allow the suspension of disbelief, but not so much that you get distracted from engaging with the people, the plot and how the concept of humanity is re- invented or lived out. The story had a lot of really interesting social ideas sprinkled in as well. (My favorite idea, BTW, was selecting participants for the lower house of government in the form of a lottery, much like we select juries today. It is a fabulous idea, that could take money out of politics.) Then I read "Antarctica." I was dissapointed as it seemed like a rehash of some of the environmental themes in the Mars trilogy and just a little too preachy. The "Three California" series is less preachy (so far anyway) but a lot less engaging than Mars. We'll see after I get through all three books.
- The Race: The First Nonstop, Round-the-World, No-Holds-Barred Sailing Competition by Tim Zimmermann
- Pacific Edge (Three Californias) by Kim Stanley Robinson
- The Gold Coast (Three Californias) by Kim Stanley Robinson
- Ordinary Wolves by Seth Kantner
In response to the comment from Jennie. An earlier entry about Kim Stanley Robinson. I read, "Years of Rice and Salt" first. I hated this book so much. I forced myself to finish it, believing that perhaps I would like it by the end. Unfortunately, I never liked it. It had a really interesting premise, but I hated how it was implemented. -Then for some unknown reason I picked up "Red Mars" and absolutely loved it. I read through the trilogy as quickly as I could. Sci-fi that I like has enough technology and science to move the story along and allow the suspension of disbelief, but not so much that you get distracted from engaging with the people, the plot and how the concept of humanity is re- invented or lived out. The story had a lot of really interesting social ideas sprinkled in as well. (My favorite idea, BTW, was selecting participants for the lower house of government in the form of a lottery, much like we select juries today. It is a fabulous idea, that could take money out of politics.) Then I read "Antarctica." I was dissapointed as it seemed like a rehash of some of the environmental themes in the Mars trilogy and just a little too preachy. The "Three California" series is less preachy (so far anyway) but a lot less engaging than Mars. We'll see after I get through all three books.
