Aurora

KSR has always specialized in "realistic" feeling sci fi with characters that terraform and survive in tough settings through science, technological know-how, and political organizing. But his recent climate-change novels have gotten pretty bleak at some points- I couldn't finish Ministry for the Future.

Luckily Aurora isnt tough going like that - its lively, enjoyable reading. It's the kind of multi-generational space voyage and settlement narrative - laced with lots of technology and science talk -- that many sci fi writers have covered before, but he stops to ask a question I can't recall encountering before: what if this is a terrible idea? What if humans really can't conquer the stars?

Not only does it show the extreme struggle that keeping everything going would entail, it also highlights the uncertainty of what you will find at your destination. I generally find generation ship books extremely frustrating because of the way that seem to magic around a lot of the very basic science necessary to keep the entire thing on the rails past the initial extremely dedicated generation. KSR does a great job imagining the culture necessary to do so.

I had to return this to the library, so I was only able to get 3/4 through the book. However, the 3/4 that I read absolutely deserve a four star rating. The novel is about the lives of the crew of an intergenerational space ship headed for Tau Ceti, as well as the ship itself. The ship is politically organized in what I can only call a system of decentralized technocratic Leninism. There are multiple equally important self-selecting councils that all send delegates to the executive council. Midway through there are some events that really test the crew, and it shows that even though raising scientists is absolutely vital in an environment like the ship, having some people who know about governance and justice might be the difference between life and death.

Science fiction er ofte spennende historier skrevet av dårlige forfattere eller dårlige historier skrevet av dyktige skribenter. Her møtes god historie glimrende stilsikker forfatter i en historie om hva som skjer med den første interplanetariske reisen fra jorden til et annet solsystem. En god del tanker jeg ikke har tenkt før, og en type sci-fi som ikke forsvinner i drømmer, men er godt forankra med begge beina i potensiell virkelighet. Boken begynner og slutter i vann, og en av fortellestemmene er en kvantedatamaskin med personlighet. Utrolig nok troverdig som rakkern, og i tillegg har boken et økologisk perspektiv som er skremmende og tankevekkende, og aldri før har tanken slått meg at vi lever i den beste tiden menneskene kan leve. Etter oss kommer teknologien og klimakrisen.