Aurora

The end was very strange and too long. But overall a good book.

Ho sempre amato l'approccio scientifico e sociologico di KSR. Non si preoccupa solo della fattibilità scientifica, ma anche delle dinamiche sociali. In questo caso, la storia di una colonia sparata verso un astro lontano offre spunti notevoli sui cambi generazionali.

Probably my second favorite Robinson novel (after The Years of Rice and Salt), this one is gritty and realistic, but also intellectually and philosophically challenging. It's much better than his cli-fi and terraforming trilogies, because it's less optimistic and doesn't rely on simplistic solutions. I would have given this book five stars, but the last part let me down. It's like Robinson can't bear to finish his story without resorting to a rainbows and butterflies finale. Oh well, the rest of it is quite good.

потужно!

Opens and finishes strong on themes of belonging, cohesion, and the power of ideas to create identity. A fitting read for a roadtrip through pioneer trails to the coast. Plenty nerdy and dry through the middle.

Al igual que en la trilogía marciana, sorprende la verosimilitud de las tramas. Especialmente cuando buena parte de las tesis de Marte rojo, azul y verde son contradichas en Aurora. El tema sigue siendo la expansión de la humanidad más allá del planeta. Pero el optimismo técnico y político presente en la epopeya sobre la terraformación marciana choca aquí con un pesimismo que apunta contra las ideas escapistas tan presentes en la CiFi hollywoodiense.

Interesante elección de narrador, por cierto.

En contra, el gusto de Robinson por las repeticiones y el abandono de una posible trama interesante a media novela.

Interesting, but wordy. I skimmed large sections and feel I didn't miss much. Some interesting ideas buried in swathes of prose (though the prose was, at least, never boring).

After reading Seveneves, this was a good contrast. Both spend a lot of time talking about orbital mechanics so that the reader understands the critical stakes for trying to keep people alive in a tin can in the vacuum.

The book is really surprising in a lot of ways - it takes turns away from the easy resolution of problems and some endings are really hard.