Aurora

by Kim Stanley Robinson

466 pages

English language

Published Sept. 2, 2015

ISBN:: 978-0-316-09810-6
Goodreads:: 23197269

(100 reviews)

"Generations after leaving earth, a starship draws near to the planet that may serve as a new home world for those on board. But the journey has brought unexpected changes and their best laid plans may not be enough to survive. "--

4 editions

enne📚 reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Aurora

3 stars

I enjoyed this Kim Stanley Robinson take about (the problems of living in) a generation starship. A friend who once saw KSR's WisCon talk about this book recommended it to me.

This is not my first KSR rodeo, so I knew a bit of what to expect from his writing style. It's a bit of a dry, plot-driven story. There's not particularly strong emotional beats. And, it's a vehicle :drum: for KSR's opinions on generation ships, insular biogeography, and the Fermi Paradox.

One thing that I think works very well in this book is that the narrator is the ship itself, having been exhorted to summarize the journey in words by the chief engineer. It can explain away some of why the book focuses on only a few characters and also why it's largely dry and descriptive. (The ship does in time learn to enjoy metaphors and wordplay, like "once …

I enjoyed this Kim Stanley Robinson take about (the problems of living in) a generation starship. A friend who once saw KSR's WisCon talk about this book recommended it to me.

I have mixed feelings about the end of the book, but it's hard to talk about things without being too spoilery. Suffice it to say that I found the penultimate 10% of the book fun and think it would have been stronger to end there before the shift into the more didactic final 10%.

mathiasrudolph reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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

Kenobit reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Una nave generazionale raccontata come si deve

4 stars

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.

Ikwezi reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

It was nice to read a standalone KSR gem, although I grew tired of the extended swimming scene at the end and the long narrative from the AI that preceded that (would have liked to look in on the other portion of the crew instead). The theme of the book is basically the after-credits scene from "Don't Look Up," which I agree with and appreciate.

Protocolture reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

1 star

Quite possibly the worst science fiction novel, if not worst novel, ever written.

KSR sets out to intentionally deceive you. The author wants you to think this is a book about space exploration, generation ships and the characters within. It is not. This is a book about the author's dislike of space bound idealism. He weaves a fantastic tale, and then right at the end where you would expect to find some kind of resolution to the issues faced by the characters, he hits the whole plot with a hammer. Rather than using deus ex machina to move the plot forward, he uses it to move the plot in reverse. In the span of pages characters invent, find and bs meants that allow them to reverse their journey. The ships computer, the narrator, is destroyed when the ship is thrown into the earths sun, and yet his voice remains to …

BreadAndCircuses reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

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.

Gossamerchild reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Storygraph'

No rating

Mostly it's just boring. I had no connections with the characters and didn't really care to find out what happened in the end.

tivasyk reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

потужно!

janson reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Storygraph'

3 stars

Full of thoughtful ideas suffered in ok prose.

neilernst reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

I always find KSR books have this initially intriguing and terribly interesting Hard SF aspect - in this case how a generation ship would work - but then I lose interest when that is all the book seems to involve. Problems occur somewhat randomly, solutions appear out of nowhere deus ex machina - and the characters and plot remain under developed and hard to sympathize with. I think in this case 3-4 good plots and stories could have been developed but were merged into one mammoth story covering hundreds of years.

And they abandon a viable planet because of a prion with no attempt to deal with it? this was never a serious option?

Erin reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

2 stars

Thank God it’s over!!

Owl of Minerva reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

En mycket spännande och intrikat utforskning av rymdens meningslöshet. Att vi kan fly från vår värld och vårt ansvar. Samtidigt dras den med en av sciencefictionens största problem. Att inget händer, kulturen är stelnad I tusentals år, som om att inget hänt.

okenwillow reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Vous pouvez lire mon avis sur mon blog, merci :)

loppear reviewed Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

Review of 'Aurora' on Goodreads

4 stars

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.