I’ve read a few Robinson books, including New York 2140 which was also #climatefiction. This one’s plot is short vignettes, not true storylines about the characters. It’s a thesis on how to save the world from climate change, melting glaciers, sea level rise, economic collapse, and even our own hubris. A lot of economic theory and financial systems speculation, based on a non-carbon world. Lots of Big Ideas about geoengineering, carbon sequestration, and how to save the glaciers from rapid melt. Though the novel is fiction, Robinson clearly put a lot of scientific research into it.
I picked this up because I am finalizing my own climate fiction disaster novel, “Ice Crash: Antarctica.” I wanted to see how other authors, especially highly respected speculative fiction authors like Kim Stanley Robinson, treat the subject of sea level rise from ice sheets melting, suddenly and violently as in my novel, or slower and steadier, from increased global temperatures. So I used Stan as research! ?
If you want to genuinely learn about climate science and economics, this book is for you. If you are looking for a cohesive plot with characters you are invested in, this isn’t for you. There are some truly way-out-there plot devices that irked me… a 58 year old desk jockey who has never climbed or skied, climbing a glacier to get away from terrorists. Huh? You couldn’t get my 55 year old ass on a glacier even if I knew what a “crampon” was! I wouldn’t survive. (And neither would Mary.) I always suspend my disbelief for scientific theories in fiction, but not for basic human actions that are implausible.
I listened to the audiobook and give the narrators a 5/5. There was an entire cast of characters with accents from around the world, and short vignettes about people around the globe were all very enjoyable.