I absolutely devoured Robinson’s Mars Trilogy and like his style of meticulous developing story arcs and characters. And since I’m both worried and interested about climate change and the real danger it poses to the planet, our societies and all other species, I was looking forward to KSR’s take on the matter. BUT this audiobook is best described as annoying and tedious:
– NO PLOT: It feels like an enumeration of ideas and worthwhile efforts KSR has researched and wants to showcase. These are worth reading, of course – especially the ministry itself and and a carbon-based fiat currency. But the story bits he creates around them are uninpired and only losely connected.
– KSR KNOWS AND LOVES ZURICH. It’s tiresome to get Swiss street names and Swiss features thrown at you by the dozens and by narrators who cannot pronounce German names to save their life. Too much time is spent in the details of Zurich without adding to the story or being necessary to develop characters. KSR is just showing off: He knows the city.
– NOT FRANK AGAIN! An absurd amount of time is given to the PTSD-driven “life story” of Frank the American. He doesn’t contribute anything to the plot except his deparation. The heatwave story is valid, but after that you’ll likely thing time after time: Not Frank again!!
– VOICE ACTING with “ACCENTS”: The regional accents are cringeworthy, sometimes close to carricatures. If you’ve been around internationally, you’ll laugh a lot. But this book would probably have profited from ONE single narrator (female of course) and leaving accents to the imagination. Especially since they’re not important for the story. All these somtimes silly voices do is add to the impression of disjointed plot pieces being slapped together.
– ABRUPT END: The story simply falls off a cliff in the end. It seems that KSR was running out of ideas or that the publisher was running out of patience and told him to finish it. Summary: Things start getting better, revolution ongoing, let’s leave here.
If this is indeed one of Obama’s favourite books, it’s pobably for the ideas and the sense of urgency – not much else holds up.