Kim Stanley Robinson is probably my favorite living author; I don’t think anyone does setting and worldbuilding better than he does, yet his stories are largely character-driven.

Here’s my favorites of his that I’ve read:

  • Aurora, where a generation ship is on it’s way to Tau Ceti
  • The Years of Rice and Salt, an alt-history where most of Europe perishes in a great plague in the 14th century
  • Shaman, a fictional narrative about the people who painted Chauvet Cave

I love how his stories are about being optimistic in times where that’s a hard thing to be. I like the focus on environmentalism and the sublime (Ministry for the Future is basically a solarpunk novel). He mostly writes hard sci-fi, which is my favorite genre, but also spins off into history and philosophy like in Galileo’s Dream.

I think most people know his writing from his Red/Green/Blue Mars series, which I love, but he’s done so much more than that.

So what’s your favorite of his books?

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      I can’t believe I put off reading this one as long as I did. It’s an incredible piece of fiction that, like you said, changed the way I think about history and storytelling.

  • th_in_gs@lemmy.sdf.orgEnglish
    3·
    11 months ago

    Aurora is somehow simultaneously a pessimistic and optimistic book.

    Actually, I guess that’s true for many of his books, but it’s stark in Aurora.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      1·
      11 months ago

      Oh, for sure.

      That’s what I like most about it: it feels almost crazy by the end to try to be optimistic about the future of humanity.

      But it is anyway.

      It’s easy to be defeatist; being optimistic is a subversive act.

  • jake@lemmy.world
    3·
    11 months ago

    I love everything of his that I’ve read. I think my favourites are Green Mars, Aurora, and 2312. I also really loved The High Sierra as a very different example of his work.

    I’ve still not read The Years of Rice and Salt or Shaman – definitely need to get around to them. I tend to pace myself with my very favourite authors.

    • Zombiepirate@lemmy.worldOPEnglish
      2·
      11 months ago

      Absolutely. I’ve not read 2312, because it’s another of his books that I won’t be able to look forward to.