Worth Reading: Red Mars
May 1, 2008 at 4:07 pm | In Books, Reviews | 1 CommentTags: Hugo award, Kim Stanley Robinson, Mars, Nebula award, Science fiction, Series, Spiritual sci fi, Trilogy
R
ed Mars, Kim Stanley Robinson (1993)
Kim Stanley Robinson is not an easy author to read or to love. Some of his novels can be counted among my favorites (The Years of Rice and Salt), and others (The Gold Coast, Forty Signs of Rain) I simply hated — or couldn’t even get through to the end (Fifty Degrees Below). Even the books I loved required a lot from me: they are thick, dense and epic, layered with so much hard science and social science that they can sometimes read like textbooks rather than novels. But with Robinson’s best books, the effort is worth it. Red Mars is a good example.
Robinson’s epic about the colonization of Mars (the first book in a trilogy on the subject) covers a lot of ground. Sure, it tackles the myriad technical problems involved in colonizing such a hostile planet, including how to build a space elevator for easier transport of settlers and exploitation of Mars’s resources. But from there, Robinson takes on even more weighty themes: the clash between those coming to Mars to try to create an entirely new way of life and those back on Earth who want to retain control; cultural conflicts among the various ethnic and religious groups spreading out to Mars; the discovery of an innovative medical procedure that greatly extends the human lifespan and the implications for an over-populated Earth; all climaxing in a planetary revolution propelled by all of these issues.
This is a ponderous book with a lot of big ideas. It may be a bit overlong — sometimes it seems as if all the characters do is drive around by themselves for great distances over the barren Martian landscape — but those sections may be excused by the action of the rest of the novel. Robinson actually helps us believe that living on Mars is something we can achieve, while showing us that these advances will probably only exacerbate our very human problems.
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Worth Reading: The Giver
April 25, 2008 at 12:16 pm | In Books, Reviews | No CommentsTags: C.S. Lewis, Dystopia, Eugenics, Isaac Asimov, Lloyd Alexander, Lois Lowry, Madeleine L'Engle, Newbery Medal, Science fiction, Series, Soft science fiction, Speculative fiction, Trilogy, Utopia, Young adult
Image via WikipediaThe Giver, Lois Lowry (1993)
It is true that most habitual readers acquire the habit when they are young. I have my father to blame for my addiction to books, who actually gave me an Isaac Asimov novel when I was in the fourth grade (from which I learned several choice curse words, although I was totally incapable of following the plot). In fact, if I do not get to read at least once a day, preferably before going to sleep, I suffer severe withdrawal symptoms such as insomnia and persistent moodiness. But I digress.
Like many young readers, I was hooked by the gateway drugs of science fiction and fantasy. My favorites when I was a pre-teen were the Chronicles of Narnia series by C.S. Lewis, the Chronicles of Prydain series by Lloyd Alexander and A Wrinkle in TIme and its sequels by Madeleine L’Engle.
Unfortunately, I had long abandoned my childish ways by the time The Giver was published. I read it for the first time recently and realized that this was a book my younger self would have loved. It depicts a dystopian society where all choices have been eliminated. Everything from what your job is to who you marry is decided for you. But one person in the society, the “Receiver,” must be chosen as the keeper of the society’s collective memories. His job is to remember what life used to be like, with war, tragedy and pain, yes, but also with true emotions, extended family and even colors. Each new Receiver receives the memories from the previous Receiver, who thus becomes the “Giver” of the title. While a bit too simplistic for the adult reader, the novel provides a nice introduction to some weighty themes for younger readers. Think of it as a Brave New World or 1984 lite.
This is the first book in a trilogy. I haven’t read the other two in the series, but trilogies are the crack cocaine of science fiction — once you start, you can’t stop. (Or have I stretched this metaphor too thin?)
Practice a little subversion, and sneak a copy of The Giver to a young reader you know.
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