Kim Stanley Robinson's "Aurora"

[SpaceXray]

Has anyone ever read the book?

I just started reading it because I heard about it from Gizmodo about being important for someone concerned about manliness future in space.

In short: it is a story of a human generation ship travelling to Tau Ceti and adapting to the alien environment.

Edited August 25, 2015 by SpaceXray

[Taowulf]

His Red Mars/Blue Mars/Green Mars trilogy is one of my favorites, and I've liked his other works as well...I will put this on my list.

[Cydonian Monk]

Not yet, but it's coming up on my list very shortly. The RGB Mars re-read is first (I'm ~halfway through Green), followed by Cixin Liu's The Dark Forest and then maybe Aurora (assuming the next Song of Ice and Fire book hasn't been released before then.... ha ha). And then probably Seveneves, also mentioned by that Gizmodo article. (Though Seveneves may move up the list if I get burned out on KSR.)

I've never really been a huge fan of most far-future "hard" sci-fi, as hard (at least in my mind) is generally defined as operating within the models of physics as we understand it now. I have serious doubts our understanding of such will be anywhere near the same 1000 years down the road. Or even 100 years. Aurora looks different though as it appears to be far in the future just with (presumably) ancient hardware. Plus it's KSR. And it may or may not be "hard" science fiction.

[Shpaget]

RGB Mars is a very odd case for me. I've started reading the Red at least 5 times, every time unable to get pass the festival thing at the very beginning. What's wrong book? Why you no let me go forward?!! The reviews are so positive, yet it just fails to keep me interested long enough to get pass that point.

Then I finally decided to read 50 pages pass that spot no matter what, and whadayaknow? I read the whole damn thing in one sitting, excluding eating and some sleeping.

Now I'm in the same situation with Green Mars.

[PakledHostage]

I just start Ed reading it because I heard about it from Gizmodo about being important for someone concerned about manliness future in space.

I'm not too concerned about manliness, whether it is in space or down here on Earth, but thanks for the suggestion. I'll check it out after I finish the book about Alexander Litvinenko that I am currently reading.

[Cydonian Monk]

RGB Mars is a very odd case for me. I've started reading the Red at least 5 times, every time unable to get pass the festival thing at the very beginning. What's wrong book? Why you no let me go forward?!! The reviews are so positive, yet it just fails to keep me interested long enough to get pass that point.

Then I finally decided to read 50 pages pass that spot no matter what, and whadayaknow? I read the whole damn thing in one sitting, excluding eating and some sleeping.

Now I'm in the same situation with Green Mars.

I hit the same thing back when I first tried to read it in college. Got hung up on some section in the middle and didn't come back to it until earlier this year. (So I guess this is more of a reread of R and a first reading of G and B?) There are some parts of KSR's style that just don't work, and some P.O.V. characters I just don't like reading. I could read Arkaday and Nadia sections all day. Or Coyote. Or even Art. Nirgal? Maya? Michael? Frank? Not so much. (I can say the same about ASoIaF/GoT and GRRM's style too, as some of his characters are downright miserable reads.)

I'm curious if 30 years of experience has helped smooth out those particular issues in KSR's writing.

[Shpaget]

Monk, are you... me?

[Cydonian Monk]

Monk, are you... me?

Perhaps? Are you about to eat lunch in NorthWest Houston? Though I don't talk to myself much nor have split personalities, so this would be a new kind of mental break for me.

[SpaceXray]

So far, the book became very intriguing. What I like most is that there is close to no narration. The author managed to make someone/something else tell the story so far, and the rest of the info comes from people. It is amazing how detailed this book is, especially since it is a fictional 25th century ship.

[RainDreamer]

manliness future in space.

uh...what.

I am having rather..interesting images in my head at the moment.

[SpaceXray]

uh...what.

I am having rather..interesting images in my head at the moment.

Oh, ugh, blame autocorrect for this...

[Mr Shifty]

I'm about 3/4 through the novel now, and it is another space-nut must-read, like Neal Stevenson's Seveneves. It's set 500+ years in the future, but qualifies as diamond-hard sci-fi. All the technologies in evidence seem feasible, and there are very detailed descriptions of everything. I was struck, when I read the Mars trilogy, by how much economies are driven by energy, they're energy at the root. In Aurora, I find a similar focus on the integrated nature of ecologies, of which Ship is one. Aurora is about biology, organisms, mass psychology, micro-politics/societies, human cognition, how narrative functions, short-time evolution, etc. The book is fascinating start to finish, has very accurate orbital dynamics, and has obviously been researched to the nines. I'd love to see a KSP or Orbiter remake of a particular maneuver found late in the novel. Read it.