Best non-Mars book/s by Kim Stanley Robinson?

December 22, 2020 11:02 AM

I just finished the Mars series by KSR and loved it! I loved the technical science details but most of all I loved the rich interior lives of the characters. Which KSR book/s should I read next, and why?

Looking on Goodreads it seems as though his books receive pretty similar ratings, so it's tough to choose. Insider mefi knowledge appreciated. =)

posted by DTMFA to Writing & Language (18 answers total)

I love his California Trilogy, but most of all the optimistic future vision of Pacific Edge. If you live in California, or think about how we can reform societal structures to better support individual thriving you'll like it too! Bonus: gorgeous descriptions of the natural world. Not all hard sci fi, though.
posted by amaire at 11:15 AM on December 22, 2020 [9 favorites]

Came to suggest CA trilogy, but instead will recommend the climate series where I forget which one is first but it includes 40 Signs of Rain.
posted by GCU Sweet and Full of Grace at 11:16 AM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I enjoyed The Years of Rice and Salt quite a bit!
posted by sagc at 11:26 AM on December 22, 2020 [18 favorites]

I really enjoyed his recent book New York 2140
posted by dazedandconfused at 11:59 AM on December 22, 2020 [5 favorites]

I personally couldn’t make it through 2140, but his newest book “Ministry for the Future” is quite good, and covers lots of the same thematic ground that 2140 was attempting to.
posted by furnace.heart at 12:23 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Seconding The Years of Rice and Salt. I also enjoyed Aurora and Shaman, although the latter contains a lot more pubescent maleness than most books I read.
posted by eirias at 12:58 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

Yeah, me too, The Years of Rice and Salt has the rich interior lives mentioned above.
posted by kingless at 1:05 PM on December 22, 2020

Loved The Years of Rice and Salt, greatly enjoyed Shaman and Aurora, couldn't finish 2140 (the subject matter is very much up my alley, but the dialogue was super-cringey, among other flaws).

But to be honest they all pale in comparison to the Mars trilogy, so set your expectations accordingly. If you haven't read The Martians (collection of short stories in the Mars universe) it's definitely worth checking out.
posted by ripley_ at 1:05 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

2312! It follows just a few people around our solar system for like a hundred years. Conspiracies and a city on Mercury (!) and terraforming and travel by/life in hollowed-out asteroids.

New York 2140 was similarly enjoyable for me; key characters grappling with climate crises on Earth and finding hope.

I found Aurora to be more of a slog; too much introspection, not enough action.

Ministry for the Future is next on my list.
posted by esoterrica at 1:16 PM on December 22, 2020 [2 favorites]

I really loved NY 2140, especially the audiobook version, which had different actors narrating each POV.
posted by exceptinsects at 1:19 PM on December 22, 2020

Nthing Rice and Salt and Pacific Edge.
posted by bartleby at 1:25 PM on December 22, 2020

The audiobook for 2140 was by a big cast, which made it more fun. It also felt more like a TV show or soap opera, so that made the dialogue less cringey to me. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 1:49 PM on December 22, 2020

Years of Rice and Salt is absolutely amazing. NY 2140 was great too, and Ministry of the Future is great so far. I couldn’t get into Aurora, but I’d probably give it another shot. It’s all so good.
posted by Vhanudux at 4:18 PM on December 22, 2020

I found Rice and Salt very confusing since it was an allegory to something I did not have much knowledge of. Obviously MANY people love it, just tossing that out there. I really enjoyed both 2312 and Antarctica. Antarctica has a lot more character development and 2312 has a lot more world building in it. I also liked his more recent Red Moon which is nearly a thriller, maybe the most accessible of his novels and has a female protagonist.
posted by jessamyn at 4:57 PM on December 22, 2020

Antarctica! It's not "correct" on every technical detail, but he really gets that people have an emotional response to the environment. It's the one he had to say he'd write to get the grant to go to the ice to do research for the Mars trilogy (I'm probably oversimplifying but that's how the story has come down to the rest of us), so you'll find some echoes there.
posted by inexorably_forward at 5:02 PM on December 22, 2020 [1 favorite]

I might be exposing myself a little here but my absolute favorite Kim Stanley Robinson book is Shaman. It's astonishingly engaging, a relatively quick read, and a major plot point hinges on the paintings in Chauvet Cave, which I had an interest in long before I ever read the book. And I genuinely like several of the characters, which I have found is not always a given in his books.
posted by DSime at 6:13 PM on December 22, 2020 [4 favorites]

I loved The Years of Rice and Salt. Quite enjoyed Aurora. Found New York 2140 unconvincing (character-wise I think, rather than future-wise).
posted by fabius at 5:53 AM on December 23, 2020 [1 favorite]

Years of Rice and Salt is one of my favorite books, period.
I also really liked Three Californias.

I enjoyed the Science in the Capital series, but I can see how people who aren't interested in the bureaucracy of the NSF might not care for it.

Ministry for the Future just jumped to the front of my queue of books to read over winter break, once I finally finish grading. Eventually I'll work back to 2312 and New York, 2140. Someday ...
posted by chbrooks at 12:09 PM on December 23, 2020