From: T0Morrow@aol.com
Date: Fri Aug 28 1998 - 23:11:09 MDT
Tastes differ. I read the first two books for the Mars trilogy and--a rarity,
for me--decided against reading the last. While I enjoyed the hard sci-fi
approach to the mega-scale engineering issues, I found Robinson's grasp of
social institutions utterly implausible. In particular, his weakness in
matters economic fairly well ruined the story line for me. A planet-wide
barter system? One based on gifting? Feh. Perhaps not every sci-fi author
needs to master the basics of economics, but those who, like Robinson, tackle
the topic need to get it right.
Additionally, Robinson's hard sci-fi largely ignores some of the most
interesting issues to Extropians: computational advances and nanotech. His is
a very old-fashioned sort of sci-fi, both in terms of technology and "rule of
the experts" economics. I found it unconvincing and out-of-date.
Tom
In a message dated 8/27/98 8:29:26 PM, Brian wrote:
> For anyone out there looking for something to Extropian to read,
>I'd like to recommend the trilogy Red Mars, Green Mars, Blue Mars
>by Kim Stanley Robinson.
>
> I'm just a liitle over a third of the way in book two (Green Mars)
>and would already rank them as amongst my very favorites.
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