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Forty signs of rain
Robinson, Kim Stanley.
Adult Fiction ROBINSO
From Publishers' Weekly:
In this cerebral near-future novel, the first in a trilogy, Robinson (The Years of Rice and Salt) explores the events leading up to a worldwide catastrophe brought on by global warming. Each of his various viewpoint characters holds a small piece of the puzzle and can see calamity coming, but is helpless before the indifference of the politicians and capitalists who run America. Anna Quibler, a National Science Foundation official in Washington, D.C., sifts through dozens of funding proposals each day, while her husband, Charlie, handles life as a stay-at-home dad and telecommutes to his job as an environmental adviser to a liberal senator. Another scientist, Frank Vanderwal, finds his sterile worldview turned upside down after attending a lecture on Buddhist attitudes toward science given by the ambassador from Khembalung, a nation virtually inundated by the rising Indian Ocean. Robinson's tale lacks the drama and excitement of such other novels dealing with global climate change as Bruce Sterling's Heavy Weather and John Barnes's Mother of Storms, but his portrayal of how actual scientists would deal with this disaster-in-the-making is utterly convincing. Robinson clearly cares deeply about our planet's future, and he makes the reader care as well. Agent, Ralph Vicinanza. (June 8) FYI: Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, etc.) received one Nebula and two Hugo awards. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Focusing mostly on the quotidian working and domestic lives of three scientists-a bioinformatics specialist, a National Science Foundation statistician, and a consulting climatologist-this ecological novel from the author of the Nebula and Hugo Award-winning "Mars" trilogy examines the incrementally increasing, but unmistakably devastating effects of global warming. Somewhat awkwardly connected to this main plot are two subplots: a team of microbiologists at a Southern Californian biotech startup endeavor to discover a targeted, nonviral delivery system for gene therapy, and some Tibetan exiles lobby the United States to help save their Indian Ocean island home from being overrun by rising ocean levels. The novel ultimately offers a brief for scientists to play a more politically active role in developing policies and programs to limit global warming and other ecological threats, yet it also dramatizes the bureaucratic difficulties involved. While the novel doesn't always hang together, it remains interesting and timely. The first in a new trilogy; recommended for all public libraries where fan demand and interest warrants. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/04.]-Roger A. Berger, Everett Community Coll., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Robinson, Kim Stanley.
Adult Fiction ROBINSO
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From Publishers' Weekly:
In this cerebral near-future novel, the first in a trilogy, Robinson (The Years of Rice and Salt) explores the events leading up to a worldwide catastrophe brought on by global warming. Each of his various viewpoint characters holds a small piece of the puzzle and can see calamity coming, but is helpless before the indifference of the politicians and capitalists who run America. Anna Quibler, a National Science Foundation official in Washington, D.C., sifts through dozens of funding proposals each day, while her husband, Charlie, handles life as a stay-at-home dad and telecommutes to his job as an environmental adviser to a liberal senator. Another scientist, Frank Vanderwal, finds his sterile worldview turned upside down after attending a lecture on Buddhist attitudes toward science given by the ambassador from Khembalung, a nation virtually inundated by the rising Indian Ocean. Robinson's tale lacks the drama and excitement of such other novels dealing with global climate change as Bruce Sterling's Heavy Weather and John Barnes's Mother of Storms, but his portrayal of how actual scientists would deal with this disaster-in-the-making is utterly convincing. Robinson clearly cares deeply about our planet's future, and he makes the reader care as well. Agent, Ralph Vicinanza. (June 8) FYI: Robinson's Mars trilogy (Red Mars, etc.) received one Nebula and two Hugo awards. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
From Library Journal:
Focusing mostly on the quotidian working and domestic lives of three scientists-a bioinformatics specialist, a National Science Foundation statistician, and a consulting climatologist-this ecological novel from the author of the Nebula and Hugo Award-winning "Mars" trilogy examines the incrementally increasing, but unmistakably devastating effects of global warming. Somewhat awkwardly connected to this main plot are two subplots: a team of microbiologists at a Southern Californian biotech startup endeavor to discover a targeted, nonviral delivery system for gene therapy, and some Tibetan exiles lobby the United States to help save their Indian Ocean island home from being overrun by rising ocean levels. The novel ultimately offers a brief for scientists to play a more politically active role in developing policies and programs to limit global warming and other ecological threats, yet it also dramatizes the bureaucratic difficulties involved. While the novel doesn't always hang together, it remains interesting and timely. The first in a new trilogy; recommended for all public libraries where fan demand and interest warrants. [Previewed in Prepub Alert, LJ 2/15/04.]-Roger A. Berger, Everett Community Coll., WA (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
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