Narrator not worthy of author

This book would certainly have been rated higher if not for the distracting "style" of the narrator. His mechanical reading was not enjoyable. The story was engaging enough to hold me despite this narrator.

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dry and disjointed

If this wasn't listed in the SciFi section I never would have purchased it. I kept hoping this 3 book series would develope into a decent story- but NO... Save your $$ and buy something else.
Too dry, no story continuity, just alot of political, scientific jargon that doesn't add to the story-that never developed. Title is sooo misleading.

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Totally disappointed

I bought the series all at once and am very disappointed. Slowly developed story line, dull unexciting narration, and only occasionally (Very occasionally) some dark, cerebral humor.

Save your money and credits.

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fiction about science, not sci-fi

I want to offset some of these negative reviews, and the final book in the series was my favorite by far. This series is fiction about the lives of scientists... not science fiction. It's not action packed, not thrilling, and not exactly romantic. In particular, I found the interrelated discussions of climate science and American Transcendentalism to be utterly captivating, and truly moving.
If you want a thriller/ shoot em up, you probably shouldn't get this. If endless digressions about about hiking in the Sierras, raising children, looking at paintings by Vuillard, reading Emerson, Listening to Astor Piazzolla, and considering the carbon sink capacity of lichen covered trees in Siberia sounds interesting, than this is the book for you.

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Very good sci fi

Although it's not a space opera, this is science fiction in the best tradition: an alternative present when the climate crisis is worse. There's plenty of action, lots of science (primatology, meterology, environmental science, psychology, neurology, etc.), politics, thriller intrigue, beautiful descriptions of the environment and sex. Who could want more?
The reader's neutral "narrator" voice is an acquired taste but his diversity of character voices and accents is masterful and I quickly got use to the sound of the narration -- like being in neutral gear in a car.
I thoroughly enjoyed this.

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Liberal Drivel/Redeming Characters

This series had every liberal agenda regarding capitalism, the environment, clandestine right-wing agencies, globalism and Bush-bashing. There were endless droning commentary on bio-statistics, Buddhism, and other stuff. Yet, in the end, Robinson created some very interesting/intriguing characters. If he had preached less, reduced the amount scientific babble, and focused on the plot in one book instead of three - he would have had something.

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A bit disappointing, but some saving moments

I read the earlier two books back when they first came out, so some of my issues might come from losing some of the threads. But unfortunately this book felt rambling, but there were some great moments. Other reviewers said it felt like it needed more editing, and I would agree. The narrator though was a lot of the issue. It almost sounded like a computer-generated voice. Someone reading a science fiction book should know how to pronounce Feynman's name.

Should have ended with '50 Degrees Below'

I would have preferred a cliffhanger ending in '50 Degrees Below'. No hard feelings, I just think the plot in the third volume feels a bit predictable and forced. I agree with KSR that the second volume is the best.

Three books? Three books?

Look, as fiction about ideas and science and our government, it's great. Outstanding really, as a view on how our country might respond. Really well written, and the characters are very engaging, most of them, but it's almost a travel log of, I am guessing, his raising his own kid(s) , with fictional people woven in. There is this one tiny, Ok maybe three morsels of action, that when they come I am almost ready to get on my knees and cry out in gratitude. But some how I read all three books, start to end. Go figure. So there was something really good, just not action. He obviously has a great mind and is a great story teller, but three books and only a few morsels?

The World Needs Better Climate Novels

The less I say about this, the better. I never cared for Kim Stanley Robinson's writing. This book doesn't change my opinion.