2312

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: Sarah Zimmerman

Length: 19 hrs and 11 mins

Publisher's summary

The year is 2312. Scientific and technological advances have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. Earth is no longer humanity's only home; new habitats have been created throughout the solar system on moons, planets, and in between. But in this year, 2312, a sequence of events will force humanity to confront its past, its present, and its future.

The first event takes place on Mercury, on the city of Terminator, itself a miracle of engineering on an unprecedented scale. It is an unexpected death, but one that might have been foreseen. For Swan Er Hong, it is an event that will change her life. Swan was once a woman who designed worlds. Now she will be led into a plot to destroy them.

©2012 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2012 Hachette Audio

​What Sci Fi Should Be

​I was asking my friends on what I should be reading next because I haven't read science fiction in a long time despite how much I like this genre. They all recommended that I should try Kim Stanley Robinson, "2312". This is my first time at reading anything from this author and I am amaze on his writing. He build a vast new universe with so much details and new species that automatically catches your interest to go on at reading more.

Many authors tries to expand their worlds through multiple series, plots, subplots and so on. After a while, you tend to forget the main premise from the first book. With "2312", I'm glad that it's one note. It starts and finishes within one novel.

"2312" is what sci fi should be.

Wordy Book, good performance

This is a very wordy author who goes off on tangents that are barely relevant to the story. There are many interesting SCI-FI hooks - interesting weapon, nano-computing, cool space drives, and a fun vision of the future. But getting through all the rhetoric is very hard.

The audio book is well performed (I think the reader gets bored at times) and it can be mono-tomic at times. But overall a good performance.

Return of the master.

Any additional comments?

Thank you, Kim Stanley Robinson, for returning to the subject for which you have rightfully earned the crown – creating habitable worlds, and peopling them with wonderful characters and moving stories.

I wish there were a better word than terraforming. It's so artless when applied to what KSR's work. He lets us see and most importantly makes us FEEL what it would be like in a system of worlds made accessible by human creativity.

Fleshing out an already deep universe

This is a must read for Mars trilogy fans since it expands on deep human and post human subjects that were hinted at in the aforementioned work.

Robinson's Style: Hard Science plus Freaky Humans

Would you try another book from Kim Stanley Robinson and/or Sarah Zimmerman?

I enjoyed the Mars Trilogy, but nothing else KSR has written has measured up.

How would you have changed the story to make it more enjoyable?

The world building was fantastic (as always). The people are a little too "post-human" for me to care about them or their decisions.

Which character – as performed by Sarah Zimmerman – was your favorite?

Zimmerman's character distinctions are subtle, but still make it easily to determine who is speaking. Though Pauline's part is small, she had the most distinctive voice (and the only comic relief in the novel).

Was 2312 worth the listening time?

Probably not. I felt a lot of those moments where I was just powering through to finish.

Any additional comments?

Sarah Zimmerman deserves a lot of credit for reading the book. It is full of technical language, scientific jargon, spiritual woo-woo and imported words from foreign languages. She ably and confidently tackles it all, and does a very good job holding the listeners' hand through the more treacherous passages. Only because I speak French did some of those phrases fall a little flat to my ear. In particular, the word 'passe-partout' comes up repeatedly, and was mispronounced every time. In general, though, she does a fine job of what must be an audiobook performer's worst nightmare.

Complex, long but fascinating; excellent narration

If you could sum up 2312 in three words, what would they be?

Inventive, fascinating, long

What other book might you compare 2312 to and why?

Can't think of one.

What does Sarah Zimmerman bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

She did an excellent job with the complex terminology and gave animation to the author's central female character, who was a bit odd and not easy to like nor warm up to.

Did you have an extreme reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

No but some of the imagery was beautiful.

Any additional comments?

Definitely a journey. This book is very long and some parts can be a bit dull, but overall the story arc is worth it. I am glad I listened to it rather than reading it.

Awesome worlds but can get lost in the subplots

Any additional comments?

This is another Robinson incredibly complex future history. I loved the worlds he created and some of the biology extrapolations. But there was an awful lot of intrigue that was hard to keep track of in an audiobook. I might have given this five stars if I had read it on paper and been able to flip back once in a while to remind myself of who was who.

Not my cup of tea

I read industrial amounts of science fiction, so this might not apply to everyone, but as far as this book went for me, it was predictable, with some good research sprinkled into the story. Most of the science was extrapolation from current tech. I had a hard time liking the characters, and spent a big chunk of the book rooting for a painful death to most of them. The voice actor seems to have read the book for the first time during the voice read, so it took her a while to find a voice, but unlike other reviewers, it was fine to me.

amazing

I love this world so much. I especially love how much this book in particular delved into the longevity treatments and biotechnology generally and transhumanism.

A story of quiet love and the soup of stars

Also includes minor roles for a burgeoning artificial intelligence, a fox in a hole, and a nearly averted celestial tragedy.

It's partly a poetry that you never lose yourself in. odd.