New York 2140

Publisher's Summary

A new vision of the future from Kim Stanley Robinson, the New York Times best-selling author of science-fiction masterworks such as the Mars trilogy, 2312, and Aurora.

The waters rose, submerging New York City.

But the residents adapted, and it remained the bustling, vibrant metropolis it had always been. Though changed forever.

Every street became a canal. Every skyscraper an island.

Through the eyes of the varied inhabitants of one building, Kim Stanley Robinson shows us how one of our great cities will change with the rising tides.

And how we, too, will change.

The complete list of narrators includes Suzanne Toren, Robin Miles, Peter Ganim, Jay Snyder, Caitlin Kelly, Michael Crouch, Ryan Vincent Anderson, Christopher Ryan Grant, and Robert Blumenfeld.

©2017 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2017 Hachette Audio

Complex, believable, nuanced, riveting

I totally disagree with the couple of negative reviews I'm seeing. If by "science fiction" you require aliens, supernatural powers, technologies made of unobtanium, or epic space battles, I guess you'd be disappointed. There's no "The One" character on a mission to save the Earth or the Universe here. But if you think of it as a mature genre, capable of creating a solid, 3-dimensional world set a century-plus hence, with characters whose lives revolve around real-world concerns and who speak and act the way real people do, then you'll really appreciate this book. The depiction of a semi-drowned New York is drilled into a bedrock of historical fact producing a solidly convincing sense of place that is the setting for a complex web of characters, motivations and completely plausible plot threads.

The performances are also among the best I've heard, and I'm not normally a huge fan of the multi-narrator approach but it works here. I was slightly amused to find, well into the book, that the character played by a reader who sounds African American, at least to my ear, turns out to be blond-haired, but to me the casting made him more interesting so I decided the author was wrong and continued to imagine him that way.

Just a first-rate read all around. Highest recommendation.

80 of 84 people found this review helpful

Everything but the kitchen sink…

…is in here—climate change, extinction of animals, the economic divide between people, finance (pretty sure Robinson read The Big Short), fictional and non-fictional history of New York… Same goes with the wide variety of characters.

This was my first Robinson novel and will probably be my last. Half I listened to carefully, half with half an ear. There was just too much of everything in this novel—except character development. It took a looooong time for me to have any feeling for any of the characters—except Amelia. She was really the star of the show, and I probably liked her so much because her parts were funny and were a nice break from a lot of exposition, pontification, etc. etc. So while the topics of the book are right up my alley, the execution was somewhat lacking.

In the end, I’d say it was just ok. The audio narrators, for the most part, were great!

66 of 75 people found this review helpful

Not for me

Sadly, I didn’t enjoy this book that much. I felt it was one of those cases where the idea of the story is better than the story itself.

It wasn’t all bad, some storyline (or parts of storylines) were ok, but it all felt cluttered and jumpy. In addition, I never really cared about anyone and therefore it was hard to get into their stories. As a result, I was not emotionally invested and didn’t care about the outcome.

I’m just glad I’m finally done, it was a long book.

31 of 36 people found this review helpful

Audacious modern masterpiece, great narration

Breathtaking must-read novel for sci-fi and general literature fans. Razor-sharp prose and social commentary, a rich cast of plausible characters, and an audacious Melvillean scope that, incredibly, Stanley Robinson delivers on rather than embarrassing himself with his repeated allusions. Excellent performance in this audio version. Highest recommendation.

Also, be aware that, while this is an unapologetically, proudly far-left novel celebrating the economic as opposed to the social left (not as common in contemporary sci-fi as the converse), if that aligns with your politics this is an affirming read for challenging times that brought me to inspired tears by the end.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

What a Ride!!!!

This is my first time with the author, I’m now a fan for life. The overall story is strong, the sub-plots are wonderful and the characters are even better. I love his words choices, and all the maid of language. This is one of the longest listens in my hundred plus book Audible account, with the multi actor performances, this is one of the top books I’ve listened to. I highly recommend it, go for the ride.

4 of 4 people found this review helpful

Not very good

I got this thinking it was going to be about the way environmental changes affect the future. And, it is, kind of. But really it’s just a pretty boring story about a flooded New York City and the people who live in a New York high rise, most of whom are not very like able. Not recommended.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

Painfully Boring

I made about 1/3 of the way through this books and still nothing has happened. It feels like the book is supposed to be more character than plot driven, which might work, accept all the characters are entirely uninteresting.

3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Waiting and waiting for something to happen

20 hrs invested in this that I will never get back. The first half of the experience was painfully boring. I waited and waited and was sure something...anything...interesting would develop. It didn't. This is hardly science fiction. More like a really boring documentary and a macroeconomics class combined together. However, I think that makes it sound better than it was. Ugh. I'm actually mad I finished it.

15 of 19 people found this review helpful

Feels like an agenda to me

I don't write reviews of books. I either enjoy them a little or a lot. But I felt I needed to pass along my feeling from this book - and it feels too much like an agenda. To disclose where I am coming from, I'm neither a left wing or a right wing political person, I sit mostly in the libertarian camp. The characters in this book are very enjoyable. I wanted to find out what happened to all of them. I'm not usually a fan of multiple readers, but in this case, it worked. My issue with the book is that it feels like the entire book has a extreme socialist, maybe even communist agenda. I don't mind reading books about such things, but I didn't think that's what I was picking up here - I was looking for some futuristic entertainment. If you lean pretty far left, you are more likely to enjoy this book. If you lean pretty far right, you might not be able to take it. As I mentioned, I sit in the middle - but it was too in your face with the agenda, it wasn't subtle at all, and that took away from my enjoyment of the book.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

great product horrible political overtones

Readers did a fantastic job however the political overtones in the authors uncanny faith in the government To control financial markets and other facets of daily life provida unrealistic and horribly leftist view of and utopian futuristic Society

2 of 2 people found this review helpful