Kim Stanley Robinson’s latest trilogy is called the Science of the Capitol trilogy, as you may have read in my previous post. I’m now reading the second book, Fifty Degrees Below. I know KSR from his Mars Trilogy which got me into doing Geology, and in particular Planetary Geology, and even more particular Areology, e.g. Martian Geology.
His latest trilogy is an eco-thriller about abrupt climate change. What really strikes me when reading the trilogy is that KSR works with the same theme again. It’s the Mars Trilogy transferred to Earth. On Mars he creates a future world where Mars gets an atmosphere. Because of that the land opens to people and the city-sized air-pocket tents, in which the people lived, can be removed.
The theme I’m talking about which I find in both trilogies is ‘people going feral’. People becoming ‘wild’ again, going back to nature. It’s all about recognizing we are still the same animal from the savannah, but in a world of technology. Therefore most of us feel out of place and we need to feel connected again.
KSR lets one of the main characters create a tree house in a Washington D.C. park. The man lives as a nomad in the city. He has a good job, but no house. He has a car, in which he can sleep, and he uses a gym to shower. The man just realized he was only using his house to sleep in anyway, so why need it?
[…] In a previous post I already wrote about the Science in the Capitol trilogy by Kim Stanley Robinson. I was reading the second book then and now I just finished the 3rd book, Sixty Days and Counting. Well, I have to say: WOW! He has done it again, I really love his style. His books are really filled with ideas and I love his character building. […]
Please give us your valuable comment
You must be logged in to post a comment.