Pacific Edge: Three Californias

This book is not action-packed and it's not really what I consider science fiction. All that makes it futuristic is that it's set a few decades into the future. If you're looking for high-tech or hard sci-fi, look elsewhere. However, if you want to read a pleasant story about the lives and loves of a small, mid-twenty-first century liberal community in southern California rendered in simple, clear prose that even achieves a certain degree of lyricism at times, then give this a try. You may end up loving it, as I did. Liberals probably more than conservatives will enjoy this book because the good guys are liberal while the one bad guy, if the story can be said to have a bad guy, is a republican-type who lets his greed get the better of him at the expense of the community. But nobody in the story is really all that bad (or completely perfect either); they're just basically decent people trying to do their best given their character flaws. The town, while not exactly a shangri-la, is a pleasant, healthy place to live. I really grew to like this community and its simple, back-to-basics (but without being primitive) way of living. In a sense, reading this book is therapeutic; there's nothing morbid here, but lots that is beautiful and uncomplicated, even spiritually uplifting (God is not banned from this liberal community). I found the plot compelling. It kept me turning the pages. The characters were mostly likable, some even adorable. When I finished this book, I got the sense of having visited a place in which I would like to live. Instead of giving a doom-day scenario of the future, the book allows the reader to imagine a future that, while not perfect, is still better than the past. If you are a parent looking to find a book to share with your young adult, this book is good because it works for both adults and kids (over twelve, I'd say). Notwithstanding the somewhat meloncholy ending, this novel is a very pleasant, light-hearted read. If innocence is not your thing, you may not like this book. But I am usually into much darker stuff and I nonetheless found this book to be like a ray of light shining through a cloudy sky.

This book is not action-packed and it's not really what I consider science fiction. All that makes it futuristic is that it's set a few decades into the future. If you're looking for high-tech or hard sci-fi, look elsewhere. However, if you want to read a pleasant story about the lives and loves of a small, mid-twenty-first century liberal community in southern California rendered in simple, clear prose that even achieves a certain degree of lyricism at times, then give this a try. You may end up loving it, as I did. Liberals probably more than conservatives will enjoy this book because the good guys are liberal while the one bad guy, if the story can be said to have a bad guy, is a republican-type who lets his greed get the better of him at the expense of the community. But nobody in the story is really all that bad (or completely perfect either); they're just basically decent people trying to do their best given their character flaws. The town, while not exactly a shangri-la, is a pleasant, healthy place to live. I really grew to like this community and its simple, back-to-basics (but without being primitive) way of living. In a sense, reading this book is therapeutic; there's nothing morbid here, but lots that is beautiful and uncomplicated, even spiritually uplifting (God is not banned from this liberal community). I found the plot compelling. It kept me turning the pages. The characters were mostly likable, some even adorable. When I finished this book, I got the sense of having visited a place in which I would like to live. Instead of giving a doom-day scenario of the future, the book allows the reader to imagine a future that, while not perfect, is still better than the past. If you are a parent looking to find a book to share with your young adult, this book is good because it works for both adults and kids (over fourteen, I'd say). Notwithstanding the somewhat melancholy ending, this novel is a very pleasant, light-hearted read. If innocence is not your thing, you may not like this book. But I am usually into much darker stuff and I nonetheless found this book to be like a ray of light shining through a cloudy sky.

I haven't read this book for several years, but it popped up on a search and when I saw the low rating I felt compelled to comment. Kim Stanely Robinson is one of the best sci-fi writers working today; in fact, I find him one of the most intelligent and talented writers in any genre. Scenes from these books (originally published separately) come into my mind frequently. The people living in storage containers. The "perfect fast food meal." The last book was somewhat utopian, very mellow and uplifting. I highly recommend this book.

This book is fantastic--I'm amazed that no one has reviewed it. The setting is Southern California in a future following an ecological collapse. Some will find it utopian, others will be disappointed to find no galactic empires, but everyone should enjoy this extremely well-written story and its finely-wrought, believable characters. Robinson debates technowhizzery versus the New Age, and finds no easy answers--indeed, the issue is still up for grabs at the end--but this is SF at its best, thought-provoking and intense. Still rates #2 on my all-time list, and I've read a ton of SF.