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Amazon.co.uk Review
In the near future Wade Norton has been sent to Antarctica by Senator Phil Chase to investigate rumours of environmental sabotage. He arrives on the frozen continent and immediately begins making contact with the various scientific and political factions that comprise Antarctic society. What he finds is an interesting and diverse mix of inhabitants who don't always mesh well but who all share a common love of Antarctica and a fierce devotion to their life there. He also begins to uncover layers of Antarctic culture that have been kept hidden from the rest of the world, some of which are dangerous indeed. Events are brought to a head when the saboteurs--or "ecoteurs" as they call themselves--launch an attack designed to drive humans off the face of Antarctica. This is Kim Stanley Robinson's first book since his award-winning Mars trilogy, and while some of the themes may be familiar to seasoned Robinson readers the book is never less than engrossing. As usual Robinson does a masterful job with the setting of his story, and anyone interested in Antarctica won't want to miss this one. --Craig Engler, Amazon.com
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
‘Momentous’
DAILY TELEGRAPH
‘If I had to choose one writer whose work will set the standard for science fiction in the future, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’
NEW YORK TIMES
‘A tour de force of adventure writing… The most important writer currently interested in real science… It is hard to put the book down. It is important, it is relevant, it gives us a huge new continent to imagine; and it is fun’
MAIL ON SUNDAY
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
If you enjor KSR's books (Mars, Gold Coast etc.), then you'll enjoy this. If you haven't read any of his books before, this is not the place to start.
KSR is an author I have enjoyed for years, capable of painting beautiful and detailed pictures of the landscapes and people around the central characters.
The Mars books are cold and inhospitable, and KSR paints an equally bleak picture of this frozen earhly wasteland, but takes an awful long time doing it.
The characters and plot are OK, and enough to drive a determined reader through the book, however, unless you're a completist, I wouldn't put it top of your reading list.
Why four stars then? The descriptions of Antarctica were enough to make me shiver and reach for that extra sweater.
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is an amazing book, full of vivid descriptions of Antarctica and careful renderings of personalities and situations. The most disturbing thing about the book is that it presents a frighteningly realistic picture of the possible future. This book is highly reccomended and it's made me want to visit Antarctica just to find out how much is true!
Format:Paperback
This is the second time I've read this book. The first was while sunbathing on a Greek beach in 1999 or thereabouts, perhaps not the most appropriate place to read about the world's coldest, highest, driest continent, while melting under the scorching Greek sun. I loved it then, I love it even more now. This time I started reading it in the very cold winter of 2010/2011, having experienced a little inkling of the cold that hard continent receives, perhaps. But what is the novel about?
It advertises itself as an eco-thriller but that doesn't do it justice. It is a story, an exciting story revolving around four main characters. It is a story set in the not-too-distant future when the Antarctic Treaty has expired but not been renewed, due to conflicting national interests. It is about science, the bone-structure of Antarctica revealed to us from a geologist point view, the issues of the ongoing debates clearly laid down to us, the reader. It is a spiritual story, drawing together elements of Feng Shui, feral love of a place, and our connection to the earth. It is an adventure, a mountaineer's dream, an exciting tour across the mighty glaciers and ice plains of this vast continent. It is a tale of politics, love and above all else our place within nature and about how our current actions endanger our very existence. The Ross Ice Shelf has split off and is now permanent sea, thanks to global warming. The world is overpopulated, over-warm, and suffers from severe weather events, and even in cold Antarctica the weather is changing. The ice shelves are weak and moving fast. It is a book about ecology, the actions and consequences of eco-saboteurs seen through the eyes of a mountain guide Val, one of her clients Ta Shu, a Feng Shui master, a Senator's Aide Wade who flies in to investigate mysterious disappearances, and a man known as X from the downtrodden working class at McMurdo Antarctic Station. It is about everything that is wrong with capitalism, basically, set within an exciting story on ice.
This second reading was interesting, and I got more from it this time. The book hasn't changed, I have, and a lot of what is written is close to my own personal beliefs. It raises a lot of issues, and raises them well without being judgmental. And it is well written, the characters well formed and believable, and exciting.
It advertises itself as an eco-thriller but that doesn't do it justice. It is a story, an exciting story revolving around four main characters. It is a story set in the not-too-distant future when the Antarctic Treaty has expired but not been renewed, due to conflicting national interests. It is about science, the bone-structure of Antarctica revealed to us from a geologist point view, the issues of the ongoing debates clearly laid down to us, the reader. It is a spiritual story, drawing together elements of Feng Shui, feral love of a place, and our connection to the earth. It is an adventure, a mountaineer's dream, an exciting tour across the mighty glaciers and ice plains of this vast continent. It is a tale of politics, love and above all else our place within nature and about how our current actions endanger our very existence. The Ross Ice Shelf has split off and is now permanent sea, thanks to global warming. The world is overpopulated, over-warm, and suffers from severe weather events, and even in cold Antarctica the weather is changing. The ice shelves are weak and moving fast. It is a book about ecology, the actions and consequences of eco-saboteurs seen through the eyes of a mountain guide Val, one of her clients Ta Shu, a Feng Shui master, a Senator's Aide Wade who flies in to investigate mysterious disappearances, and a man known as X from the downtrodden working class at McMurdo Antarctic Station. It is about everything that is wrong with capitalism, basically, set within an exciting story on ice.
This second reading was interesting, and I got more from it this time. The book hasn't changed, I have, and a lot of what is written is close to my own personal beliefs. It raises a lot of issues, and raises them well without being judgmental. And it is well written, the characters well formed and believable, and exciting.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Immersive, thought-provoking and rich - an excellent depiction of...
"Antarctica" is the tenth novel by Kim Stanley Robinson, the author of the highly-acclaimed Mars Trilogy. Read more
Published on 8 Jun 2008 by The Wanderer
Another gem from Kim Stanley Robinson
A stunningly real portrait of Antarctica; the characters live and breathe in the icy air. Robinson's own experiences in the frozen continent shine through in this exhilirating... Read more
Published on 27 Jan 2001
Not a Thriller, not boring. One to be absorbed by.
Well this has polarised reviewers! I'm well and truly with the pro's. It is quite true that for a long time nothing actually 'happens' but there are a *lot* of ideas in there, and... Read more
Published on 16 Mar 2000 by Bryan
Stank the place out!
What a drag! The slow narrative is HELD UP by arid dull descriptions of the history and landscape of Antarctica which in no way held my interest or gripped me. Read more
Published on 27 Feb 2000
Maybe it should be that way....
In this book, Mr Robinson has colorfully described the life and adventures of the people working in Antarctica, from the scientists ('beakers') to the mountaineers, to the... Read more
Published on 13 July 1999
mixes past history and future possibilities credibly
In the near future, people seek to save or exploit one of the last wildernesses.Tourism has started whereby travellers can repeat journeys made by past explorers - Shackleton is... Read more
Published on 16 April 1999
Deep thought, deep snow
In this book Robinson condenses and matures the political thinking that went into his Mars trilogy. Whilst that's an interesting backdrop a story of eco-wars acts as the canvas... Read more
Published on 2 Mar 1999
BOORRRING!
I struggled manfully for over 200 pages and guess what, NOTHING happens. Absolutely nothing. I thought this was meant to be a book about ecoterrorists battling it out with oil... Read more
Published on 11 Feb 1999
A positive and welcome follow up to the "Martian Trilogy"
I finished "Blue Mars" wishing, as one often does at the end of a good book, for more of the same. Read more
Published on 15 Jan 1999
Pretty good effort.
Robinson is always good, and this is well within his range of goodness. It is certainly worth reading.
Published on 26 Aug 1998
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