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| View Larger Image | Antarctica | Mass Market Paperbackby Kim Stanley Robinson (Author)
| List Price: | $7.99 | |
| | Binding: | Mass Market Paperback | | Publisher: | Bantam | | Page Count: | 672 Pages | | Publication Date: | July 06, 1999 | | Sales Rank: | 336,207th |
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EDITORIAL REVIEWS |
Product Description
From the award-winning author of the Mars Trilogy comes a thrilling new novel....Kim Stanley Robinson, author of the Hugo and Nebula award-winning Mars trilogy, is one of the most original and visionary writers of fiction today. Now, in his latest novel, he takes us to a harsh, alien landscape covered by a sheet of ice two miles deep. This is no distant planet--it is the last pure wilderness on earth.A stark and inhospitable place, its landscape poses a challenge to survival; yet its strange, silent beauty has long fascinated scientists and adventurers. Now Antarctica faces an uncertain future. The international treaty that protects the continent is about to dissolve, clearing the way for Antarctica's resources and eerie beauty to be plundered. As politicians and corporations move to determine its fate from half a world away, radical environmentalists carry out a covert campaign of sabotage to reclaim the land. The winner of this critical battle will determine the future for this last great wilderness.... |
Amazon.com Review
In the near future, Wade Norton has been sent to Antarctica by Senator Phil Chase to investigate rumors 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 blend 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, and some of them are dangerous indeed. Things 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 |
CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 71 reviews)
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climbing and trekking scenes are riveting by steve estvanik (seattle, wa USA)  5 Stars
March 01, 2009
I was reading this book as we approached Antarctica on our cruise, Robinson's done it again - his geology is rock solid, [only John McPhee can write so captivatingly about plate tectonics] so much so, that once again, I started thinking of his fictional Antarctica as the real thing. As we drove thru the Beech tree forests of Tierra del Fuego, it conjured his images of a former Antarctica covered with hardy Beech forest, to be re-discovered as fossilized beech leaf mats by Robinson's scientists. Elegantly weaving in Antarctic history, Robinson's story proceeds on multiple lines, with the modern day plotlines paralleling the explorers. The science is least fictional of any of his works, but the climbing and trekking scenes are riveting; the crevasse scenes are white knuckle memory time for anyone's who's ever traversed a glacier, even though his mountaineers have tracking toys we never dreamed of.
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Been there done that by Ralph Lewis (Bath, ME United States) 5 Stars
February 14, 2009
Having spent 3 seasons in Antarctica as the Photographic Officer for the Naval Support Force, I have been to many of the locations mentioned, brought back memories. A little far fetched in some of his locations and activities, but it was classed as Science Fiction. Very enjoyable read.
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A bit wordy by James Aach (USA)  2 Stars
January 03, 2009
I admit I was disappointed in this one - it seemed wordy and didn't really reveal all that much about the place Antarctica to me. On the other hand, Mr. Robinson is one of the few authors out there tackling adventure tales like this who tries to get his facts and science right, and I always appreciate that.
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A good read overall by Nina M. Osier (Augusta, ME USA)  4 Stars
December 12, 2008
"Ecotage" - sabotage carried out in the name of ecology - is this novel's main plot point. Sometime not far in the future, the Antarctic Treaty lapses and oil companies move in to begin exploration and extraction on the world's least populated continent. Antarctica has been the realm of international scientists for decades, under the now lapsed treaty; and a shadowy group of ecoterrorists wants to keep it that way. They lay their plans carefully, over a long time period, and when they strike they want to be as certain as possible of not harming the people working in the oil company camps. The problem with that, of course, is Antarctica. Where even in summer the weather can kill anyone caught unsupported in the open, and it can happen very quickly indeed.
The book's three protagonists are Wade, a congressman's aide who's been sent to the frozen continent on an investigative mission after a rash of thefts starts to form what ought to be a pattern - but isn't; X, a "Good For Anything" hourly worker fed up with his employer (the contractor that supplies support services to McMurdo); and Val, a guide who's sick to death of clients yet too in love with Antarctica to quit and go back to "the world." The story builds so slowly that I suspect it may be a slog for readers who don't genuinely enjoy the details of cold weather survival tales, but the pace picks up once the crisis point is reached. An enjoyable read overall, although probably not for everyone.
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More a testament than a story by J. S. Breunig (Princeton)  3 Stars
May 14, 2008
I loved the Mars trilogy and have eagerly been waiting to read this next (unrelated) novel by KSR. I was a bit disappointed to be honest. While he still manages to capture dialog and build up characters without interrupting the narrative, this book felt laboriously slow, especially the first 2/3. There seemed no real driving plot, merely a record of a number of individuals going about their lives.
The portrayals of various groups in Antarctica: scientists, tourists and their guides, bureaucrats, and support staff all seem genuine and realistic, not idealized. However, as in the Mars trilogy, KSR really seems to dwell on neo-indigenous types who have a somewhat foreign attachment to the land, bordering on pseudo-religious in a utopia commune. This whole section is too much for me. Add to that his deus ex machina climax, and too-long wrap up and the book felt a little unwieldy.
Stick to the Mars trilogy, which was phenomenal.
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