Emeritus Prof Christopher May
This week I've mainly been reading (no.14)
One of the books that really rekindled my interest in #sciencefiction was Kim Stanley Robinson's Red Mars (1992) (& the trilogy overall). The story of the colonialisation of #Mars & its subsequent battle for independence from Earth is grounded in a very clear notion of how this would play out in political economic terms. In this sense for academic political economists its the ideal read as a 'novel on the go' (see earlier post)
@bookstodon
Nov 25, 2022 at 7:21amWeb
Show threadFlorian 'floe' EchtlerNov 25, 2022
@ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon It's been quite a while since I've read the Mars trilogy, but this has me wondering if it's kind of an unofficial inspiration for The Expanse series?
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher MayNov 25, 2022
@floe @bookstodon Intersting point; I'm two volumes in on that & would say KSR is a lot more sophisticated in his political economy, but the Expanse series remains a good read!
Show threadRonsboy67Nov 25, 2022
@floe @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon I loved the Mars trilogy, but was really impressed by his Aurora. An author who made his name & fame from a trilogy all about going off planet & terraforming a "New Earth" essentially repudiated the very idea & said " let's save & fix THIS one". Whichever POV is right, it takes courage to implictly say "I now think I was wrong then"
Show threadBassIsFunNov 25, 2022
@ronsboy67 @floe @ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon : Aurora is eye-opening hard sci-fi., fantastic
Show threadDr. Tona HangenNov 25, 2022
@BassIsFun @bookstodon @ChrisMayLA6 @ronsboy67 @floe I recently finished Ministry for the Future; where does that fit into his progression as an environmental sci-fi author (it’s the first of his novels I’ve read)?
Show threadEmeritus Prof Christopher MayNov 25, 2022
@tonahangen @BassIsFun @bookstodon @ronsboy67 @floe very much more recent... he seems to be a journey towards fully blown #CliFi
Show threadB Thoreau 🛸Nov 25, 2022

@tonahangen @BassIsFun @bookstodon @ChrisMayLA6 @ronsboy67 @floe

His Mars Trilogy uses Mars as a symbol for earth, exploring terraforming, politics.

What he wrote next, I consider to be kind of a countdown backwards from the future. 2312 seems a long way off, looking at the long term climate change, then he counts down to New York 2140 is closer to now, exploring the real risk of global warming, flooding, impacting an example city. Then Ministry, which is really today/tomorrow.

Show threadMartin PatrickNov 25, 2022
@ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon An interesting writer I want to read more of, might be a good 'holiday' project, thanks for reminding me of Robinson's work.
Show threadKaren TottenNov 28, 2022
@ChrisMayLA6 @bookstodon fabulous trilogy - thank you for the reminder. I’d like to read it again.