Forty Signs of Rain (Capital Code, Bk 1)
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
Author:
Genre: Science Fiction & Fantasy
Book Type: Paperback
I find most of Robinson's work to be very dense - he seems to pack tremendous amounts of detail into every sentence he writes. Plus, the concepts, characters and situations created require close attention and quite a bit of concentration until the reader becomes familiar with what's going on.
This book is no exception. As other readers have mentioned, it can take about 100 pages of reading until this book really grabs you - then I personally find myself having to skip back to the front of the book in order to catch up on the finder details that slipped by me on first reading.
However, as another reviewer has mentioned, these books are worth the effort. I found these books, on the whole, to be more engrossing and personal than the Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy. Ironically, even though I end one of these books hot to read the next one, I find myself intimidated by beginning the next and tend to procrastinate about reading them!
Forty Signs (which is followed by "Fifty . . ." and "Sixty .. ." introduces us to a main cast of characters with a variety of viewpoints about the main issue, which is global warming and the ramifications it has for humanity and the planet. He deftly weaves together scientists, politicians, Buddhist monks, government workers and even infants in this first book. As these people interact, so do their value systems and opinions.
Amazingly, none of these characters fall into stereotypes nor do they seemed "forced" into any idiosyncracies they may have. They question each other and themselves, they scheme, they grow, they doubt and they love in a portrayal which I find masterly.
In fact, it could be the amount of introspection and abstract thought as experienced by these characters which makes Robinsons books so difficult for the reader to follow until s/he becomes familiar with his worlds.
Upshot: NOT light reading, amazingly fulfilling book.
This book is no exception. As other readers have mentioned, it can take about 100 pages of reading until this book really grabs you - then I personally find myself having to skip back to the front of the book in order to catch up on the finder details that slipped by me on first reading.
However, as another reviewer has mentioned, these books are worth the effort. I found these books, on the whole, to be more engrossing and personal than the Red/Green/Blue Mars trilogy. Ironically, even though I end one of these books hot to read the next one, I find myself intimidated by beginning the next and tend to procrastinate about reading them!
Forty Signs (which is followed by "Fifty . . ." and "Sixty .. ." introduces us to a main cast of characters with a variety of viewpoints about the main issue, which is global warming and the ramifications it has for humanity and the planet. He deftly weaves together scientists, politicians, Buddhist monks, government workers and even infants in this first book. As these people interact, so do their value systems and opinions.
Amazingly, none of these characters fall into stereotypes nor do they seemed "forced" into any idiosyncracies they may have. They question each other and themselves, they scheme, they grow, they doubt and they love in a portrayal which I find masterly.
In fact, it could be the amount of introspection and abstract thought as experienced by these characters which makes Robinsons books so difficult for the reader to follow until s/he becomes familiar with his worlds.
Upshot: NOT light reading, amazingly fulfilling book.
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