ICEHENGE - Softcover

Robinson, Kim Stanley

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0006482554 ISBN 13: 9780006482550

Publisher: HarperVoyager, 2011

Synopsis

SCIENCE FICTION-IT STANDS AT PLUTO'S NORTH POLE-A MESMERISING ICEHENGE.SLABS OF ICE FROZEN HARDER THAN STONE,TOWERING TWO HUNDRED FEET ABOVE THE CRATER POCKED SURFACE.THE CENTRAL SLAB BEARS AN INSCRIPTION IN SANSKRIT.A MESSAGE FROM AN ALIEN RACE?OR THE MARK OF HUMAN POWERED VOYAGE THAT MIGHT HAVE PASSED THIS WAY?THERE WERE VAGUE RUMOURS OF SUCH A SHIP,FORGOTTEN DECADES AGO.BUT COULD THE CREW HAVE SURVIVED?DID THE SHIP EXIST AT ALL?

About this title

Review:

Voted one of the best science fiction novels of the year in the 1985 Locus Poll, Icehenge is an early novel by Kim Stanley Robinson (author of the trilogy comprising Red Mars, Green Mars, and Blue Mars) and takes place in the same universe. The story is part mystery and part psychological drama, divided into three distinct sections.

In the year 2248, Mars is ruled by a Politburo-like committee that actively discourages dissent as well as travel and exploration of other planets. Scientist Emma Weil becomes involved in a covert plot to convert a stolen ship into a self-supporting spaceship. She turns down a chance to accompany the starfarers, and returns to her beloved Mars where she joins the revolution already in progress.

Three centuries later, archaeologist Hjalmar Nederland unearths a governmental cover-up of the true facts behind the old revolution. At the same time, a Stonehenge-like monument is discovered on the north pole of Pluto, and Nederland sets out to prove his theory that the monument is connected to revolutionaries and their contemporaries who left for the stars. Seventy years later, his great-grandson Edmond Doya becomes convinced that Icehenge is a hoax, and attempts to disprove Nederland's theory.

In addition to futuristic issues such as interstellar travel and the terraforming of Mars, Robinson's characters grapple with politics, careers, families and ageing. Icehenge is a worthy introduction to the author's winning combination of hard science and believable characterization. --Bonnie Bouman

Review:

‘One of the finest working novelists in any genre’
GUARDIAN

'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

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperVoyager
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0006482554
• ISBN 13: 9780006482550
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272