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taliatalksbooks's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
0.25
2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson may well be one of the worst books I’ve read to date. I know that seems harsh, and I hate that it is, but truthfully, making it through this book took everything in me. I wanted this to be a good sci-fi with crazy world building, which I guess, I got what I asked for in the latter. There is so much fluff, that I could not genuinely tell you the plot until about 100 pages from the end. That may not sound bad for a book that’s 150 pages, but this book is 650 pages, and the plot that I did find, wasn’t worth a second of it. There were some incredibly creepy moments in here and I think that everything had a glaze of science textbook over it, dialog included. If someone told me everyone was robots in here I’d have no choice but to believe it, because that’s how they talked. There was nothing to ground yourself in, over explanation of simplistic topics coupled with vast oversights in the complex, and not a single character that I wanted to know more about. I couldn’t stand the back and forth, between here and there. Honestly it was pointless. Why can’t they just call one another like the civilized futuristic people they are saying they are? I’m not sure what compelled anyone to give this more than 1 star, truthfully, because I could barely get through it (and I only finished it so I could tell all of you that no, it does not get better. It is boring and pointless and uninspiring throughout). I respect that Robinson is a well accomplished author, and I would be happy to read something else by him if anyone suggested that it might be a better representation of his writing, but I can’t in good conscious recommend a book to any of you that I literally threw across the room in frustration time after time while reading it. The language is dense, the characters are flat/cookie cutter, and overall it was just a painfully long, boring read. Again, I respect that Robinson wrote it—it’s more than I’ve done as a writer and I’m the first to admit and congratulate that, but this could have easily been a great novella, that was blown so far out of proportion I need to take a break from sci-fi altogether.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Sexual content
kbkbkbkbkb's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
It's a very interesting book. I love how Robinson describes everything; its so easy to get lost in the universe he creates. But, the plot leaves much to be desired. This book is already incredibly long and took me months to get through. It's not a particularly interesting story nor are the characters particularly interesting, and the one plot line that hook me (which seems like it should be the main focus of the book) had less of a focus than I would have like it to. However, once I got to the end of the book I found myself wishing there was more. The epilogue was pointless and I really don't think it should be in the book at all, but I still read it slower than the rest of the book just so I could hold onto the universe Robinson created just a little bit longer.
Content Warnings
Minor: Gore, Violence, and Sexual content
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