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A review by parksystems
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson
3.0
i really wanted to like this book, and was very dedicated to the cause of reading it. but sometimes i really had to drag myself through it. it would slip into explaining slumps of the most boring variety. sometimes i felt annoyingly jostled by the consistent shift in first person each chapter. the chapters can be only a page or two, and going between the perspective of an AI, to a feng shui elder, and.. and.. and.... and always only to return back to the most boring white guy.
however, even more aggravatingly, was the mediocre white dude at the center. i recognize the message of this book was ultimately (and sometimes too self-consciously) meant to be one of equality, and made an effort to include diverse peoples. but this somehow makes it even more sad that in the end most things always come back to the boring white dude as relatable protagonist. i get that this is who we, in all our variety but sharing our upbringings within white patriarchy, are most capable of connecting with. "hey, he's a *good guy*" sure, but my god is he just the soggiest oatmeal person and his transformation into having a backbone because a radical brave asian woman *needed him* feels cringey manic pixie dream girl for me, personally.
however, in retrospect, considering what ive gained from reading this and how much more it could have focused on boring white man, i get that the distributed perspective was potentially the most valuable element. like it i feel similarly retroactively appreciative of the over-explaining. i gained considerable knowledge about so many things through the stories off-road information overloads. and most of all, in my reasons for the stars im giving it, i really like that it tried to tackle and unravel very pressing present geopolitics, technology, etc. but overall, i cant really recommend this book - read a summary of this and read the mars trilogy instead.
however, even more aggravatingly, was the mediocre white dude at the center. i recognize the message of this book was ultimately (and sometimes too self-consciously) meant to be one of equality, and made an effort to include diverse peoples. but this somehow makes it even more sad that in the end most things always come back to the boring white dude as relatable protagonist. i get that this is who we, in all our variety but sharing our upbringings within white patriarchy, are most capable of connecting with. "hey, he's a *good guy*" sure, but my god is he just the soggiest oatmeal person and his transformation into having a backbone because a radical brave asian woman *needed him* feels cringey manic pixie dream girl for me, personally.
however, in retrospect, considering what ive gained from reading this and how much more it could have focused on boring white man, i get that the distributed perspective was potentially the most valuable element. like it i feel similarly retroactively appreciative of the over-explaining. i gained considerable knowledge about so many things through the stories off-road information overloads. and most of all, in my reasons for the stars im giving it, i really like that it tried to tackle and unravel very pressing present geopolitics, technology, etc. but overall, i cant really recommend this book - read a summary of this and read the mars trilogy instead.