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A review by ja_hopkins
Red Moon by Kim Stanley Robinson
2.0
Set in the near future, the moon has been colonised and is largely split between a US dominated northern zone and a southern one where China holds sway. We join Fred Fredericks travelling to the moon on a business trip and Ta Shu, a Chinese celebrity 'blogger', poet and Feng Shui obsessive.
When Fredericks' business meeting goes terribly wrong, he is unwittingly caught up in a political mess related to the upcoming communist party congress. Our third lead is Chan Qi, a princessling whose important father may be about to become president of China. However, she appears to be on the wrong side of some of the politics that Fredericks finds himself caught up in. We spend our time with these three main characters, travelling in China, to and from the Moon and around on the moon.
I have to say, I did not enjoy this book, so much so that I was very close to quitting reading it after about a third. I found the constant references to Feng Shui really irritating, and there seemed to be no plot or storyline - just a rambling poet, a privileged young woman and a strange American. Things did pick up though, and I enjoyed the middle section, which focused on the moon colonisation and life there. However, the end was another disappointment - it just stopped.
I have read and enjoyed KSR previously (esp. the Mars trilogy) so I will be reading more of his stuff, but this was a real disappointment.
When Fredericks' business meeting goes terribly wrong, he is unwittingly caught up in a political mess related to the upcoming communist party congress. Our third lead is Chan Qi, a princessling whose important father may be about to become president of China. However, she appears to be on the wrong side of some of the politics that Fredericks finds himself caught up in. We spend our time with these three main characters, travelling in China, to and from the Moon and around on the moon.
I have to say, I did not enjoy this book, so much so that I was very close to quitting reading it after about a third. I found the constant references to Feng Shui really irritating, and there seemed to be no plot or storyline - just a rambling poet, a privileged young woman and a strange American. Things did pick up though, and I enjoyed the middle section, which focused on the moon colonisation and life there. However, the end was another disappointment - it just stopped.
I have read and enjoyed KSR previously (esp. the Mars trilogy) so I will be reading more of his stuff, but this was a real disappointment.