bsparks2112 's review for:

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson

4.0

adventurous challenging informative tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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In keeping with the other Kim Stanley Robinson works I've read, this was a brilliant and fascinating novel with just a few perplexing authorial decisions. I was really impressed by the technical rigor he showed in detailing all that would really go into creating and maintaining a generation ship intended for a century-plus space voyage; his attention to detail in all the things that could go wrong - and man, are there a lot of those - is equally impressive. I will say there are a fair amount of particularly info-dump-esque sections where Robinson shows his work on both counts; but this is balanced by some really harrowing stretches where the narrative is strung along with tension really effectively. All this technical detail is somewhat kept in check by keeping the emotional center of the story in Freya and her family and friends, following their growth and resiliency as they face these extreme circumstances. I also was really captivated by the integration of the ship's quantum computer AI into the story; the sections where this is brought forward as an important device (both literary and literally for the characters) and a character in their own right were the high marks of the story for me. Some plotting and story issues, especially regarding the ending section, were really the only parts that made me drop this to a 4-star read; it was still hugely enjoyable and rewarding.