Review: Aurora

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

It's incredibly difficult to fully discuss this book without spoiling things, but I'm really going to try because this, in a way, is the anti-Seveneves - a multi-generational science fiction tale that has a fair share of nihilism and darkness underneath it while still providing a really great (and often unique) narrative along the way. The story of a number of people from Earth sent to colonize a nearby habitable planet, it surprised me a lot and ended in ways I didn't expect.

It's kind of the best of science fiction in a sense not necessarily because of the message it does or doesn't send depending on your perspective, but in that it offers a new take on the colonization story that I really didn't see coming and didn't consider before, to the point where it actively has me rethinking a lot of what I believe regarding the future of humanity and its ability to settle off-planet. It's that good. The story is largely told by the ship computer, which both gives a level of detail and enough moments of levity to both detach us as observers and include us in the travels as well, which is a nice touch.

Kim Stanley Robinson hasn't always connected with me. While it took some time for me to get going, this is quite the start for the new year in terms of reads for me, and I'm sure it will get some deserved award consideration. Absolutely worth adding to your list if you're looking for new sci-fi.

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