Forty Signs of Rain (Science in the Capitol, #1)

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Forty Signs of Rain (Science in the Capitol #1)

3.48 of 5 stars 3.48 · rating details · 1,433 ratings · 177 reviews

The bestselling author of the classic Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt returns with a riveting new trilogy of cutting-edge science, international politics, and the real-life ramifications of global warming as they are played out in our nation’s capital—and in the daily lives of those at the center of the action. Hauntingly realistic, here is a novel of the near...more The bestselling author of the classic Mars trilogy and The Years of Rice and Salt returns with a riveting new trilogy of cutting-edge science, international politics, and the real-life ramifications of global warming as they are played out in our nation’s capital—and in the daily lives of those at the center of the action. Hauntingly realistic, here is a novel of the near future that is inspired by scientific facts already making headlines.

When the Arctic ice pack was first measured in the 1950s, it averaged thirty feet thick in midwinter. By the end of the century it was down to fifteen. One August the ice broke. The next year the breakup started in July. The third year it began in May. That was last year.

It’s an increasingly steamy summer in the nation’s capital as Senate environmental staffer Charlie Quibler cares for his young son and deals with the frustrating politics of global warming. Charlie must find a way to get a skeptical administration to act before it’s too late—and his progeny find themselves living in Swamp World. But the political climate poses almost as great a challenge as the environmental crisis when it comes to putting the public good ahead of private gain.

While Charlie struggles to play politics, his wife, Anna, takes a more rational approach to the looming crisis in her work at the National Science Foundation. There a proposal has come in for a revolutionary process that could solve the problem of global warming—if it can be recognized in time. But when a race to control the budding technology begins, the stakes only get higher. As these everyday heroes fight to align the awesome forces of nature with the extraordinary march of modern science, they are unaware that fate is about to put an unusual twist on their work—one that will place them at the heart of an unavoidable storm.

With style, wit, and rare insight into our past, present, and possible future, this captivating novel propels us into a world on the verge of unprecedented change—in a time quite like our own. Here is Kim Stanley Robinson at his visionary best, offering a gripping cautionary tale of progress—and its price—as only he can tell it.

From the Hardcover edition.(less)

Paperback, 432 pages

Published July 26th 2005 by Spectra (first published 2004)

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Jun 02, 2008 Trin rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: politics, fiction, science, american-lit, apocafic

I thought I should finally try some Kim Stanley Robinson, as he’s kind of a classic at this point. This was…huh. I’m not really sure what this was. It was the first book in a trilogy, certainly—I’m not sure I’ve ever read such a long book that was almost entirely setup. Seriously, almost nothing happened until the very end—though that end is very dramatic. I wasn’t particularly wowed by the writing—DUDE PUNCTUATE YOUR DIALOGUE DO YOU SEE HOW ANNOYING THIS IS KTHX—or the characters, either; Frank...more

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Feb 07, 2009 Lobeck rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: scifi-fantasy, fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson does not know how to edit. Likely he could have combined this three book series into one book without losing much content. Alternatively, he could have retained the length of the story and just ensured that something interesting happened more frequently than every 150 pages.

The information about rapid climate change is interesting. The the politics around trying to intervene in environmental disaster, and the methods explored to achieve this make for an intriguing premise.

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Dec 21, 2008 Angela rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

I have to admit to feeling ambivalent about Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. This is another of my "picked up on a whim" books, in this case because I was in the mood to read a vaguely-SFish novel about what happens when global warming wreaks hardcore havoc on the planet. Sort of like The Day After Tomorrow, only in prose form, and presumably with a stronger story since it's after all written by a Hugo-award-winning author.

There are quite a few beefs raised about this book on its Amaz...more I have to admit to feeling ambivalent about Kim Stanley Robinson's Forty Signs of Rain. This is another of my "picked up on a whim" books, in this case because I was in the mood to read a vaguely-SFish novel about what happens when global warming wreaks hardcore havoc on the planet. Sort of like The Day After Tomorrow, only in prose form, and presumably with a stronger story since it's after all written by a Hugo-award-winning author.

There are quite a few beefs raised about this book on its Amazon reviews, and to one degree or another I agree with all of them. It is a problem IMHO when the first 350 or so pages of a book are pretty much character development and setup, and only the last 25 or so pages show you actual plot. Couple this with the fact that the book's politics come across to me as way too heavy-handed, and that it spends way, way too much time in didactic lecture mode, and more often than not I found myself going 'For fuck's sake, get to the story already!'

Don't get me wrong. I'm someone who actually supports the idea that global warming is indeed a serious problem, so in general principle I agree with the book's overall politics. Problem is, with all the time it spends in lecture mode, that gets really boring really fast. Especially if you're already on board with the assertions it's trying to make, and especially if you have at least a basic level of clue about the science it's trying to describe. Very, very much a "preaching to the choir" situation here, not to mention way, way much Tell and not enough Show. I cut the book at least a little slack with the knowledge that this is actually Book One of a trilogy, and therefore not to be taken as a whole story. But even with that leniency, I found the time spent actually getting to the plot to be quite frustrating.

That said, I will grant that at least some of the character development parts were actually interesting, when things actually happened in between the long rambling paragraphs about how the various characters' minds worked. The characters got interesting enough, and the actual final pages set up an interesting enough situation, that I am rather curious about what happens next and am still considering whether I want to go get Book Two, Fifty Degrees Below.

But I have to think about it. Two and a half stars for some occasional interesting character development, but minus points for way too much lecture mode.(less)

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Jul 15, 2012 Erica rated it 2 of 5 stars

*mild spoilers*

Elmore Leonard once said “I try to leave out the parts that people skip.” Kim Stanley Robinson did not heed this advice, and I was able to skim long swathes of this odd book. As someone who lives in DC and works on climate change issues for the federal government, I was ready to love it. It turns out, however, that workmanlike descriptions of local color do little to leaven painstakingly detailed descriptions of bureaucratic tasks and conference calls. After a while I realized I o...more

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Jul 27, 2011 Tom Nixon rated it 2 of 5 stars

**This review covers all three books in the 'Science In The Capitol Trilogy- the other two are Fifty Degrees Below and Sixty Days and Counting**

Where to begin with this compact, neat little trilogy? These three books are strange because I both liked and disliked them all the same time, which isn't unusual for me, but in this case it can be put down to a simple divide: I like Kim Stanley Robinson's writing, science and technology. In this particular trilogy however, I don't like his politics. We...more **This review covers all three books in the 'Science In The Capitol Trilogy- the other two are Fifty Degrees Below and Sixty Days and Counting**

Where to begin with this compact, neat little trilogy? These three books are strange because I both liked and disliked them all the same time, which isn't unusual for me, but in this case it can be put down to a simple divide: I like Kim Stanley Robinson's writing, science and technology. In this particular trilogy however, I don't like his politics. We can go round and round on what's wrong with me and when did I become such a good little capitalist Brownshirt for ages, but the fact of the matter is that this reads like 'An Inconvinient Truth' cast in fiction and makes no bones about discussing that most irritating of issues, global warming- or as the new memo says it's to now be called: global climate disruption.

What's even more problematic about this curious divide is that one of the underlying themes Robinson plays with over the course of the trilogy is the relationship between science and politics itself- so where do we begin? I would say I have to unpack the whole global warming issue myself, but that could take too long- instead, let's talk about Kim Stanley Robinson, because despite having more than a few issues with his politics in this trilogy, his writing still rocks my face clean off. Robinson is one of those incredibly talented science fiction writers that we need more of, matching- to me anyway, only Ken Macleod and probably Neil Stephenson for the sheer audacity and complexity of some of the ideas he has played with, both in this trilogy and his masterpiece of masterpieces- the Mars Trilogy, (Red, Green and Blue Mars respectively- appointment reading for anyone and everyone who wants to colonize Mars or is just a space nut in general.) Robinson plays more with hard science than technology than speculative fiction or technology which is what makes a lot of his books so damn good. The technology and the future he describes is fundamentally believable and you can see it in your mind's eye with ease. There's no aliens or robots or weird quantam transportation. Robinson is extremely good and extrapolating where technology might go and weaving it into his narratives.

This trilogy is no exception to that rule: whether the characters (stalwart champions of science who work at the National Science Foundation) are re-salinizing the stalled out Gulf Stream to get it re-started again or discussing possibly shifting salt water to the dry basins of the world to ameliorate the effects of sea level rise- or even, more fascinatingly talking about a rapid transformation of China's economy and energy industry (courtesy of the US Navy, who deploys en masse to China, plugs into their grid and runs the country's power off of their extremely efficient and safe nuclear reactors. I really hope Robinson wasn't speculating when he mentioned that the US Navy has the ability to do this in real life, because if so: very cool.) All these technological challenges that are thrown in the face of global warming I found to be fundamentally believable and could actually be deployed in the event of a climate crisis. (As a bonus: when it comes to developing energy alternatives, in these books Robinson rightfully pegs nuclear as a holdover to develop better solar energy. No wind, no ethanol, no pie-in-the-sky fusion generators, nope, nope, nope- Robinson says solar all the way.)

As for the story itself: well, it follows some hardy scientists who work at the National Science Foundation in D.C.-- one of them is married to a high-flying stay-at-home Dad/Senatorial Advisor, so we see an obvious connection between science and politics and what they do when faced with a sudden and genuine climate crisis. (Washington D.C. gets flooded, everything freezes- the Gulf Stream almost stalls out which would be very, very bad indeed.) Floating in and out of the story are some Buddhist monks from the made-up microstate of Khembalung, which actually drowns due to sea level rise at the end of the second book, I believe. (A fascination with Buddhism seems to float in and out of a lot of Robinson's writing, and the Buddhist monks play an important role in these novels by underlying the spiritual (and obvious) connection humanity has with the world around it- further underlined by one of the character's increasing fascinating with 19th Century American thinkers Emerson and Thoreau. To make a long summary short: there's nefarious deeds afoot, there's a climate crisis afoot and the high-flying state-at-home Dad/Senatorial Advisor's Senator decides to run for President and wins, thus setting out to save the world from itself and fix the climate crisis.

In the end, of course, everyone- including dear old Mother Earth lives happily ever after, more or less. But the technology and the strategy for fighting this fictional climate crisis aside, it's Robinson's 'wouldn't it be nice' politics that bothered me the most. Some kind of pro-environmental New Deal with an amazing First Hundred Days a la FDR from the Fictional Wonder Senator Turned President would not save the day, because they probably would get laughed out of the room, if we're being honest. The real trick, at least for the current American political system is going to be to make green energy profitable and more importantly, lucrative for business. If there's a President who can do that, then we would be cooking with gas, because at that point, the general greed (which yes, ignores that collective responsibility we all share for the planet) of the corporate world will take over and go bananas for you To me, the government creating the right conditions for business to make a massive investment in green energy and technology would pay off more than the wrangling that would be sure to occur if the government starts trying to lead from the front on this issue. People would lose their damn minds. OK, so back in the day, the government lead from the front and, thanks to World War II managed to solve the Depression. But that was then and we're all a lot more cynical and jaded now. A New New Deal, even a kind of green one? Never going to happen. Not in a million years.

I'm not even going to waste my breath arguing about whether or not global warming is real. I've been waiting for science to give me a straight answer on that for years now and it still hasn't and it never will. There's no such thing as a straight answer in science and if there was one on this issue, it'd be fundamentally unscientific in many ways- at least from my limited understanding of the scientific method and the like. Whether you believe in global warming, cooling or that it's some kind of socialist conspiracy, we can all get behind the following facts, I hope: first- fossil fuels are finite. They will run out someday. What are we going to do then? Second and perhaps most importantly of all, the basic idea that we have one planet (so far) and we should take care of it should be another idea we can all get behind. You can't make a buck if there's nothing left of the planet but a ravaged. scarred up lump of rock. If saving the planet for everyone isn't something you can get behind, then surely saving the planet for the forces of capitalism is.

But overall: this is Kim Stanley Robinson! The writing kicks ass, the story is fascinating and if Robinson wants to make people think about something, he certainly succeeds with that. I think I'll always like the Mars Trilogy more than this one, but I have to give mad-props to a writer who is as consistently thought-provoking as Mr. Robinson is. Good stuff and well worth a read. (If global warming is your thing- also try 'Earth' by David Brin.) (less)

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Oct 19, 2009 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2006, science-fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson has made quite the reputatation as a science-fiction writer with his Mars trilogy winning numerous awards and accolates (all of them deserved).

Now, he’s back with a new trilogy. And while it would be easy to classify it as science-fiction, that might be selling the book short. Forty Signs of Rain is more than a science-fiction story, it’s a cautionary tale of what could go wrong if we don’t start paying attention to the environment.

What I liked about this book is there are s...more

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Aug 26, 2009 HRM Maire rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: continual-re-reads

This first in a trilogy is listed in SciFi, but it could easily be found in the regular fiction section, since everything in this book is perfectly believable and probably even prophetic.
The story revolves around a group of people involved in the problem solving efforts to respond to the very real evidence of global climate change. There is a lot of science discussed, which made it very interesting and educational, I thought, and shows what just might happen in the very near future if we don't g...more

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Jul 28, 2009 Joe rated it 2 of 5 stars

This is the first book in a trilogy of science-fiction novels.

I read this book out of order with the second. I was hoping that this book would be better than the next, that the middle book served as a connector between the ends -- instead, I enjoyed this book less.

The writing is easy to read, and the author is generally quite good. The characters are somewhat interesting. The main problem with this book is that not much really happens. Its main function is clearly to set up the background for ev...more

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May 20, 2009 Ann rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is very interesting. A different type of science fiction...

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Nov 26, 2012 Bradley rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: ebook, science-fiction

Kim Stanley Robinson is best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy ( Red Mars , Green Mars , and Blue Mars ) as well as The Years of Rice and Salt . With the publication of his newest novel, Forty Signs of Rain , Kim Stanley Robinson begins another trilogy of epic proportion.

Set primarily in Washington, D.C., Forty Signs of Rain tells the tale of a young environmental policy analyst for a popular U.S. Senator, and his wife, a scientist with the National Science Foundation. The book details man...more Kim Stanley Robinson is best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy ( Red Mars , Green Mars , and Blue Mars ) as well as The Years of Rice and Salt . With the publication of his newest novel, Forty Signs of Rain , Kim Stanley Robinson begins another trilogy of epic proportion.

Set primarily in Washington, D.C., Forty Signs of Rain tells the tale of a young environmental policy analyst for a popular U.S. Senator, and his wife, a scientist with the National Science Foundation. The book details many of the varying climatic changes occurring throughout the world, and the desire (or lack thereof) within our government to enact changes to care for the situation before it's too late.

The majority of the novel builds a few major characters while introducing us to the reality of the global scientific situation. Even though the topics are fairly mind-boggling, Robinson keeps readers engrossed by building interesting, fully-realized characters, and exploring their passions about their fields of science.

Unfortunately, since the novel is the first in a trilogy, there are a lot of loose ends left dangling, and the climax is rather flat, since, for most of the book, readers aren't quite sure where they are headed. The plot revolves around a small number of major characters, which Robinson takes ample time in developing, creating a rich, entertaining read, but with very little discernible direction. By changing locales, and sometimes, scientific tracks altogether; it's hard to see where the story is headed.

One thing Robinson does well, however, is in pulling complex events together, for the greater whole of the story. Approaching the final pages of Forty Signs of Rain, many events and situations fall into place, and the reader begins to see that nothing here is explored by accident. There is a very carefully plotted story here. A story only Kim Stanley Robinson can unveil so masterfully.

Despite its wanderings, the novel pulls together very satisfactorily near the end, exploring some exciting scenes, which are so realistic and believable; they feel as though they had been pulled from the morning newspaper. In fact, Robinson is careful not include any dates at all in Forty Signs of Rain, which will only add to its timelessness. If this series follows its commendable introduction in similar fashion, it will surely be a trilogy of astounding magnitude, and will not only represent fine literature, but will make a bold political statement as well. The 'Capital Code' trilogy, as it is being referred to, may very well become required reading for both global climate scientists, and political candidates.(less)

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May 27, 2012 Michael rated it 3 of 5 stars

This is the first in a trilogy about climate change. I think the author decided to really take his time because nearly nothing happened in this book. A scientist becomes passionate about life. A staffer on the Hill pushes for legislative action on global warming. Some Tibetans from an island nation threatened by rising sea levels move to Washington. And there is a big flood at the end.

That's pretty much it.

Kim Robinson is a good writer, so this wasn't hard to read, but it was a very long arc to...more

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Apr 02, 2011 Holly rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-reads

So policy-wonkish and earnest and unabashedly didactic. Behind the scenes among NSF technocrats and congressional advisers and West Coast biotech researchers. It was like the first half-hour of a disaster movie - always my favorite part - when the scientists are imparting the rudimentary science to the viewers, before the real "action" begins (at which I become bored). Dialogue that breaks all the rules - He: "Oh look it's the Gini coefficient! You're familiar with it, right?" She: "No. Can you...more

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Mar 27, 2009 Robin Wiley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi, life-changer, love-it-more-than-puppies

Have you ever seen the movie Day After Tomorrow where Global Warning almost ends the world and kills everyone in horrible ways? This is NOT THAT BOOK. For those of you that don't read KSR, his books are SO well researched and grounded in REAL science, they are called future history, not sci-fi.

The entire series takes place somewhere between tomorrow and 100 years from now. The north and south poles melt to the point that the ocean gets desalinated (less salt), and without the weight of the salt...more Have you ever seen the movie Day After Tomorrow where Global Warning almost ends the world and kills everyone in horrible ways? This is NOT THAT BOOK. For those of you that don't read KSR, his books are SO well researched and grounded in REAL science, they are called future history, not sci-fi.

The entire series takes place somewhere between tomorrow and 100 years from now. The north and south poles melt to the point that the ocean gets desalinated (less salt), and without the weight of the salt to pull the cold water down - the Atlantic Oceanic current (that circulates the warm and cold water) shuts down. No current means the Jet Stream wanders all over the place, instead of staying up in Canada. This means we get snow in Texas and Florida, and places like Washington and Missouri get winters with cold that 50 degrees below zero. If you've ever watched Ice Road Truckers you know that at that temperature, batteries just die, engines freeze up, electrical lines and trees just snap, and people can die very quickly without proper heat.

Global warming becomes a global climate crisis, and billions don't die, but thousands die and millions of people are miserable. Think about it - one citrus crop freezes and you don't die, but what if that weather stayed in Florida, Texas and Southern California for weeks? All their utilities are above ground, they don't have rock salt for roads, their plumbing pipes are plastic, they don't have winter coats, and they have no idea how to drive in the snow!

This book makes you understand the toll this would take on people, utilities, police and fire department, and local, state and federal governments. It also makes you understand how government works on a level you haven't seen since School House Rock's "I'm Just a Bill".

Depressing? NO. REALLY! The beauty of Robinson is he believes in us, and he believes in our ability to solve problems. He shows us the science that will save us - science that is here, or almost here - right now.

We follow 3 characters who have to live with the problems, and are part of the solution. They are all in the circle of the President, a dynamic guy who is busy and loves science, and gets elected after eight years of ideologs on the conservative side (not an unfamiliar scenario). The science is understandable. For instance, Tom Clancy makes me tired sometimes with his science. I skip pages. Give me the gist in a couple of sentences and move on already. Robinson does a great job of explaining the science enough to move the story, but not bore you.

The characters are interesting, smart people. The crisis is chilling but not doomsday. You'll read this series of 3 books, and want to buy it for your congressman and senators.

I loved it even more than his Mars trilogy, which is saying something!(less)

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Jan 24, 2013 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

Ummmm ... OK, I have mixed feelings about this one. I liked it well enough to read the whole thing, that says something. It was kind of interesting and kept my attention. On the other hand, I thought I was going to read a disaster book with a public conscience. Instead, I got a policy book with a plot.

Here's my movie analogy:
I thought I was going to watch a disaster movie.

At some point I realized it was more like I was watching a movie about a group of people watching a disaster movie.

Later, I...more

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Jan 20, 2009 Zach rated it 3 of 5 stars

If State of Fear ( http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ) were well-informed and written about ten times better, it might be something like this book.

While not nearly as good as the Mars trilogy or Antarctica, this is a solid novel about the politics of climate change and the human consequences. The four main characters all live in Washington D.C. and are involved in the hill's affairs as NSF scientists, senatorial staff, and private-sector researchers. As usual, scientists and the scientifi...more If State of Fear ( http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/... ) were well-informed and written about ten times better, it might be something like this book.

While not nearly as good as the Mars trilogy or Antarctica, this is a solid novel about the politics of climate change and the human consequences. The four main characters all live in Washington D.C. and are involved in the hill's affairs as NSF scientists, senatorial staff, and private-sector researchers. As usual, scientists and the scientifically informed are the heroes of the story, and their struggles with social institutions are a good primer on the complex ways science and government interact and the stakes involved. Also as usual, the scientific literature integrates seamlessly with the main plot, rather than as a series of obvious asides, so that you learn about the underlying topic naturally as the story unfolds. Robinson does this better than any other author I've read; I'm always fascinated by the technical minutiae he presents, whether it's a physical or chemical process, the drama of policy making, or the dynamics of funding research projects. You would think these topics would make for very dry reading, but Robinson turns them into page turners.

Overall, I enjoyed this book and found myself empathizing with the characters. The ending was an unsatisfying "this is the first book of a trilogy" kind of thing, but other than that I recommend it wholeheartedly.

Earlier impressions (part way through the book):

I love this man sooooo much. Quote about the nature of capitalism and democracy:

"You work every day of the year, except for three lousy weeks. You make around a hundred thousand dollars. Your boss takes two thirds, and gives you one third, and you give a third of that to the government. Your government uses what it takes to build all the roads and schools and police and pensions, and your boss takes his share and buys a mansion on an island somewhere. So naturally you complain about your bloated inefficient Big Brother of a government, and you always vote for the pro-owner party."

Note: the average American worker makes around 35K a year, and it's estimated they produce about twice that in value for their employer, which is where the two-thirds part comes from.(less)

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Dec 20, 2012 Macha rated it 4 of 5 stars

3 and a half stars. near future environmental sf: first of a trilogy. starts a bit slow: a lot of the book is setup for the trilogy, making me wonder if it wouldn't have been better to make two books out of that rather than three. anyone expecting a thriller, an elaborate plot, or an absence of scientific concepts will be disappointed, but that's usual with Robinson: he's a writer of many layers and complex personalities, who writes people the reader can care about from the inside out, and he's...more

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Feb 04, 2010 Kirktastic rated it 2 of 5 stars

I first heard of this book before the last series of big storms that were to hit California. I head of KSR as an author of other books and have the California Trilogy and Mars Trilogy books in my 'to read' queue. Due to the storm, I pushed this one to the top.

It is book one of a trilogy and most of the action -- the disaster porn I was looking for -- didn't come until the last 10% of the book. A lot of the setup in the first 90% started out as interesting but really would bog down the pacing. M...more

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Sep 30, 2012 beatricks rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

I've been interested in Kim Stanley Robinson for a while, since I muttered something to my sister about wanting books that dealt with limited resource management and she mentioned his Years of Rice and Salt. Then on a much later ecological sci-fi (which I feel a pull to write myself) hunt, I discovered some loglines that made him sound like my beloved Ursula K LeGuin; the description of his Three Californias trilogy, to be precise. Plus, he lives in Davis! *I* know people who live in Davis! So I...more I've been interested in Kim Stanley Robinson for a while, since I muttered something to my sister about wanting books that dealt with limited resource management and she mentioned his Years of Rice and Salt. Then on a much later ecological sci-fi (which I feel a pull to write myself) hunt, I discovered some loglines that made him sound like my beloved Ursula K LeGuin; the description of his Three Californias trilogy, to be precise. Plus, he lives in Davis! *I* know people who live in Davis! So I put the Three Californias and this -- which sounded incredibly relevant to my interests -- on my Bookmooch wishlist and had quite forgotten about it until it was sent to me a year later and, being in a bit of a reading rut with all my current chosen books, I opened it with curiosity. Only after I had gotten going did I realize I was once again breaking my no straight white male authors rule.

The story (insofar as there is one) is, on its face, indeed very relevant to my interests. It rotates between four POV characters, three scientists and one political staffer (also three male and one female, all white and straight) and is set in very-near-future Washington DC as well as San Diego. It deals with the scientific establishment's problems and politics within the context of trying to avert and reverse disastrous climate change. Also sort of cure disease via biomathematical algorithm, but that plotline kinda gets dropped, presumably to be picked up in the next part of the trilogy, because congratulations: you're accidentally reading a trilogy! The plot's inciting incident is the arrival of diasporatic Tibetan monks whose adopted island home, Khembalung, is threatened by rising sea levels. There is much discussion of politics and money setting agendas that continue to not serve public needs, of economic inequity, of Buddhist thought, of appreciating nature. All things I like.

But man oh man does this book not live up to its subject matter, ruined by the twin prongs of straight white male fakery and eye-peelingly mediocre writing. First, we have Frank. Frank is one of the male narrators, and he is the worst. Of course, the book is secretly all about him -- in the latter part of the novel the other POVs all but disappear as his chapters suddenly go from being one in four to every other, and looonger, and then the lone female character's chapter end up being about Frank too, just from her POV. Frank spends all his time thinking about: a) human behavior as just barely adapted from "the savannah" and how everything everyone does is appealing to unevolved instincts about caves and shit b) game theory and prisoners dilemmas vis-a-vis traffic, no really c) chicks and how wild and strong and appealing they are and how he doesn't MEAN to stalk them he just keeps accidentally chasing after them after they've made it clear they aren't interested d) how much he hates being a grownup and just wants to go back to San Diego and surf. Also he's like ~skeptical~ about Buddhism because of plot (it makes no sense given his love of athletics as a form of meditation) so that he can have the most atrociously written and interminal epiphany I've ever read when he realizes that EVERYTHING! IS! CONNECTED!

The other three narrators aren't so offensive -- the other dude scientist has no noticeable personality because his chapters are all about explaining biomath to the reader; the lady scientist's entire story is about her enjoyment of statistics and her helping the Khembalis; and her husband, staffer and stay-at-home dad is probably the best character although I could really do without the weird asides about his sex life. But there's no good reason none of the Khembalis are POV characters telling their own story, and the bizarre inconsequential pointings-out of race ("Washington is really run by unimpressed black secretaries!" "An unusual number of black people on the Mall make the city look like Carnival!") speak to a mild but ultimately backwards effort to be racially progressive.

The most interesting thing about this book is the part that Kim Stanley Robinson couldn't control and had no knowledge of; the fact that it was published just before Katrina and thus is basically all setup for a fictional climate-based natural disaster on U.S. soil, because (as is clearly his thesis) political action will only come about after the U.S. is directly affected by global warming. Haha, it's funny because in real life a much worse disaster happened than the one he envisioned, and it revolved entirely around political inaction. And has continued to not change shit, eight years later. Ha ha ha. Meanwhile, his frequent "everyone is happy and generous in a disaster!" (p.s. the Khembalis, whose makeshift island home is drowning, are just always happy period) statements fall flat at best.

Finally, this book suffers from a tragic and unacceptable dearth of commas. Who edited this shit. Oh, that's right: no one.

Straight white males! When will I learn my lesson? Back to the backburner you go, sir.(less)

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Mar 04, 2010 Bruce rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf

From http://flyingsinger.blogspot.com/2007...

I just finished Forty Signs of Rain (2004), the first volume of Kim Stanley Robinson's latest trilogy, on the subjects of rapid climate change and how the processes of science and scientists work (or don't work, in some cases). I love the realistic feeling of this novel - from the fascinating bits of science to the characters to the workings of the NSF, a biotech startup, and a senator's office. Set in the very near future, this book rang true for me...more

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Apr 18, 2010 Wilhelmina rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sf-fantasy-speculative, novel

I gave this book 4 stars because there were so many things I loved about it. First, it is set in Washington, DC, my hometown, during an ecological catastrophe. All of the lower lying areas are completely flooded, and the descriptions of the flooding were beautifully written and accurate. Second, the scientists and their discussions about their work and funding decisions were right on the mark. I loved them. The politics of legislative decisions was great as well, and would make good reading for...more

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May 02, 2013 Karl-Friedrich Lenz rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: global-warming-science-fiction

I found this over the list "Climate Change Fiction" I recently started.

There is not much happening for most of the novel. Most of it is just everyday life. I think this is more "scientist fiction" than "science fiction", since it largely deals with what scientists think and feel when doing their jobs.

The book doesn't tell the reader when things are supposed to be happening. Therefore there it is very difficult to say how realistic the developments on climate change are.

Clearly the author had a c...more

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May 13, 2013 Robert rated it 3 of 5 stars

It seems to me that this story would be rather dull for most people. What I found interesting about it was the insider information on the NSF and NSA. I imagine the NSF stuff is pretty accurate, but the author seems to think the NSA only hires people for one year. That is far from the truth. The people I know who work there are there for life, it seems. Robinson goes into quite a bit of detail about the LaJolla area, including the campus of UCSD, my alma mater. This material was fun for me, alth...more

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Oct 20, 2010 David rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This is the first book in z trilogy in which the story continues in the following volumes, so what I say about the one book may not properly reflect the series.

The book has interesting dialogs and examples about the relationships between science, government, economics and business; and some readers will enjoy character material. Some readers will be satisfied with just that. As a science fiction novel or as a topical novel on climate change, it's limited. The story is set at what only appears to...more

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Apr 29, 2013 Tim rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction, science-in-the-capital, thriller, reviewed

Dit is m'n eerste KSR-boek. De auteur stond al enkele jaren op mijn "te lezen" lijstje, vooral dan wat z'n "Mars"-trilogie betreft, maar het is er nog niet van gekomen, ook omdat het geen echte prioriteit was. Ik heb die trilogie ook (nog?) niet in m'n bezit, dus wordt dat lezen wel iets moeilijker.

Maar dan zie je een van z'n boeken op het boekenfestijn (in Kortrijk in april 2013) liggen en denk je "ja, waarom niet?". Bij thuiskomst bleek dat het om deel 3 ("De Verschroeide Aarde") gaat in de "S...more Dit is m'n eerste KSR-boek. De auteur stond al enkele jaren op mijn "te lezen" lijstje, vooral dan wat z'n "Mars"-trilogie betreft, maar het is er nog niet van gekomen, ook omdat het geen echte prioriteit was. Ik heb die trilogie ook (nog?) niet in m'n bezit, dus wordt dat lezen wel iets moeilijker.

Maar dan zie je een van z'n boeken op het boekenfestijn (in Kortrijk in april 2013) liggen en denk je "ja, waarom niet?". Bij thuiskomst bleek dat het om deel 3 ("De Verschroeide Aarde") gaat in de "Science In The Capital"-trilogie. Leuk als je (vertaalde) exemplaar dat niet specifiek vermeldt. De eerste twee delen zijn niet meer verkrijgbaar, toch voor zover ik gezocht heb, tenzij bij De Slegte. Dus, niet twijfelen in zo'n geval en gewoonweg bestellen.

Geen Science Fiction dit keer, of toch misschien wel. Er komt science aan te pas, met o.a. al die biotechbedrijfjes/ven en de verhouding/relatie met de politieke wereld. En er komt fiction aan te pas, dan wel gebaseerd op hoe het zou kunnen zijn als (in dit geval) Amerika (weer eens?) geconfronteerd wordt met hevige regens, stormen, zware overstromingen en zo meer.

"Het Broeikaseffect" is dus het eerste deel in deze trilogie. Met veel interesse ben ik er aan begonnen, maar zoals sommigen in hun reviews schreven, gebeurt er op zich niet veel in dit boek. Je moet wel een beetje je hoofd erbij houden met de verschillende personages die de revue passeren, want de ene keer volg je x, dan y, dan interacties tussen a, b en c. Ofte, wetenschappers en politiekers, waarbij de eerste proberen subsidies te krijgen voor projecten en de laatste dus dienen overtuigd te worden, maar ergens ook wel terughoudend zijn, ook wel bezorgd zijn om hun imago/ego/... Kortweg: het is een harde, koude wereld.

Hoewel ik moet toegeven dat hoofdstuk 8 enige spirituele inslag (boeddhistisch) heeft en dat geeft een interessante toets aan het geheel. Sta me toe enkele stukjes te citeren:

1) "Wij zijn dieren. Dieren wier wijsheid zo ver is gegroeid dat we nu weten dat we sterfelijke wezens zijn. Ons leven is eindig. En dat weten we al vijftigduizend jaar. Veel van onze mentale energie is gericht op het mijden van deze wetenschap. We denken er niet graag aan. Maar ja, inmiddels weten we dat zelfs de kosmos sterfelijk is. Net als de werkelijkheid. Alles is voortdurend in verandering. Niet blijft onveranderd in de tijd. Niets bestaat eeuwig. Dus rijst de vraag: wat te doen met deze kennis? Hoe gaan we ermee om? Hoe kunnen we er wijs uit worden?"

2) "Een overdaad aan ratio is op zich een vorm van waanzin." (dit zou een Tibetaans spreekwoord zijn - ik hoop dat Kim Stanley Robinson z'n huiswerk gemaakt heeft) (en dit citaat vormt ook de basis voor een veranderde situatie voor een van de personages aka Frank)

3) "Verlichting kan zich vanuit het niets manifesteren."

4) "De afzonderlijke stukjes van het bewustzijn vormen zich zo nu en dan tot een compleet geheel."

Soit, de wereld gaat er dus aan, want global warming is een feit en de mens holt al jaren achter de feiten aan, want er wordt al jaren niet genoeg gedaan om catastrofes te vermijden of zo goed mogelijk op te vangen en dan is men verbaasd over de gevolgen (afgesloten zijn van de buitenwereld wegens geen stroom, geen telefonie, geen internet?).

Zoals gezegd gebeurt er weinig in dit deel, maar de laatste 200-tal bladzijden (grof geschat) breekt zowat de hel los en dan lees je hoe men zich moet redden en dies meer. Het leest vlot, de vertaling is goed gedaan en je kan je wel inleven in de situatie en gevoelens van sommige personages.

En ergens wel 'logisch' dat het eindigt met de hypocrisie van een politieker. Maar goed, dit is enkel deel 1 van de drie. Het verhaal gaat dus verder. Moet ook wel, anders was het maar een raar einde, me dunkt.(less)

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Aug 24, 2010 Brian Maicke rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary, science-fiction

I picked this up thinking it was a one shot story, instead it turned out to be the first book in a trilogy, so perhaps my rating is tempered by my expectations.

Forty Signs of Rain is not a traditional science-fiction novel, in fact, its more of a cross between environmental activism and eco-thriller with some science thrown in. My main gripe is that nothing much happens in the book. This first book serves as one long introduction to all the characters and provides the political backdrop in DC an...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Stonebender rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I think, all three of the books in this series, should have been published as one. None of the three novels stand on their own. Except for never really buying the love story and not particularly liking Frank as a person, I really enjoyed these books. It made me want to look into Buddhism a little more carefully. I did however get a bit depressed about our current environmental situation. A lot of the solutions although perhaps technically achievable I'm afraid I just don't see the political will...more

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Jun 24, 2010 Diane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Since this author spoke at my son's graduation from UCSD, I thought I'd give his work a try - and will now read more of it. I was particularly struck by the parallels between his theme of scientists' frustration with their role in studying global climate change when more directly helpful actions seem called for and what's been going on in the Gulf of Mexico with the giant BP oil spill. There's an article in the NYT about bluefin tuna, noting that even as the oil spreads into bluefin spawning ter...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Wanderoo rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'd give it 5 stars if he'd cut back on some of the ruminating on Emerson and other philosophical musings--it makes it hard to recommend to people as a plausible scenario for dealing with climate change--too many potential readers would be put the book down as too wordy. I do wish Obama would read this trilogy (it includes Fifty Degrees Below and Thirty Days and Waiting) and take it to heart. Robinson is the best hard science spec fiction writer I've ever read. He makes the oncoming disaster of...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Jacob rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: powells_sf_group

The writing is okay (quite readable but nothing special) and the idea is pretty good, but the core problem with this book is that nothing happens for the first 75%. You could compress the first 300 pages down to 50 and the book wouldn't lose anything in quality of story, because you'd still get to know the main characters as much as you need to. Instead, I now know them better than I know many of my cousins. Clearly, I should have spent my reading time on the phone with my cousins instead.

The fi...more

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Dec 08, 2012 Mitchell rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, powellssfgroup, public-library, science-fiction, series

A re-read for the Powells sf group to be discussed at Powells Beaverton on Tuesday Dec 11th at 7pm. I liked this a bit better than I remembered - perhaps because I liked Frank in the 2nd book and therefore I liked him better on a reread in the first book. There was even a storm Sandy drowning a city - though DC rather than New York and as a Tropical Storm rather than a Hurricane. Still I liked its discussion of doing science in the US. And its relationship to Buddha. But is it science fiction? W...more

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About Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson is an American science fiction writer, probably best known for his award-winning Mars trilogy.

His work delves into ecological and sociological themes regularly, and many of his novels appear to be the direct result of his own scientific fascinations, such as the 15 years of research and lifelong fascination with Mars which culminated in his most famous work. He has, due to his...more

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Forty Signs of Rain (Science in the Capitol #1)

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