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Aurora (466 pages)
Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Aurora is one of those slow burning Sci-Fi novels that never actually explodes into a plot point, but it doesn’t become boring because of it.
It is a slow story, but it packs enough elements that it’s easy to just sit back and enjoy the ride. It also throws a few philosophical questions up in the air, without anyone in the book having the answer. If you enjoy putting the book down and pondering a bit about what just happened in what you read, you can expect a few of those moments.
In the end the book does have an agenda. It’s a going far away from home to realize what you had all along kind of story. But it doesn’t bend backwards to try to fit the resolution into it.
I did feel some disappointed with the Artificial Intelligence story arc. Without spoiling it, through the book the AI (rightly) becomes one of the main characters. The way this happens is a very interesting technical and psychological twist. However, there’s no epilogue about some of the events that took place. This which doesn’t quite fit into my understanding of the rest of the characters.
You don’t have to run and read this book. But if you enjoyed Red Mars, like deep space travel sci-fi, and have some reading time, it’s not a waste of time.