Red Moon by Kim Stanley RobinsonMy rating: 3 of 5 stars
The last two books I read by Robinson were 2132 and New York: 2140. I loved 2132--the speculation was amazing and detailed, and the main character was a fascinating personality. I liked New York: 2140--again strong speculation, and an endearing earnestness.
This one was not up to those standards. Actually it was pretty dry. Lots of infodump exposition. There are two main characters--Fred Fredericks, a quantum computing specialist on the autism spectrum, and Chan Qi, the daughter of a top Chinese Communist Party official. Fred's portrayal is accurate but kind of dull, and Chan Qi only comes reflected through others as kind of a one-dimensional idealistic hard case. Not much serious speculation--though it's set in the 2040's really it's kind of present tense, right down to the politics. That being the case, I predict it will not age well. Supposedly the Chinese will have an extensive moon base by then. We'll see. In any case, it is OK but not great.
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