Book Log 2012 #33: 2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

At some point in the 300 years between this book's publication and its titular year, humankind has spread itself across the solar system, from glassed-in communities on Mercury to small, frigid settlements on Pluto and just about everything in between. But all isn't what it's cracked up to be, as there seems to be a plot to disrupt this spread - now focusing on terraforming Venus - that may be led by a new consciousness rising from an unexpected source.

There's a lot to like about this book, in its sweeping vision of a potential future and in its detailed approach to portraying how humans may best adapt to life in a developed cosmos (you may want to prepare yourself for having some additional body parts, for one thing). Some of the text outside of the main narrative (a fragmentary history of the solar system and the disjointed memories of someone or something) can be challenging, as it's not always clear how it's adding to the story, but this tends to work itself out.

My main concern with the novel is the ending, which is abrupt and wraps things up a little too neatly for what came before it. The ending leaves me wondering if this was going to be part of trilogy and, for whatever reason, it was decided to go with one long book instead.

I don't read a lot of straight science fiction, not sure that this book will goad me to read more, but on the balance I feel more positive about it than negative.