Icehenge

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: Danny Campbell, Kevin T. Collins, Carla Mercer-Meyer

Length: 11 hrs and 50 mins

Publisher's summary

On the North Pole of Pluto there stands an enigma: a huge circle of standing blocks of ice, built on the pattern of Earth's Stonehenge - but 10 times the size, standing alone at the farthest reaches of the Solar System. What is it? Who came there to build it?

The secret lies, perhaps, in the chaotic decades of the Martian Revolution, in the lost memories of those who have lived for centuries.

©1984 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2018 Tantor

I can't finish it. I just don't care.

Kim Stanley Robinson is one of my favorite authors. The Mars trilogy. Forty Days series. Many of his stand alone books, particularly Days of Rice and Salt. I was happy to find another of his stand-alones and looking forward to it.

The first section of Icehenge is very good. Enjoyable, thought-provoking, forward-looking, science dependant, with slightly juvenile interpersonal relationships but solid overall.

The second section has an entirely different feel, more of a crusty old-fashioned spacer looking for his big break gritty drama. It was also enjoyable and the callbacks to the first part were meaningful.

The third part, which has driven me away, is anchored by a whiny protagonist about whom I just don't care. I can see the theme that appears to be the big payoff (I think. If I never finish the book I will never know if I got it all wrong and some twist finale makes this third section worthwhile.) has something to do with how our perception of historical events can be twisted by politics. personal bias, and social change over time. There may also be elements acknowledging that each generation assumes they are more brilliant than the previous and has a better grasp on Truth. Perhaps my distaste for this section is related to the dearth of adherence to fact in current real world political discourse.

If I ever push through to the end, I will update my review and give more credit if due!

Sort of fun

... until you get to the third part and figure out that it's going nowhere.

Surprisingly anti-climactic

The science, the idea, the writing are all phenomenal. Without question one of KSR’s coolest ideas. Full of the deep research expected from any KSR book. Having listened to every single one of his books, Icehenge is by far bottom of the barrel. The mystery is interesting and was really gripping at moments. But the book only really gripped me in the last hour or so of listening. Overall, decent, but lacks some seriously gripping material.

Kind of Scattered and I didn't keep up

Kind of Scattered and I didn't keep up. the story jumps back and forth several hundred years to different characters without notice.

Not KSRs best wotk

I struggled to finish this. The narrative and characters are way less polished than his later works. This feels like a set piece.

Great characters, don’t look for closure

KSR has grown on me. Despite his sharp left turns in plots, and the sometimes disappointing and less than heroic realistic conclusions to some stories, he is enthralling to read. His flawed characters striving for more mixed with hard hard science make for a great binge weekend. I hope that the ship of fools gets its own book.

It's kind of a neat pseudo-mystery.

I liked the story. It's in the same universe that Kim always writes in. Not bad, but less than some of his other stories.

Great book by a SciFi master

Icehenge is an excellent, but often overlooked, early novel by Kim Stanley Robinson. The narration is top notch.

Stonehenge on Pluto

Kim Stanley Robinson’s Icehenge is a set of three novella length tales that are temporally separated but related by the presence of a mysterious ‘henge’ on Pluto fashioned in ice. The first tale, in the 23rd century, involves a mutiny that results in the mutineers taking off for a distant star. Political issues on Mars form the basis for a revolution there. The second installment takes place three centuries later and concerns an archeologist investigating causes for the former revolution. A diary is found, tying the engineer to the mutiny with a mention of the structure, while at the same time, ‘icehenge’ is formally discovered. The third piece involves a descendant of the archeologist investigating the structure on Pluto and raises the possibility of planting of documents that questions the conclusions about tis origins.

Robinson loosely ties together three tales, temporally separated by connecting them with an artificial structure on Pluto that harkens to the 2001 monolith. Each tale is a standalone novella entertaining in themselves. In aggregate, the connections are less than satisfying.

The narration is well done with three distinct narrators for each tale. Pacing is smooth and brisk.

One of the most frustrating book I ever listion to

I never write a review but this book made me mad. The 3 Main character in this book kept repeating the same thing over and over and over and over again to the point i wanted to rip my hair out of my head.

Don't waist your time with this book if your looking for a exciting sci fi book. You wont find it here.