Call number
Series
Genres
Publication
Orb Books (1995), Reprint, Paperback
Pages
336
Description
North America, 2065. In a world that has rediscovered harmony with nature, the village of El Modena, California is an ecotopia in the making. Kevin Claiborne, a young builder who has grown up in this "green" world, now finds himself caught up in the struggle to preserve his community's idyllic way of life from the resurgent forces of greed and exploitation.The final volume in Kim Stanley Robinson's Three Californias triptych, Pacific Edge is a brilliant work of science fiction and an outstanding literary achievement.
Awards
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Winner — 1991)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1990-09
Physical description
336 p.; 8.5 inches
ISBN
0312890389 / 9780312890384
Similar in this library
Earth by David Brin
User reviews
LibraryThing member RobertDay
The third of KSR's linked 'Orange County' trilogy, 'Pacific Edge' concerns small-town politics in a California reshaped by a quiet, anti-corporatist revolution. We follow a number of protagonists in an ordinary life that is nonetheless radically different from our own time. These future
And yet there is a serpent in the garden, in the form of multi-national corporate forces stirring in the background. One of the protagonists of the book, an old-time campaigner, works to help uncover the powers behind a local building proposal; and although he had a hand in the change that made the world he lived in, he has to come out of self-imposed retreat to engage with change in his community.
Lest it look as though we are dealing wholly with first-world problems here, Robinson has that view challenged by other characters; and there are events and tragedies that shape the outcome of the story.
There is also another story, told in flashback, about how the world of the novel came about, and how that change was exercised on a global scale.
For a book written in 1990, the view of the coming world seems very prescient. Everyone is electronically connected with everyone else (and although the book pre-dates the internet and global personal communications, and the tech isn't quite what we now see, the society's engagement with the rest of the global village seems quite consistent with how things worked out in practice); environmental issues are taken very seriously, politics has gone through something of a re-alignment and the corporate world has been radically altered. Unusually, the process by which that corporate world, seemingly so entrenched in our own time, is described; global 'people power' is seen as the transforming influence, coupled to a willingness for the state to finally flex its legal muscles when the demands from the electorate become too insistent. Quietly, this is a very political book.
I certainly engaged with it, even though everyday life in California is something I only know very much at third hand, and I have no interest in softball whatsoever. I now want to re-read the entire Orange County trilogy to see exactly how Robinson pulled off the trick; this book has taken so long to rise to the top of my 'to be read' pile that I only have the slightest recollection of the other books in the series. But I shall be returning to Robinson's Orange County soon.
Show More
Californians live an almost pastoral life, following their own artisanal occupations, providing municipal volunteer labour and following their own interests, whether that be softball, gliding or all-in wrestling. The world is electronically connected, and people have a global consciousness. Orange County in this novel appears a veritable liberal hippie paradise.And yet there is a serpent in the garden, in the form of multi-national corporate forces stirring in the background. One of the protagonists of the book, an old-time campaigner, works to help uncover the powers behind a local building proposal; and although he had a hand in the change that made the world he lived in, he has to come out of self-imposed retreat to engage with change in his community.
Lest it look as though we are dealing wholly with first-world problems here, Robinson has that view challenged by other characters; and there are events and tragedies that shape the outcome of the story.
There is also another story, told in flashback, about how the world of the novel came about, and how that change was exercised on a global scale.
For a book written in 1990, the view of the coming world seems very prescient. Everyone is electronically connected with everyone else (and although the book pre-dates the internet and global personal communications, and the tech isn't quite what we now see, the society's engagement with the rest of the global village seems quite consistent with how things worked out in practice); environmental issues are taken very seriously, politics has gone through something of a re-alignment and the corporate world has been radically altered. Unusually, the process by which that corporate world, seemingly so entrenched in our own time, is described; global 'people power' is seen as the transforming influence, coupled to a willingness for the state to finally flex its legal muscles when the demands from the electorate become too insistent. Quietly, this is a very political book.
I certainly engaged with it, even though everyday life in California is something I only know very much at third hand, and I have no interest in softball whatsoever. I now want to re-read the entire Orange County trilogy to see exactly how Robinson pulled off the trick; this book has taken so long to rise to the top of my 'to be read' pile that I only have the slightest recollection of the other books in the series. But I shall be returning to Robinson's Orange County soon.
Show Less
LibraryThing member paperloverevolution
Pacific Edge has its problems - it's hard to construct a plausible ecotopia that's not both annoying and boring. There's a lot of softball and jogging involved, and a lot of irritatingly long-winded town-planning discussions. However, the ending, which is discordant, disturbing, and lovely, goes
Show More
far to redeem it. His ideas about sustainable technology are interesting as well. Worth reading, though not as strong as the other two. Show Less
LibraryThing member macha
small, lovely. last book in the Three Californias trilogy describing three different possible futures for Orange County, where the author grew up. this one's a utopian novel that made me believe in its optimistic vision while i was in it. published in 1990, describing a potential timeline to its
Show More
now of 2065. from this now, too late perhaps. but still.... Show Less
LibraryThing member brakketh
Really enjoyed each iteration of this series, this borderline utopia was interesting and thoroughly Californian (I assume) in feel.
LibraryThing member sarcher
The themes of this book were the most interesting of the three. The first book was post collapse, the second a cyberpunk dystopia, and this third one a cooperative utopia. These are all rough boxes to put the books in - there were attractive areas of society in book 2, and unattractive areas of
With a narrow narrative focus through the main character who suffers defeat after defeat, I was just bummed out by the end. I think that was the point, so I guess it did a good job.
Show More
society in book 3, but it generally holds.With a narrow narrative focus through the main character who suffers defeat after defeat, I was just bummed out by the end. I think that was the point, so I guess it did a good job.
Show Less
LibraryThing member mmparker
I'm not sure I'd recommend this book widely, but I connected with it in some surprising, jolting ways. The vision of a more just future, the abundant nature, Kevin's struggle with his emotions and sadness, Tom's life... A lot to chew on here, moreso than the first two books of the triptych. This
Show More
feels like a true KSR novel at last (and that makes clear to me how much Le Guin influenced him). Show Less