Aurora

KSR has always specialized in "realistic" feeling sci fi with characters that terraform and survive in tough settings through science, technological know-how, and political organizing. But his recent climate-change novels have gotten pretty bleak at some points- I couldn't finish Ministry for the Future.

Luckily Aurora isnt tough going like that - its lively, enjoyable reading. It's the kind of multi-generational space voyage and settlement narrative - laced with lots of technology and science talk -- that many sci fi writers have covered before, but he stops to ask a question I can't recall encountering before: what if this is a terrible idea? What if humans really can't conquer the stars?

I had to return this to the library, so I was only able to get 3/4 through the book. However, the 3/4 that I read absolutely deserve a four star rating. The novel is about the lives of the crew of an intergenerational space ship headed for Tau Ceti, as well as the ship itself. The ship is politically organized in what I can only call a system of decentralized technocratic Leninism. There are multiple equally important self-selecting councils that all send delegates to the executive council. Midway through there are some events that really test the crew, and it shows that even though raising scientists is absolutely vital in an environment like the ship, having some people who know about governance and justice might be the difference between life and death.