Seveneves
Without warning Earth’s moon has been obliterated by “an event.” Now humans have an accelerated timeline to figure out how to sustain life in space, because in two years anyone left on land will not survive the fallout from what is being called the “white rain.” Select few survive the space travels and these remaining individuals will create offspring that will have to carry on their ancestors’ legacies for 5,000 years until the Earth can be inhabited once again. Only, they find more than they bargained for when they return to the surface of the planet.
This was a fascinating book. The time span the novel takes place in allows room for engaging subjects like the evolution of humans over thousands of years. It also goes into great detail about what it would be like, scientifically, to live in space and create a foundation for a civilization there. I truly think this was an amalgamation of The Foundation series by Isaac Asimov and The Martin by Andy Weir. It is like Foundation in that the human race is forced by circumstance to travel through space and flourish in and around other planets. Seveneves was also very reminiscent of The Martian in respect to the deep detail of the scientific descriptions of how each challenge is accomplished along the way. I have to admit, that for as intriguing as I find the premise of the book, I think that the extent to which each aspect is described with specific detail in scientific background makes it more difficult to focus on the character development of the storyline. Stephenson definitely gives you histories and backdrops, but I would have liked to have been consumed enough by the personalities that I couldn’t put the book down. This was lacking for me in this novel and I think that Weir does a much better job of balancing the action, science, and comedy tripod to perfection. There were several times I found myself zoning back into the story but knew I didn’t have to go back and re-read because it was all semantics.
This book would be ideal for you if you couldn’t get enough of the background information in The Martian or any Tom Clancy novel. I would also recommend this book if you love the theories and discussions on living in space.
Malia's Pizza Rating
Anti-gravity pizza – the lazy man’s dream come true not having to even hold your pizza while you eat it!