Blue Remembered Earth
Ratings37
Average rating3.9
15
Ratings37
Average rating3.9
BLUE REMEMBERED EARTH is the first volume in a monumental trilogy tracing the Akinya family across more than ten thousand years of future history ... out beyond the solar system, into interstellar space and the dawn of galactic society. One hundred and fifty years from now, in a world where Africa is the dominant technological and economic power, and where crime, war, disease and poverty have been banished to history, Geoffrey Akinya wants only one thing: to be left in peace, so that he can continue his studies into the elephants of the Amboseli basin. But Geoffrey's family, the vast Akinya business empire, has other plans. After the death of Eunice, Geoffrey's grandmother, erstwhile space explorer and entrepreneur, something awkward has come to light on the Moon, and Geoffrey is tasked - well, blackmailed, really - to go up there and make sure the family's name stays suitably unblemished. But little does Geoffrey realise - or anyone else in the family, for that matter - what he's about to unravel. Eunice's ashes have already have been scattered in sight of Kilimanjaro. But the secrets she died with are about to come back out into the open, and they could change everything. Or shatter this near-utopia into shards ...
Featured Series
3 primary booksPoseidon's Children is a 3-book series with 3 primary works first released in 2012 with contributions by Alastair Reynolds.
Reviews with the most likes.
No redeemable features whatsoever. I kept reading waiting for the plot set up, there was none. Three hours in and no plot, no connection with any of the characters, no interesting world building. And you would expect that a post world ending war with humanity colonizing other planets things would be interesting.
I stopped reading after the most interesting thing that happened was the discover of a glove in a safe box in a bank on the moon, an inheritance for the members of the family of the woman that seems like was a key factor in humanity colonizing other planets.
Too much stalling to reveal how important that glove was, and then there was the introduction of human like AIs, robots that could mimic human personalities based on historical facts collected about that person. That was too much for me. “Hey grandma, what does this mysterious glove that no one knew existed means? Grandma robot: I don't know”. Don't know? Really? I'm SHOCKED!
Read 3:06 / 21:45 14%
Blue Remembered Earth is good SF – as I have come to expect from Alastair Reynolds. Not his top work for me (that place is held by [b:Pushing Ice 89186 Pushing Ice Alastair Reynolds https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1309197028l/89186.SY75.jpg 2622804] followed by [b:The Prefect 89195 The Prefect (Prefect Dreyfus Emergency, #1) Alastair Reynolds https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327988786l/89195.SX50.jpg 3102565]), but still a good read.Late in the 22nd century multiple global crises have changed the geopolitical landscape, and Africa is home to the major powers. Geoffrey Akinya is a biologist. Though he is a member of the powerful Akinya Space clan, he is only interested in studying elephants and enabling their future. However, that is not to be. When his famous grandmother dies, he is tasked with retrieving something listed in her will. That sets Geoffrey and his sister off following clues to an old mystery. Their quest will take them all over the solar system. Along the way they find unexpected allies, suffer betrayals, and encounter lots of desperate situations.As usual with an Alastair Reynolds story, there are lots of twists and cool speculations on future tech.Solid 4 stars.
What a thoroughly enjoyable story. From the respect of science, through the centering on Africa and China to the positing of how a world would be shaped by a loss of privacy and the experience of surviving catastrophe, I find very little unpleasant in Blue Remembered Earth. In fact at the moment I can think of nothing. It is. Mystery and adventure story with robots spaceships, intrigue and murder. And while you may guess certain points along the way it will surprise you often. Read it.
An interesting storyline and interesting characters, but the writing felt consistently flat and I struggled to get through much of the book.
