Forty Signs Of Rain

The first of three linked novels set in the strife-torn world of big science, operating out of the corrupt political heart of the developed world.

What happens when the tipping point is reached?

Some sites describe this novel as 'Tom Wolfe meets Michael Crichton'. Ignore them. This is, for the most part, a slow, almost meditative book that meshes Robinson's usual flair for characterisation and description with a variety of thoughtful interpretations - ecological, sociological, biological, even buddhist - of a near-future Washington, D.C. It is also a novel about change; various types of singularity-like events take place, from an abrupt climactic shift to a personal epiphany and a quasi-Kuhnian scientific revolution.

Recommended for those who want a good Kim Stanley Robinson novel, but don't have the time or the stamina for the full Mars trilogy.

-- Niall Harrison? 10/01/2004

Guardian review

http://books.guardian.co.uk/reviews/sciencefiction/0,6121,1124626,00.html