Name: Kim Stanley Robinson Well known science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson lives in Davis with his wife and children. His most popular work is the award-winning Mars trilogy. A detailed biography is available on Wikipedia.
Works include:
The Three Californias Trilogy:
- The Wild Shore (1984)
- The Gold Coast (1988)
- Pacific Edge (1990)
- Red Mars (1993)
- Green Mars (1994)
- Blue Mars (1996)
plus
- The Martians (1999) - Not a sequel, but a collection of works related to the Mars trilogy.
Science in the Capital:
- Forty Signs of Rain (2004)
- Fifty Degrees Below (2005)
- Sixty Days and Counting (Feb 27, 2007)
Standalone Novels:
- Icehenge (1984)
- The Memory of Whiteness (1985)
- A Short, Sharp Shock (1990)
- Antarctica (1997)
- The Years of Rice and Salt (2002)
- "Galileo's Dream" (2009)
- "2312" (2012)
Collections:
- The Planet of the Table (1986)
- Escape from Kathmandu (1990)
- Remaking History (1991)
His alternate history novel The Years of Rice and Salt is partially set in Davis, as are portions of The Martians, a companion book to the Mars trilogy. Though not set in Davis, issues discussed in many of his books, such as Cooperative Housing and businesses, Choice Voting, false/post scarcity economics, Climate Change, and trying to clear nutsedge out of gardens, will feel familiar to Davisites. Robinson's latest book, Fifty Degrees Below also featured Disc Golf in a Washington DC park, which may have also come from his residency in town.
Kim Stanley Robinson occasionally has book signings at Davis Bookstores, and signed copies of his books can often be found at The Avid Reader and Bogey's Books. He is an occasional speaker on campus, and has been seen at the Davis Food Co-op and Sudwerk.
See also: Published Authors
He was an activist regarding West Village. Before it was built, he wrote an op-ed for the Davis Enterprise suggesting it be built north and south of Hutchison Drive parallel to Highway 113 without bordering Russell Boulevard and helped with legal action by a West Davis residents group.
- Quoted from KSR's editorial printed by the Davis Enterprise, April 17, 2005: "The university's administration, frustrated by Davis' commitment to slow growth, decided to build its own town. And when it comes to the University of California system, we do not have enough of the checks and balances that elsewhere serve American government so well." [entire letter is at: http://infoweb.newsbank.com/iw-search/we/InfoWeb?p_product=AWNB&p_theme=aggregated5&p_action=doc&p_docid=10993CD78D52622A&p_docnum=3&p_queryname=2 ]
This guy needs to start editing the wiki! - KenjiYamada
I'm a big fan... where do I find more information about his current projects and dates of his talks in Davis? - ClaireB
According to my sources in the publishing community he doesn't have anything scheduled to be released, but there is one that is supposed to be out next year (but there is no set date). However since he has done a lot of short stories over time, its hard to say what he may or may not be working on without me just calling him up and asking. Of course, that'd be sorta rude. Although, I suppose I could call up Random House and ask... -SunjeetBaadkar
- "Alrighty, so I ended up running into him at an author party event. So I talked to him and asked what his next project will be on behalf of you guys (as well as for myself since I read his books). He was generous enough to let me know that it will be a science fiction book and will be about Galileo. He barely went into a much more detail but said to just tell you guys this. The tentative release date will be around August 2009. This info is current as of 3/29/08." - SunjeetBaadkar
- "Borders.com shows Galileo's Dream releasing on Dec 29, 2009, but you can already purchase it in the UK. 06/28/2009" - DannyMilks