2312 (novel)

''2312'' is a hard science fiction novel by American writer Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 2012. It is set in the year 2312 when society has spread out across the Solar System. The novel won the 2013 Nebula Award for Best Novel.2012 Nebula Award Winners
" Locus Magazine, May 18, 2013.

Plot summary

The novel is set in the year 2312, in the great city of Terminator on Mercury, which is built on gigantic tracks in order to constantly stay in the planet's habitable zone near the terminator. Swan Er Hong, an artist and former asteroid terrarium designer, is grieving over the sudden death of her step-grandmother, Alex, who was very influential among the inhabitants of Terminator. After the funeral procession, a conference is held among the family and the close friends of Alex, some of whom Swan has never heard of. This includes Fitz Wahram, a native of the moon Titan, and Jean Genette, a police detective who has been exiled from Mars. Following the conference, Swan decides to head out to Io to visit another friend of Alex's, called Wang, who has designed one of the largest qubes, or quantum computers. While Swan is visiting Wang on Io, an apparent attack of some sort fails. An attack on Terminator shortly follows; a meteorite of artificial origin destroys the city's tracks, stopping the city and exposing it to sun, essentially cooking it. As Swan travels, she learns more of the mystery surrounding her grandmother's death and the destruction of her home-city of Terminator. With Wahram and Genette, Swan travels throughout the Solar System and investigates an escalating series of conspiracies.

Inspector Genette eventually discovers how the artificial meteorite that destroyed Terminator was created: someone launched a large number of smaller objects on trajectories that would eventually cause them to coalesce above Mercury, but low enough that the planet's defense system could not destroy the now large object in time. The complexity of the attack leads Genette to determine that quantum computers must have been used.

Meanwhile, Swan and Wahram become involved in restoring and rewilding the climate-change-ravaged Earth by returning thousands of species from space-based temporary environments to their home environments on the Earth. Swan and Wahram fall in love over the course of the novel, marrying at the end.

Characters

* Swan Er Hong. An artist and former asteroid terrarium designer
* Fitz Wahram. Diplomat from the moon Titan
* Jean Genette. A "small" who was a close friend to Alex
* Alex. Influential and deceased scientist and diplomat. Swan's step-grandmother
* Mqaret. A scientist and Alex's partner
* Kiran. A young Earth boy who saves Swan from some trouble in his slum-like hometown. In thanks, Swan gives him a job off-planet.

Themes

Science and technology

In the world of the novel, the planets Mercury, Venus, and Mars are inhabited by humans, as are the moons of Saturn and Jupiter. Humans have a presence or are building a presence on all the inhabitable surfaces within the Solar System (including moons and satellites). Almost all of the Solar System's largest asteroids have been hollowed out to form "terrariums", which include interior artificial environment designed to mimic various biomes found on earth or combinations of different biomes. Some of these serve as animal reserves or farms for endangered or underproduced flora and fauna. Humans take shuttles to these asteroids and use them as transportation around the system. Some of these terraria fail, such as one where a mistake in programming led to the near-destruction of the asteroid, and another where a small crack in the terrarium's ice wall destroyed most of its population.

In the novel, scientific and technological advances, such as human enhancement, settlements on other planets, and terraforming, have opened gateways to an extraordinary future. One major innovation are the ''qubes'', which are quantum computers possessing artificial intelligence, often small enough that the wearer can have one implanted into their head or attached to their person, like one might wear a watch or carry a phone. Digital, as opposed to quantum, AI is still in use but is being supplanted by the smaller and much more powerful qubes.

Capitalism has been replaced by a planned economy described as based on the mondragon concept controlled by the quantum computers, but on Earth there are still remnants of the market system.

Sex, sexuality and gender

Gender and sexuality within this world is fluid and expansive, with the principal categories of gender and sexuality listed to include feminine, masculine, androgynous, ambisexual, bisexual, neuter, eunuch, nonsexual, undifferentiated, gay, lesbian, queer, invert, homosexual, polymorphous, poly, labile, berdache, hijra, and two-spirit.

As part of a lifespan extending process many people exhibit intersex or "gynandromorphous" sex characteristics, including both penises and vaginas.

Development

Robinson has said that the novel began with the idea of a romance between two characters from Mercury and Saturn ("mercurial" and "saturnine" in temperament, respectively), with the broader setting developing later.Martín, Sara. "A Celebration of Mature Love: Posthuman Sexuality, Gender, and Romance in Kim Stanley Robinson's 2312." Science Fiction Studies, vol. 49 no. 3, 2022, p. 459-475. Project MUSE, https://dx.doi.org/10.1353/sfs.2022.0047.

Terminator, a city that slowly drives around Mercury to stay out of direct line from the Sun, first appeared in Robinson's earlier novel ''The Memory of Whiteness'', as well as appearing during a brief mention in his ''Mars'' Trilogy. Terminator is also briefly mentioned in Robinson's 2015 novel ''Aurora''.

Reception

Critical reception for ''2312'' has been mixed to positive, with ''Strange Horizons'' saying that "readers must make up their own minds". ''The BookScore'' assessed critical response as an aggregated score of 8.9 out of 10. In the July/August 2012 issue of ''Bookmarks'', the book was scored four out of five. The magazine's critical summary reads: "The critics reveled in Robinson's unsurpassed world-building skills, but he doesn't neglect other literary qualities in favor of his brave new worlds: his rich, complex characters are genuinely engaging, and his action packed plot takes readers on an interplanetary joyride". On ''The Omnivore'', a British aggregator of press reviews, the book received an "omniscore" of 3.5 out of 5.

''Slate Magazine ''and the ''Guardian ''both reviewed ''2312'', with Slate praising the book as "brilliant" while the ''Guardian ''criticized the book's ending as "contrived". Writing for the ''Los Angeles Times'', Jeff VanderMeer called the book a "treasured gift to fans of passionate storytelling", writing that the book's "audacity" was an asset. James Nicoll, however, called it a "dreadful" book, in which the "science is so terrible as to be painful to read", and stated that he was "astonished that twas not intended as parody".Heard It All Before
by James Nicoll, at James Nicoll Reviews; published February 18, 2025; retrieved March 19, 2025

The book won the 2013 Nebula Award for Best Novel, was nominated for the 2013 Hugo Award for Best Novel, was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel and the 2013 Arthur C. Clarke Award, and was honor listed for the 2012 James Tiptree, Jr. Award. It was nominated for the 2012 Goodreads Choice Award for science fiction.

See also

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References

{{Nebula Award Best Novel 2001-2020

2012 American novels
2012 LGBTQ-related literary works
Novels by Kim Stanley Robinson
2012 science fiction novels
Novels set in the 24th century
American science fiction novels
Novels set on Mercury (planet)
Nebula Award for Best Novel–winning works
Intersex-related novels
LGBTQ speculative fiction novels
American LGBTQ novels
2010s LGBTQ novels
Orbit Books books