Read via owned hardcover.

This is the first Kim Stanley Robinson book that I have read. I have been meaning to read him forever and have never picked him up. I picked this up on sale at Barnes and Novel and have been excited to read it. Then I was disappointed.

Robinson is a good writer. He has strong characters, a highly detailed plot, and you can fallow the narration most of the time. My main issue was that this was the exact opposite of an own voices book. It was a abled white male writing about Chinese culture and a guy who was obviously on the autism spectrum (ASD) without specifically saying he was.

The ASD rep was not all that great. In fact the character was completely negative about every aspect of his diagnosis and it only focused on the negative parts of ASD. It does not make for a well rounded character. Especially, since his ASD - or hid supposed ASD - is most likely what made him so good at his job. It was a cookie cutter representation. Which left me to question the validity of all the other character representations. I kind of felt guilty about reading a book heavy on Chinese culture from someone not from Chinese culture.

After reading this book it turns out Robinson wrote another book where the main character was specified as being ASD. I think I will give that book a try and use it to determine if I will read more of his work. The writing is talented, but I'm not so sure I want to read the story that is being told.