revolution in China and the U.S., about the end of money as the driving force of political organization in the 2040s. the action shifts from China to the Moon and back again several times. a minor work for Robinson, and typically Utopian in view, but it features his profoundly humanist perspective and some sympathetic characters, muddling along while musing on Maoism and Daoism at the same time as they elect to change the world. ( )

Red Moon is set in the year 2047 and the action takes place primarily on the Moon. The Moon has been heavily colonised and is just beginning to be exploited for industrial purposes (mining, manufacturing and the like). The largest and most advanced colonists are the Chinese, based around the South Pole. The Americans have a smaller presence around the North Pole. On Earth political unrest in both China and America is growing.

Fred Fredericks, on his first trip to the Moon, witnesses a murder and is forced into hiding with Chan Qi, daughter of an influential Chinese minister, and an outspoken advocate for political change in China. As these two evade capture they become catalysts for major regime change in both China and America.

As is often the case with Robinson the plot is rather nebulous and there are too many scenes with two people talking about some political or scientific theory. The main pleasure here is in the richly drawn and well thought out depictions of everyday life in this time and place. What we see today as future technical marvels have become mundane and quotidian, barely registered by the people using them. The cleverness here is that some things have moved on and some have stayed pretty much as they are today.

There are a couple of missteps where real history and Robinson’s vision are misaligned: he paints President Xi in a more benevolent light than appears to be the case today; he implies that China honours the agreements over the treatment of Hong Kong; and, he has no place for any mention, let alone resolution, to the Taiwan problem.

This is a thought provoking book with some interesting ideas about the future of lunar exploration and the future of the two largest political groups on Earth, if you can get to grips with the rather strange no action action of Robinson’s style. ( )

Interesting perspective from a Western writer. Decent enough story though even if the ending left me a little deflated. ( )

Unrealistic selection of characters makes everything else seem plausible by comparison. The ending was strangely rushed but maybe that's just in comparison to the rest of the book with its long political monologues.

The world is very interesting, as usual with Robinson and makes up for everything else. ( )

Not one of his best, although hard to say why exactly. I think it's probably just the attempt at portraying chinese culture without the necessary background - or at least not clear where that background has come from, because I'm equally not able to assess the validity of it, but it feels stereotypical, even it it's attempts not to be. Somehow it also doesn't quite seem like the future technology and problems have advanced enough for the setting - always very tricky to do in 'near future' works - phones have been replaced by wristpads, and humanity (or at least China) has made it to permenant bases on the Moon, but hardly anything else has changed.

A mildly autistic (stereotypes kick in from the first character) engineer is on his way to one of the chinese moon bases to aid with the installation of a quantum phone - entangled and guaranteed secure communication but only between the two arties with handsets, He meets and aged and famous chinese poet cum internet star but before they can really discuss much Fredericks the engineer is caught up in the death of the local base governor. Ta Shai investigates his disappearance and manages to arrange for his return to earth, on the same shuttle as another local problem, a pregnant daughter of the ruling Party hierarchy. These two Fredericks and Chaing spend the rest of the book together,but neither really develop any personality at all. She attempts to continue contacts with some dissident contacts to spite her father, and the two bounce between the moon and earth trying to find somewhere out of the reach of political arms.

It ends very very abruptly with much left untold and although it's clear where the action was going to lead KSR is normally more tidy than that. I can only assume a sequel is planned.

KSR bold and sweeping plans and idea remain every present, but these aren't the best characters he's ever used to showcase them, and the setting itself is likewise lacking in the inventiveness and grandeur that he cna manahge on his best work. ( )