Robinson came as close as you could get to having a PhD in Science Fiction: his doctoral dissertation in English was on the novels of Philip K. Ecology and sustainability are common recurring elements in his work. His books combine strong science with powerful social themes. Their sail catches the bigger wind that r ushes across the middle of the lake, which is silv ery blu e under the gusts.Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is an American Science Fiction writer, best known for his Red Mars Trilogy. The deciduous trees on the hills are wearing their autumn col ors, yello w and orange and scarlet all m ixed with the g reen of the conifers.

They can see all the way to the far end of Long Pond, where afternoon haze obscures the wall. Out there, all of Nova Scotia is vis- ible to them: forested hills around a lake. It takes quite a few tacks to get out of the little bay and into the wider expanse of Long Pond. It’ s just big enough for the two of them, and has a single big sail, sleeved over a mast that to Freya looks tal ler than the boat is long.

The little sailboat can’t point up into the wind very far, Badi m says, and he cal ls it a tub, but affect ionately. The boat leans over and th ey go right at the tall lake wall until they almost hit it, then Badim exclaims, “Coming about,” just as he said he would, and Freya swings the til- ler hard and ducks to get under the boom as it swi ngs over them, and then they’re tacking in the other direction, in a reach across the end of the bay. Freya holds the til ler most ﬁr mly, as instructed. ” So after they’ve checked out a boat, they have to push it straight off the side of the dock into the wind, Badim jumping in at the last minute, hauling the sail t ight until the boat tilts, then aiming it to ward the little corniche around the curve of the lakeshore. “We always catch the bru nt of the after noon wind over the lake. “That must be why they call this town the Fetch,” Badim says as they walk down to take out one of these boats. The dock has a bunch of little sailboats people can take out, and an onshore wind blo ws hard almost every afternoon. Their new home is in an apart- ment building that overlooks a dock on the bay at the west end of Long Pond.

Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson