The Best Journey in the World

“Robinson’s graphic descriptions provide readers with a vivid picture of the bitter cold, snow, ice, wind, thirst, starvation, boredom, loneliness, inhospitable seas, untraversable land, near-death fatigue, and winter’s unrelenting darkness. Interleaved are Robinson’s trips there, in 1995 to research his novel Antartica (1997) and in 2016, both visits limning the daily lives and important work of the scientists based there. Robinson concludes with a catastrophic scenario of Antarctic melting caused by climate change and also proposes some ways to slow it down if not reverse it. A grueling account that nonetheless has its moments of wonder, courage, and genuine consequence, if not quite hope.”–Booklist (starred review)
“The noted sci-fi writer serves up a wide-ranging blend of travelog, science, and history on the iciest continent… An important place indeed, and wonderfully well interpreted in this smart, enjoyable book.”–Kirkus Reviews (starred)
“A mesmerizing blend of personal memoir and gripping polar history, Kim Stanley Robinson weaves the harrowing winter journeys of the Heroic Era together with personal memoir and future-facing science to reveal our most ‘pointless’ yet essential continent. It is a profound meditation on what it means to stand on the side of a planet that is real but surreal, unbelievable but undeniable. Robinson delivers a powerful vision of solidarity and survival, reminding us that whatever is true in Antarctica is true everywhere else.”–Hakan Bulgurlu, author of A Mountain to Climb
“Since there are no humans native to Antarctica, Kim Stanley Robinson may be the best person our species has to write about this most remarkable part of our planet. He’s been there–in person, and in his imagination–and he’s done the hard work to understand its significance in our history, in our present, and most of all in our shared and imperiled future. What a book!”–Bill McKibben, author of Here Comes the Sun

Kim Stanley Robinson is the author of more than twenty books, including the bestselling Mars trilogy, The Ministry for the Future, and The High Sierra: A Love Story. He was a featured speaker at COP26 in Glasgow, at the UN’s Summit of the Future in 2024, and at COP30 in Belem, Brazil. His work has been translated into thirty languages, and in 2016 asteroid 72432 was named Kimrobinson. He lives in Davis, California.

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