Kim Stanley Robinson

Kim Stanley Robinson (born March 23, 1952) is a writer initially identified as a leading member of the "humanist", or literary, camp of science fiction authors in the 1980s, but whose Mars trilogy is a solid example of hard science fiction. His fiction frequently delves into ecological and utopian themes with a political sophistication and point of view rarely seen elsewhere in the field.

Robinson's utopias are strikingly different in that the society portrayed is dynamic and subject to flaws and outside pressures, rather than the static perfection displayed in more classic utopias, in which literary values take a back seat to the political argument. His utopian novels include the Three Californias[?] trilogy, which is comprised of the post-disaster novel The Wild Shore[?] (1984, his first), the future dystopia The Gold Coast[?] (1988), and the "ecotopia" Pacific Edge[?] (1990); and the Mars trilogy[?], comprised of Red Mars (1992), Green Mars[?] (1993) and Blue Mars[?] (1996) -- along with the short story collection, The Martians[?] (1999) -- which uses the red planet as a backdrop for experimenting with new forms of society. Antarctica (1997), a standalone novel, explores utopian ideas similar to those in the Mars trilogy.

His other novels include Icehenge (1984), The Memory of Whiteness (1985), and alternate history The Years of Rice and Salt[?] (2002). A standalone novella, A Short, Sharp Shock[?], was published in 1990.

His first short stories began appearing in 1976. Most are collected in The Planet on the Table[?] (1986) and Remaking History[?] (1991). Three longer, humorous stories -- Robinson can be a very funny writer -- featuring American expatriates[?] in Nepal are collected in Escape from Kathmandu[?] (1989).

Robinson won Hugos for Green Mars and Blue Mars, Nebulas for Red Mars and "The Blind Geometer" (1986), a World Fantasy Award for "Black Air" (1983), and a John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Pacific Edge.

Robinson received a Ph.D. in English from the University of California, San Diego in 1982; his doctoral thesis was a study of the novels of Philip K. Dick.