Beep Beep

[goobergunch]

Assorted thoughts on The Gold Coast by Kim Stanley Robinson:
 

• The novel's Orange County is distinctly recognizable. The real thing hasn't gotten quite as choked with sprawl and freeways as the novel's—mercifully, the Cleveland National Forest remains—but the concept of “autopia” is resonant. (And self-driving cars don't get us out of it.) 22-year-old me certainly spent more time then I'd like to admit aimlessly driving around the highways of Orange County late at night, blasting my car's radio, much as Jim does.
   
• Speaking of the Cleveland National Forest, here Santiago Peak, the highest point of Orange County, is trivially drivable. You can get a high-clearance 4WD vehicle up there in real life, but why do that when you can hike?
   
• Late in the novel, a couple of characters bypass Kearsarge Pass via Dragon Pass. I haven't been up Dragon Pass—put it on the todo list. (Secor describes it as a “difficult cross-country route that should only be undertaken by experienced hikers”.) Jim's reaction to his first time in the High Sierra:

  But he is happy. Body a wreck, mind at ease. At least temporarily. He’s discovered a new country, and it will always be there for him.

  Honestly this is a huge mood.
   
• This is a quite late example of a novel (1988) imagining the Cold War continuing into the 21st century, and therefore the defense industry not undergoing the changes it did in the 1990s.
   
• The other striking difference between the novel's future and our present: connectivity. Characters miss calls because they're not at home! And retail doesn't have to compete with e-commerce.
  

Robinson, Kim Stanley. Three Californias. New York: Tor Essentials, 2020. Pp. 293–653.