Galileo’s Dream

By: Kim Stanley Robinson

Narrated by: George Guidall

Kim Stanley Robinson’s illustrious SF career has earned him every major award in the business—including the Nebula and Hugo Awards.

With Galileo’s Dream, Robinson crafts an instant masterpiece that blends epic adventure and thoughtful alternate history. Ganymede, a rebellious Jovian, attempts to bring famed scientific mind Galileo forward in time to alter the course of history with astonishing results.

©2009 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2010 Recorded Books, LLC

Exquisite intriguing Galileo

Galileo made so human and so extraordinary at once contacted by people from the future brilliant science humanism and philosophy infinitely imaginative novel unforgettable - the reader is the best and his voices like a good film

Historical Novel?

More a historical novel than science fiction, Galileo's Dream covers the latter half of Galileo's life. While there are some action scenes this is not an action novel. And while there is time travel and alien intelligence, it is more a novel of about Galileo, his scientific ideas, and Vatican politics. If you make it through the twenty hours you will gain a understanding and an affection for this flawed genius. It does go on for too long. It could stand being about a third shorter. But I would recommend it for an entertaining introduction to the life of Galileo Galilee.

more great ksr

KSR is in a class by himself. Galileo's Dream is not perfect, but still is a very good listen. The only thing I could not quite get past was how easily Galileo seems to accept the fantastical future people he comes into contact with. That said, even if viewed only as historical fiction, this book is great; the sci fi elements are like fun gravy added on top.

Flawed but interesting

I like the overall concept of this novel immensely. I love the idea of Galileo travelling back and forth between his own time and a mysterious future version of Jupiter's moons. I like the idea of using this concept as a way to explore the importance of scientific thought.

The structure is flawed though. My feeling was that there needed to be a better balance between the scenes in Galileo's time and those in the future. A huge amount of the novel reads like a biography of Galileo. The time is evoked with great detail and texture, so if you know little about Galileo you may find this fascinating. If, however, you're already read a Galileo biography, you may find it excessively repetitive. I wanted more imaginative sci-fi, and less of a sense that the author was typing up his research notes.

It's definitely worth a listen, though, if you like long, rambling novels, and the ending is rather magical.

The reader is perfect, having a warm voice with just a hint of an Italian accent.

Awesome entanglement of history and SF

Great mash up of historical re-telling with a quantum future / past in KSR most excellent prose.