Three Californias

Kim Stanley Robinson

In a near-future California shaped by environmental care and civic participation, Kevin Claiborne—an energy-conscious builder and newly elected Green Party council member—finds his community’s hard-won ideals tested by a looming proposal to develop the last stretch of wilderness. As town meetings, local relationships, and everyday work intertwine, Kevin and those around him confront the uneasy truth that even in a “better” world, greed and grief still have a way of showing up. With Heartech’s plans for Rattlesnake Hill as the central pressure point, the novel unfolds as a richly observed, slice-of-life struggle over land, governance, and what it means to live well together. Blending Robinson’s signature attention to social systems and practical sustainability with a warm, human-scale focus, this book explores themes of democracy, ecological stewardship, and the moral complexity of utopian living—without ever losing sight of the people who make a future possible.