What are some books that feel really dated even though it has only been a few years since their publishing?
I like to revisit books on audio as a way to balance my limited time to read with my desire to go back to books (and/or authors) I enjoy.
One author who I've consistently liked is Kim Stanley Robinson (KSR). I'm nearly a completist of his books, with the Mars Trilogy being a personal favourite. I listened to those audiobooks earlier this year for the first time since reading the books when they first came out. The experience was wonderful and prompted me to go read Shaman, which had been sitting on my to-read shelf for a little too long.
Anyways, I'm now listening to Ministry for the Future. I read this book when it was new in 2020, so presumably mostly written in 2019.
tl;dr plot: KSR posits "what if the solution to climate change and inequity is terrorism and targeted assassination?"
Given the intervening changes in the world over the last six years (COVID and a whole heap of policy changes that I think are best not enumerated on a non-political subreddit), this near-future fiction novel doesn't feel realistic at all. It's sad to me given the generally optimistic tone of the book despite the subject matter.
I don't think the plot was particularly likely to occur, but I also think that, in most cases, if you mentally add the number of years since publishing to the starting point of near-future sci-fi books they don't seem more outlandish after such as short period.
Are there any other books like this?
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