Forty Signs of Rain

Hauntingly realistic, Kim Stanley Robinson’s novel Forty Signs of Rain is inspired by the scientific facts already making headlines.

It’s an increasingly steamy summer in the nation’s capital as Senate environmental staffer Charlie Quibler cares for his young son and deals with the frustrating politics of global warming. Charlie must find a way to get a skeptical administration to act before it’s too late -- and his progeny find themselves living in Swamp World. But the political climate poses almost as great a challenge as the environmental crisis when it comes to putting the public good ahead of private gain.

With style, wit, and rare insight into our past, present, and possible future, this captivating novel propels us into a world on the verge of unprecedented change—in a time quite like our own.

Forty Signs of Rain is the first in Robinson's Science in the Capitol trilogy.