In '2140,' New York May Be Underwater, But It's Still Home

Early in New York 2140, two boys jump into their inflatable boat to begin the day's business, scavenging through the canals of a half-drowned New York. Since the weight of the engine threatens to sink the stern, the older boy sits up front to balance it out.

Much of Kim Stanley Robinson's significant body of work is built on small moments like these; beneath the vast to be both dramatically altered and still the biggest small town in the world. A coastal water level 50 feet higher than today has reshaped both the physical geography and the civic ecosystem, but Robinson aims to make it feel like home. Sure, millions of clams have to filter the water in the new Manhattan intertidal zone, but commuters also have to decide if walking the skybridges is going to be faster than waiting for a vaporetto.