Five top books about asteroids and their uses

Emma Newman writes dark short stories and science fiction and urban fantasy novels. Between Two Thorns, the first book in Emma’s Split Worlds urban fantasy series, was shortlisted for the BFS Best Novel and Best Newcomer awards. Her latest novel is Planetfall—a scifi narrative about a secret withheld to protect humanity’s future.

One of Newman's top five books about asteroids and their uses, as shared at Tor.com:

2312 by Kim Stanley Robinson

This novel contains so many concepts to fall in love with, but the idea of terrarium asteroids is my favourite (with sunwalkers a close second!). Robinson writes of a future in which asteroids are hollowed out, and biomes created within, with their own gravity thanks to the rotation of the asteroid. Some are created to preserve delicate ecologies that are no longer sustainable on Earth, some to provide beautiful and exciting environments to visit for holidays or even live in. This use of asteroids is featured in his novel Blue Mars, but in 2312 they have become an art form for the protagonist, Swan Er Hong, a way to express herself as well as serving a need to preserve rare species. I love the idea of hundreds of these asteroids in space, all rocky and unassuming on the outside, but each its own jewel within.

Read about another entry on the list.

Also see: The ten coolest fictional asteroids of all time.

--Marshal Zeringue