The Three Californias Trilogy consists of three books by Kim Stanley Robinson, that depict three different possible futures of Orange County, California (also known as Orange County Trilogy). Each of these books describes the life of young people in the three very different near-futures.
Spoiler warning!
The Wild Shore (1984) is the story of survivors of a nuclear war. They have started over again, forming little villages and living from agriculture and the sea. The Wild Shore is Robinsons first published novel. It is set in 2047. The theme of the first chapters is that of a quite normal science fiction pastoral, which is deconstructed in the latter chapters, especially when it becomes clear that the post-nuclear war rural life is hindered to develop further by international treaties and the Japanese, patrouling the coast.
In The Gold Coast (1988) we learn about the Southern California of 2027, which is "an endless sprawl of condos, freeways and malls". The book describes the life of an twenty-something, Jim McPherson, who finds himself in the middle between terrorism against the weapons industry; drugs, parties and casual sex; as well as literary and academic interests. In a way, this is a dystopian extention of todays Los Angeles and car oriented architecture, mobility and life-style.
Pacific Edge (1990) can be compared to Ernest Callenbachs Ecotopia, and also to Ursula K. Le Guins The Dispossessed. This book's Californian future is set in El Modena, California in 2065. It depicts a realistic utopia as it describes a possible transformation process from our present to an ecological sane future. There is no blank slate from which ecologial utopia can be errected, but the buildings, cities and infrastructures of our past and present. An important aspect of the book is the way these are changed to become "green". Pacific Edge is also realistic in so far as conflicts about diverging interests play a big role. In 2065, these are mainly conflicts between Greens and New Federals as the main political parties, but also conflicts on the personal scale. From a literary critique point of view the broad descriptions of nature and landscape are of interest, as well as the self-references in regard to writing about utopian futures vs. actual political work.
These books, especially Pacific Edge, can be seen as fore-runners to Robinsons trilogy of Red Mars, Green Mars and Blue Mars.
