The Ministry for the Future Audiobook By Kim Stanley Robinson cover art

The Ministry for the Future

A Novel

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From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a remarkable vision of climate change over the coming decades.

The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us—and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.

It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.

One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020

"If I could get policymakers, and citizens, everywhere to read just one book this year, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future." —Ezra Klein

"The best science fiction-nonfiction novel I’ve ever read." —Jonathan Lethem, Vanity Fair

"A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity." —Booklist (starred)

"A sweeping, optimistic portrait of humanity's ability to cooperate in the face of disaster. This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet." —Publishers Weekly (starred)

"The Ministry for the Future ranks among Robinson's best recent works, a collection of actions and observations that adds up to more than the sum of its eclectic and urgent parts." —Sierra


Also by Kim Stanley Robinson:
Red Moon
New York 2140
2312
Aurora
Shaman Climate Change Environment Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Science Science Fiction Thought-Provoking Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Hard Science Fiction Heartfelt Climate Science Fiction

Critic reviews

"Score a point for the audacity of hope....Robinson digs deep into how, with institutional support and some off-the-books black ops, revolutionary ideas could still seize our world."—Shelf Awareness on The Ministry for the Future
"[A] gutsy, humane view of a near-future Earth...Robinson masterfully integrates the practical details of environmental crises and geoengineering projects into a sweeping, optimistic portrait of humanity's ability to cooperate in the face of disaster. This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet."—Publishers Weekly (starred) on The Ministry for the Future
"A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity."—Booklist on The Ministry for the Future
"Science-fiction visionary Kim Stanley Robinson makes the case for quantitative easing our way out of planetary doom."—Bloomberg Green on The Ministry for the Future
"...fresh and exciting. Another stellar effort from one of the masters of the genre."—Booklist (starred) on Red Moon
"Enjoyable and thought-provoking...[Robinson] is one of contemporary science fiction's great scene-setters."—SF Chronicle on Red Moon
"...as convincingly textured and observant as we've come to expect from one of the finest writers of his generation."—Locus magazine on Red Moon
"New York may be underwater, but it's better than ever."—The New Yorker on New York 2140
"Massively enjoyable."—The Washington Post on New York 2140
"Science fiction is threaded everywhere through culture nowadays, and it would take an act of critical myopia to miss the fact that Robinson is one of the world's finest working novelists, in any genre."—Guardian on New York 2140
"[A] near-perfect marriage of the technical and the psychological."—NPR Books on Aurora
"Intellectually engaged and intensely humane in a way SF rarely is, exuberantly speculative in a way only the best SF can be, this is the work of a writer at or approaching the top of his game."—Iain M. Banks on 2312
Hopeful Perspective • Thoughtful Approach • Diverse Voice Cast • Diverse International Characters • Immersive Experience

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Relished most every page, every well-turned phrase supporting a new idea or alternative perspective. Great audio rendition using multiple, well-honed, well acted voices. I'll probably read this at least one more time. strongly

This Book Birthed Me as a Staunch Gaia Advocate

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The Good: Robinson doesn't shirk from the horror at the beginning, and ends on a hopeful note. I enjoy a dystopian future that we can recover from, and he's delivered that here. Lots of neat geoengineering stuff too.

The Bad: You'll really have to be on the far left economically to enjoy many of his tirades. If your utopian vision of the future relies on everyone having a quasi-religious or explicitly-religious conversion experience to join your side, you're writing a fairy tale. If he spends any more time on dubious political speeches and then showing how it's all great if you just follow his advice, he'll be the exact political mirror image to Ayn Rand. He doesn't even consider the idea that environmentalist terrorism would cause blowback. People who get attacked that way in his novel just roll over and show their bellies, like no powerful person ever. He's about as thoroughly wrong about the response to terrorism as Osama bin Laden, who seemed to think that terrorism would make Americans be *less* in the Middle East.

The best bit intellectually is when he discusses the concept of ideology. If you ask me, though, he's read too many Hegelians who think they're prophets and not enough pragmatists. If ideology is like a religion, he has not adequately appreciated the agnostic option. He needs a healthy dose of humility with his ideology if he wants to speak to audiences that aren't already far-left.

Preaching to the Choir

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a fictional account of a potential future based in equity and sustainable living for everyone on the planet, and the way we might get there. The characters feel real, each one is unique and engaging in their own way. A long book, but definitely worth the time, it left me feeling warm and fuzzy and motivated and optimistic.

An Optimistic Future

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Tbis is our future.. Some chapters were absolutely terrifying. Some were so hopeful they left me giddy.

Inventive! Now, let's go!

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in this day and age everyone should read this book. it should be required learning in school. because everything faced in this book is going to be the things faced by the human race in the years to come I only hope we tackle the challenges as they do

omg wow what a book!!!!

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