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howard's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
I don't have as many hard feelings against this book as other books I've given 2 stars (or as many as I maybe should). I just found it incredibly boring and deeply unrealistic and unserious in its proposed solutions.
The first chapter of this book is absolutely harrowing, and there are chapters throughout that describe climate disasters caused by global warming that shook me deeply and made me think about what the actual future of this planet will look like and how/if I can prepare myself. But the majority of this book is taken up by bureaucracy and pseudo-intellectual philosophizing. You have to be really invested in Robinson's opinions about things like democracy and blockchain to care about these chapters (and you can very much tell it's written by a man). I found myself skimming many of these chapters just enough to grasp the main point and move on. This book spends so much of its' time truly in the weeds. I'd say it could be 200 pages shorter and still get the point across, but I think that would make it a completely different book and go against the slow and intellectual vibe that Robinson was trying to create. Not even to mention that this book barely has characters. It kind of follows 2 people but only checks in with them about every 50 pages, and Mary's character feels more like a way for the audience to see into the Ministry than an actual character with desires and feelings.
Mild Spoilers
In this book, climate change is ultimately solved by a coalition government of all major countries working together to implement policies to stop carbon burning and repopulate animals close to extinction, as well as assisting developing countries to "catch up" to the developed world, and creating basically open borders as a solution to the refugee crisis. There is brief mention of country leaders being displeased with each other, but never any actual conflict between nations, let alone wars between them. All countries seem to have a common enemy (climate terrorists) and eventually a common goal, which just doesn't seem possible in any imagined future, let alone in only a few decades. I really appreciated this article for going into the reasons that relying on laws and bureaucracy will never be an adequate solution to the climate crisis. https://inthesetimes.com/article/climate-disaster-ecological-crisis-deluge-ministry-markley-robinson-gelderloos
I wish there had been more of a focus on the climate terrorists/the children of Kali. The first 200 pages teases this direction as Frank becomes radicalized after surviving a climate disaster, and I was really interested to hear about the different tactics and the fallout from them. But after this point the climate terrorism only gets a brief passing mention and doesn't focus on the huge amount of work or planning it would take to get done (and our POV character Frank becomes deradicalized off-page). For example, a typical passage would go something like: they targeted planes and shot many out of the sky one day in a coordinated strike, so people stopped flying in airplanes and started travelling by more environmentally friendly methods. I wish I was exaggerating how boring Robinson made it sound. Glossing over actions like this and focusing so much on the measures taken by the Ministry and lawmakers from important countries really skews the reader's perspective on how important government and laws were in the process of decarbonization, and shifts focus away from the very real actions of the climate terrorists that actually achieved meaningful results.
The first chapter of this book is absolutely harrowing, and there are chapters throughout that describe climate disasters caused by global warming that shook me deeply and made me think about what the actual future of this planet will look like and how/if I can prepare myself. But the majority of this book is taken up by bureaucracy and pseudo-intellectual philosophizing. You have to be really invested in Robinson's opinions about things like democracy and blockchain to care about these chapters (and you can very much tell it's written by a man). I found myself skimming many of these chapters just enough to grasp the main point and move on. This book spends so much of its' time truly in the weeds. I'd say it could be 200 pages shorter and still get the point across, but I think that would make it a completely different book and go against the slow and intellectual vibe that Robinson was trying to create. Not even to mention that this book barely has characters. It kind of follows 2 people but only checks in with them about every 50 pages, and Mary's character feels more like a way for the audience to see into the Ministry than an actual character with desires and feelings.
Mild Spoilers
In this book, climate change is ultimately solved by a coalition government of all major countries working together to implement policies to stop carbon burning and repopulate animals close to extinction, as well as assisting developing countries to "catch up" to the developed world, and creating basically open borders as a solution to the refugee crisis. There is brief mention of country leaders being displeased with each other, but never any actual conflict between nations, let alone wars between them. All countries seem to have a common enemy (climate terrorists) and eventually a common goal, which just doesn't seem possible in any imagined future, let alone in only a few decades. I really appreciated this article for going into the reasons that relying on laws and bureaucracy will never be an adequate solution to the climate crisis. https://inthesetimes.com/article/climate-disaster-ecological-crisis-deluge-ministry-markley-robinson-gelderloos
I wish there had been more of a focus on the climate terrorists/the children of Kali. The first 200 pages teases this direction as Frank becomes radicalized after surviving a climate disaster, and I was really interested to hear about the different tactics and the fallout from them. But after this point the climate terrorism only gets a brief passing mention and doesn't focus on the huge amount of work or planning it would take to get done (and our POV character Frank becomes deradicalized off-page). For example, a typical passage would go something like: they targeted planes and shot many out of the sky one day in a coordinated strike, so people stopped flying in airplanes and started travelling by more environmentally friendly methods. I wish I was exaggerating how boring Robinson made it sound. Glossing over actions like this and focusing so much on the measures taken by the Ministry and lawmakers from important countries really skews the reader's perspective on how important government and laws were in the process of decarbonization, and shifts focus away from the very real actions of the climate terrorists that actually achieved meaningful results.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Cancer and Terminal illness
mjsharif's review against another edition
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This is an absolutely fantastic book. A must-read for anyone experiencing eco-anxiety or climate dread, or has ever thought meaningfully about the climate crisis. Chillingly realistic and often times it felt like journalism (by intention, I'm sure). But also, resolutely hopeful in the way that the best people of humanity are. It has galvanized me to get back to any semblance of activism I can while existing in this exploitative economy that's not built for me. Join CITIZENS CLIMATE LOBBY today and help advocate for carbon pricing: https://citizensclimatelobby.org/
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, War, Cancer, and Death
ani_raven's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cancer, Death, and Kidnapping
Minor: Murder
kathleendayle's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I debated how to rate this book. It opens with a truly horrifying scene โ and this part was gripping, but large portions of the book are also dense, dry, droning, almost too realistic in the political and economic sense, outlining the cascading sociopolitical effects of climate disaster. But for that, it does give a very good picture of what weโre up against with the climate crisis, and how much collaboration is needed across the globe to preserve our planet for the next generations. I found it pretty depressing, an all-too-realistic dystopian nightmare for the first three quarters of the book. And then, a redeeming turn. The last quarter of the book is actually really hopeful. In the end, we win. It makes the suffering bearable. Highly recommend if youโre curious about how climate change might impact us all if we donโt get out sh** together and act to stop it now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness and Violence
Minor: Cancer
brewdy_reader's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
๐๐ค๐ช๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ โข ๐๐ฏ๐ท๐ช๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต โข ๐๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ค๐ถ๐ญ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ โข ๐๐ญ๐ช๐ฎ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐จ๐ฆโฃ
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข'๐ด ๐๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ [2020]
Here's the good stuff. This book:
- is obviously extremely well researched, hard sci-fi, referencing actual science
- started off with a bang of an opening: a gripping vignette that had me riveted to my seat
- deals with a rather grim topic without wallowing in the depths of despair
- combs the solution space for an answer that is not the mass extinction of the human race
- poses a compelling near-future prediction scenario that confronts morality and whether the ends justify the means
- shines light on an important topic: the very future of humanity when our planet becomes unlivable
Real talk.Clocking in at 577 pages, this was way too long and the writing style did not work for me. I almost quit many times. Some chapters were written as literal board meeting minutes and others were more text-book lecture style: hard sciences ranging from carbon sequestration to glacier science to biosphere to global economics and fiscal policy to international treaty law to psychology to colonialism and nationalism. There were a few recurring characters but by the end I did not care what happened to them.
I would have enjoyed this a lot better if it had been edited down to make key points rather than going for comprehensivity on every topic, in an encyclopedia-like format.
Give this a try if you love climate science non-fiction or speculative fiction leveraging hard science where you cannot tell where facts end and fiction begins. Environmentalists and sustainability aficionados will also find this book fascinating.
๐๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ข๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐๐ฃ๐ข๐ฎ๐ข'๐ด ๐๐ข๐ท๐ฐ๐ณ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ด ๐ฐ๐ง ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ [2020]
Here's the good stuff. This book:
- is obviously extremely well researched, hard sci-fi, referencing actual science
- started off with a bang of an opening: a gripping vignette that had me riveted to my seat
- deals with a rather grim topic without wallowing in the depths of despair
- combs the solution space for an answer that is not the mass extinction of the human race
- poses a compelling near-future prediction scenario that confronts morality and whether the ends justify the means
- shines light on an important topic: the very future of humanity when our planet becomes unlivable
Real talk.Clocking in at 577 pages, this was way too long and the writing style did not work for me. I almost quit many times. Some chapters were written as literal board meeting minutes and others were more text-book lecture style: hard sciences ranging from carbon sequestration to glacier science to biosphere to global economics and fiscal policy to international treaty law to psychology to colonialism and nationalism. There were a few recurring characters but by the end I did not care what happened to them.
I would have enjoyed this a lot better if it had been edited down to make key points rather than going for comprehensivity on every topic, in an encyclopedia-like format.
Give this a try if you love climate science non-fiction or speculative fiction leveraging hard science where you cannot tell where facts end and fiction begins. Environmentalists and sustainability aficionados will also find this book fascinating.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Classism, Deportation, Cancer, Grief, and Panic attacks/disorders
redbee9's review against another edition
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, Grief, and Murder
Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, Medical content, Murder, Alcohol, Confinement, and Panic attacks/disorders
whatthekatdraggedin's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death and Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Cancer
droggelbecher42's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
I usually have a hard time with long books, switching perspectives & economic terminology. This book had all of it and I still loved it, it had me weirdly hooked even though a majority of chapters didn't follow any already known set of characters.
It's weird how such a long and dense book describing lots of horrifying things happening left me a sense of hope. I cried at the end, sad to leave it behind.
It's weird how such a long and dense book describing lots of horrifying things happening left me a sense of hope. I cried at the end, sad to leave it behind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Deportation, Animal death, Xenophobia, Racism, Mental illness, Cancer, Grief, Confinement, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexism
Since this book is mainly about climate change, nature catastrophes play a big role, there is one detailed description of abeereads27's review against another edition
challenging
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
Ok. I get that this book is important and I appreciate how Kim Stanley Robinson presents real potential solutions to climate change. I just did not like the characters and the writing style really wasn't for me. I felt obligated to like this book so I really tried but it was just overall meh.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Minor: Suicide, Terminal illness, Cancer, and Domestic abuse
Focuses heavily on climate changejulesmcf's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
A book anyone should read, especially the ones that are climate-anxious. Kim Stanley Robinson envisions in the Ministry for the Future a more just future where (after considerable struggle) humanity has managed to mitigate greenhousegas emissions. Using the Paris Agreement as a base this book shows we can still make it, we can avoid djungle- or desert planet but only by taking drastic action, it also shows what's at stake.
The book follows several characters in Switzerland, India, Antartica and the US and their experience with climate change, thereby painting a very multifaceted image of what would mean a global warming from above 1,5ยฐC for the different individuals as well as society.
The book follows several characters in Switzerland, India, Antartica and the US and their experience with climate change, thereby painting a very multifaceted image of what would mean a global warming from above 1,5ยฐC for the different individuals as well as society.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Violence and Cancer
Minor: Kidnapping
The content warning should further include: mass death, drought, heatwave, flood, refugee crisis