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vitasf's review against another edition
dark
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
2.75
juliciously's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
medium-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? No
3.5
maryvdb2024's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 * This book brings home that climate change is real and immediate. The opening chapter is vivid and terrifying. We are at a critical time in human and planetary history where we are seeing the effects of climate change and this book extrapolates the future of our planet. A post capitalist world is seen as plausible and beneficial to humans and the planet. This is a novel of hope for a better future.
Reviewers have described this as a modernist, Sci-Fi, utopian, political novel. There are multiple voices and multiple perspectives. There are two main protagonists (Frank May and Mary Murphy) but really global society is the main protagonist. Set in the near future, financial innovations are key elements as are technologies already possible . Science plays a big role in Antartica and in innovations in travel but climate terrorists and drones also prevail.
J.R. Burgmann in Australian Book Review, October 2020 sums up: "Although the ministry – along with Frank May, the sole survivor of the novel’s opening climate horror – provides the novel with its recurring core of radical ideas, this only scratches the surface of Robinson’s remarkable achievement, a work sufficiently radical in form to convey both the immensity and the complexity of anthropogenic climate change, a world ‘trembling on the brink’. Told almost entirely through eyewitness accounts, dozens upon dozens of interlinked characters and events, the novel’s scale is exceptionally expansive, cycling kaleidoscopically through entire worlds: Mary’s ministry, Frank’s climate-induced PTSD, ecological destruction, climate catastrophes, eco-terrorism, clandestine government operations, geo-engineering and carbon drawdown projects, riddles told from the points of view of inanimate objects and matter, climate change refugees, the reconfiguration of the world’s banks and rewilding
movements, to mention just a few."
Many reviewers have said this novel is "naively optimistic". Robinson gives us a view of the future and responses to it that inspire a collective coming together of humans respecting other humans and our planet. I highly recommend this book and cannot stop thinking about its characters, themes and innovations. I loved the references to Jules Verne.
Reviewers have described this as a modernist, Sci-Fi, utopian, political novel. There are multiple voices and multiple perspectives. There are two main protagonists (Frank May and Mary Murphy) but really global society is the main protagonist. Set in the near future, financial innovations are key elements as are technologies already possible . Science plays a big role in Antartica and in innovations in travel but climate terrorists and drones also prevail.
J.R. Burgmann in Australian Book Review, October 2020 sums up: "Although the ministry – along with Frank May, the sole survivor of the novel’s opening climate horror – provides the novel with its recurring core of radical ideas, this only scratches the surface of Robinson’s remarkable achievement, a work sufficiently radical in form to convey both the immensity and the complexity of anthropogenic climate change, a world ‘trembling on the brink’. Told almost entirely through eyewitness accounts, dozens upon dozens of interlinked characters and events, the novel’s scale is exceptionally expansive, cycling kaleidoscopically through entire worlds: Mary’s ministry, Frank’s climate-induced PTSD, ecological destruction, climate catastrophes, eco-terrorism, clandestine government operations, geo-engineering and carbon drawdown projects, riddles told from the points of view of inanimate objects and matter, climate change refugees, the reconfiguration of the world’s banks and rewilding
movements, to mention just a few."
Many reviewers have said this novel is "naively optimistic". Robinson gives us a view of the future and responses to it that inspire a collective coming together of humans respecting other humans and our planet. I highly recommend this book and cannot stop thinking about its characters, themes and innovations. I loved the references to Jules Verne.
db1987's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
beecycling's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0
algorithminflux's review against another edition
4.0
This book has truly inspired me to look into how I can contribute to the fight against the climate crisis. I think that was one of the author's goals, and boy, did it ever work for me.
lucas_delap's review against another edition
4.0
This book is gripping and imaginative. The former is evident from the first chapter where the horrifying narrative clings and crawls under your skin, keeping you in equal part enthralled and shocked. This is the best part of the book, and contrasts greatly to the fairly weak ending.
I find it interesting and sad that Publishers Weekly describes this book as "optimistic" when there are multiple horrible disasters that take place such as the heatwave in India which kills millions of people. Even with these disasters, this book is optimistic - it presents a future where most of humanity becomes alive to the threat of climate change and comes together to form solutions. I find this difficult to see happening , unless there are huge changes in society. Only time will tell.
Talking about solutions brings me to the imaginative aspect of this book. The ideas form much of the foundation of this story - ideas on strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change that are very interesting such as projecting dust particles into space or pumping water up from under glaciers.
The main problems I had were with the structure and content of some of the chapters. The book flips and weaves in between the narrative story and discussions of politics and economics. For the most part, this novel approach works as it keeps the story refreshing and interesting. That being said there are some jarring chapters. These consist of stupid sections; chapters from the perspective of climate-related 'things' such as the sun or photons, and also sections that I found difficult to follow - these were often more complicated discussions of economics. This latter problem isn't a fault of the writing but it broke the flow of the book as it took longer for me to read and process those chapters.
A good read. I would recommend it to anyone interested or worried about the future of the planet and climate change.
I find it interesting and sad that Publishers Weekly describes this book as "optimistic" when there are multiple horrible disasters that take place such as the heatwave in India which kills millions of people. Even with these disasters, this book is optimistic - it presents a future where most of humanity becomes alive to the threat of climate change and comes together to form solutions. I find this difficult to see happening , unless there are huge changes in society. Only time will tell.
Talking about solutions brings me to the imaginative aspect of this book. The ideas form much of the foundation of this story - ideas on strategies to mitigate the effects of climate change that are very interesting such as projecting dust particles into space or pumping water up from under glaciers.
The main problems I had were with the structure and content of some of the chapters. The book flips and weaves in between the narrative story and discussions of politics and economics. For the most part, this novel approach works as it keeps the story refreshing and interesting. That being said there are some jarring chapters. These consist of stupid sections; chapters from the perspective of climate-related 'things' such as the sun or photons, and also sections that I found difficult to follow - these were often more complicated discussions of economics. This latter problem isn't a fault of the writing but it broke the flow of the book as it took longer for me to read and process those chapters.
A good read. I would recommend it to anyone interested or worried about the future of the planet and climate change.
wietse111's review against another edition
2.0
Twee sterren en dan ben ik nog gul. Allemachtig wat een gedrocht, ik snap niet hoe dit ooit populair is geworden. Het eerste hoofdstuk is heel goed. Daarna lijkt het alsof Robinson van 5 boeken een shitty first draft heeft geschreven en die een beetje random door elkaar husselt.
Robinson probeert een soort groots semi sci-fi boek over klimaatverandering en maatregelen om dat aan te pakken te schrijven, maar geen van de onderdelen werkt. Het is saai, langdradig, incoherent en naïef. Het draait vooral om "the ministry for the future", wat tegelijkertijd wordt beschreven als een machteloos VN orgaan maar ook als de meest invloedrijke organisatie in de geschiedenis is. Kan een heel VN-orgaan in een boek een Mary Sue zijn? Ondertussen een volstrekt irrelevant subplot over wat vage projecten in Antartica. Nogal basale ideeën voor maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen die als heel nieuw worden beschreven en wat cryptobro nonsens. Onverklaarbare hoofdstukken geschreven vanuit bijvoorbeeld het perspectief van een foton??? En ook het hoofdplot was gewoon saai. Mary was geen interessant karakter, en wie ooit denkt dat hoofdstukken schrijven alsof het notulen zijn een goed idee is moet echt nog een keertje nadenken.
Ruim 500 pagina's aan ploeteren. Net geen 1 ster omdat er her en der nog wel okaye ideeën en leuke idealen inzaten.
Robinson probeert een soort groots semi sci-fi boek over klimaatverandering en maatregelen om dat aan te pakken te schrijven, maar geen van de onderdelen werkt. Het is saai, langdradig, incoherent en naïef. Het draait vooral om "the ministry for the future", wat tegelijkertijd wordt beschreven als een machteloos VN orgaan maar ook als de meest invloedrijke organisatie in de geschiedenis is. Kan een heel VN-orgaan in een boek een Mary Sue zijn? Ondertussen een volstrekt irrelevant subplot over wat vage projecten in Antartica. Nogal basale ideeën voor maatschappelijke ontwikkelingen die als heel nieuw worden beschreven en wat cryptobro nonsens. Onverklaarbare hoofdstukken geschreven vanuit bijvoorbeeld het perspectief van een foton??? En ook het hoofdplot was gewoon saai. Mary was geen interessant karakter, en wie ooit denkt dat hoofdstukken schrijven alsof het notulen zijn een goed idee is moet echt nog een keertje nadenken.
Ruim 500 pagina's aan ploeteren. Net geen 1 ster omdat er her en der nog wel okaye ideeën en leuke idealen inzaten.