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jnavbar's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Mental illness
Minor: Colonisation and Classism
laurenipsum's review against another edition
Read the first chapter. It's a very graphic description of people suffering and dying from climate change. Very intense.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Excrement, Xenophobia, Child death, Classism, Body horror, Abandonment, Blood, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Violence, Colonisation, Confinement, Gore, and Medical trauma
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
đđ¤đŞđŚđŻđ¤đŚ đđŞđ¤đľđŞđ°đŻ ⢠đđŻđˇđŞđłđ°đŻđŽđŚđŻđľ ⢠đđąđŚđ¤đśđđ˘đľđŞđˇđŚ đđŞđ¤đľđŞđ°đŻ ⢠đđđŞđŽđ˘đľđŚ đđŠđ˘đŻđ¨đŚâŁ
đđŻđŚ đ°đ§ đđ˘đłđ˘đ¤đŹ đđŁđ˘đŽđ˘'đ´ đđ˘đˇđ°đłđŞđľđŚ đđ°đ°đŹđ´ đ°đ§ đľđŠđŚ đ đŚđ˘đł [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.
đđŻđŚ đ°đ§ đđ˘đłđ˘đ¤đŹ đđŁđ˘đŽđ˘'đ´ đđ˘đˇđ°đłđŞđľđŚ đđ°đ°đŹđ´ đ°đ§ đľđŠđŚ đ đŚđ˘đł [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
shashashasha's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Absolutely brilliant (if a little long) story with many interesting ideas and hopeful look at what humanity can do if we start climate action now. Very important read for our generation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Classism, Xenophobia, War, Racism, Murder, and Sexism
random19379's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, War, Classism, Genocide, Grief, Violence, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Terminal illness, Mental illness, and Murder
Minor: Racial slurs
skudiklier's review against another edition
challenging
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
First off, I want to say that I really liked this book. I would definitely recommend it. I think it gets across a lot of the challenges and high stakes of climate change in a nuanced way. I like the mix of personal stories and bigger-picture processes.
At first, I was worried it would be too dark--not that it was unrealistic, but it was bringing back all my climate anxiety/despair, and I thought it might all be very hard to read. But by the end (or even by halfway through, really), I flipped to wondering if the book is too optimistic. Even given all the challenges, all the "too little too late"-- even given that a decent amount of the change was caused by terrorism! I still feel like some things worked out too well and too easily. But maybe I should just be more hopeful, I don't know. I'll definitely be thinking about this book a lot, and recommending it to anyone who brings up anything even remotely related.
At first, I was worried it would be too dark--not that it was unrealistic, but it was bringing back all my climate anxiety/despair, and I thought it might all be very hard to read. But by the end (or even by halfway through, really), I flipped to wondering if the book is too optimistic. Even given all the challenges, all the "too little too late"--
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Kidnapping, and Slavery
Moderate: Murder, Police brutality, Cursing, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Violence, Grief, Xenophobia, Classism, and Colonisation
Minor: Sexism, Death of parent, Drug use, Alcohol, War, Child death, Animal death, Fatphobia, and Racism
kathleencoughlin's review against another edition
hopeful
informative
inspiring
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Ministry for the Future is the kind of scifi book that really takes the core if the genre, imaginative solutions to big questions, and brings it down to earth. It reads more like literary fiction or even a nonfiction book than typical science fiction because it is based here in the near future and concerns a context that is all too familiar.
There were a lot of povs which helps highlight that this is a global issue with global solutions. This was a risky stylistic choice in my opinion and I think, at least for the most part, it did pay off. In large part, I think the many narrators could be successful because we do have a core cast of characters led by Mary Murphy who pulls us through this timeline's approach to the climate crisis. Mary's agency, The Ministry for the Future, is given the seemingly impossible task of advocating on behalf of generations to come and ensuring their wellbeing through promoting management and ultimately reversal the catastrophic effects of climate change. Mary has an interesting perspective, and I thought her relationship with Frank was so compelling. I think many readers have found themselves in Mary's position of feeling like you're doing what little you can within your limits and there needs to be some outside force to push you to find new solutions(hopefully not through kidnapping though lol).
There were a lot of povs which helps highlight that this is a global issue with global solutions. This was a risky stylistic choice in my opinion and I think, at least for the most part, it did pay off. In large part, I think the many narrators could be successful because we do have a core cast of characters led by Mary Murphy who pulls us through this timeline's approach to the climate crisis. Mary's agency, The Ministry for the Future, is given the seemingly impossible task of advocating on behalf of generations to come and ensuring their wellbeing through promoting management and ultimately reversal the catastrophic effects of climate change. Mary has an interesting perspective, and I thought her relationship with Frank was so compelling. I think many readers have found themselves in Mary's position of feeling like you're doing what little you can within your limits and there needs to be some outside force to push you to find new solutions(hopefully not through
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Kidnapping, Violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Cancer, Classism, Colonisation, Mass/school shootings, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, and Racism
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