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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 — 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 we’re 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 you’re curious about how climate change might impact us all if we don’t get out sh** together and act to stop it now.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, and Grief
Moderate: Terminal illness and Violence
Minor: Cancer
sn03's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Medical content
Moderate: Trafficking, Mental illness, and Murder
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
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
thepermageek's review against another edition
emotional
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? Yes
4.0
This book is indeed a tour de force. It’s a nice blend of hopepunk cli-fi and hard science (so much so that during certain chapters I almost forgot I was reading fiction, the science read so much like non-fiction).
Only reason it didn’t get full 5 stars is that it felt a little meandering at times, especially in the middle of the book. Had Robinson given it one more thorough editing, thereby reducing the final page count by 50-100 pages, it would have been a much more solid, tight novel!
That said, I would still recommend this to almost anyone…except for maybe the most curmudgeonly cynical among us, who just can’t grok hopefulness in the speculative fiction ;)
Only reason it didn’t get full 5 stars is that it felt a little meandering at times, especially in the middle of the book. Had Robinson given it one more thorough editing, thereby reducing the final page count by 50-100 pages, it would have been a much more solid, tight novel!
That said, I would still recommend this to almost anyone…except for maybe the most curmudgeonly cynical among us, who just can’t grok hopefulness in the speculative fiction ;)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Death
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
kelseyland's review against another edition
challenging
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
5.0
I don't think that "visionary" is too strong a word to use when it comes to Kim Stanley Robinson, especially in regards to this book. The Ministry for the Future is a stark departure from most climate change narratives (both fiction and nonfiction) in that it is neither utopian nor dystopian, but a realistic view of the ways in which it is possible to mitigate climate disaster via scientific, economic, cultural, and political methods. In other words, this book allows the reader to imagine not only a better world, but the steps that might be necessary to get there. The novel's kaleidoscope of viewpoints--both human and nonhuman--drives the narrative forward in an entertaining and engaging way while also supporting one of its many thesis statements, that in order to survive humanity needs to consider what's best for the Earth as a whole, including the plants and animals that make it home.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Terminal illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Grief
Minor: Murder
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