I've been thinking a lot recently about the need to construct a narrative of recovery from disaster, in order to have any hope for the future. My thoughts centred upon the pandemic and how normality as we knew it will never return, but perhaps we can move from emergency into rebuilding something different. The first step towards doing the latter is imagining it as a possibility and envisaging one day not being afraid to leave my home. I am thus attempting to avoid despair despite the truly disastrous state of the UK in January 2021. Racked by the new turbo-covid variant, hospitals overwhelmed, more than a hundred thousand dead in the pandemic and another thousand every day, the worst death rate in the world, in lockdown for the third time, economically crippled by brexit, ruled by a bunch of useless Tory goons who are responsible for it all. As I find Kim Stanley Robinson's books among the most hopeful I've ever read, 'The Ministry for the Future' seemed like it might help.

At first, it was just the opposite. In order to illustrate the horrors of climate change, the book opens with a truly terrifying account of a heatwave in India that kills twenty million people in a fortnight. I was thus punched in the face by my existential terror of climate change, which has been crowded to the side by my existential terror of the pandemic in recent times. It was not pleasant to be reminded that while covid dominates our lives, climate change continues to inexorably undermine the survival of human civilisation. It therefore took me a while to get through the first fifty pages, despite their undoubted readability. Once I'd reacquainted myself with this existential dread, and with the help of escapism in large doses, I found the rest of the book compulsive. I do not think it's science fiction, or at least doesn't read as such. Although there are characters and a narrative, as well as technological extrapolations, it felt more like [a:Francis Spufford|68301|Francis Spufford|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1468846664p2/68301.jpg]'s elision of fiction and non-. Except Spufford recounts history with judicious use of fictionalisation, whereas Stanley Robinson gives readers a detailed recovery narrative of the future. In [b:New York 2140|29570143|New York 2140|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471618737l/29570143._SY75_.jpg|49898123] he spoke directly to the reader, and in 'The Ministry for the Future' he does so still more insistently. This book sits you down, takes you by the shoulders, and says earnestly, "Listen to me. We are not doomed by climate change. There is hope for a better world. Do not despair."

The title of the book refers to an agency set up in Zürich under the auspices of the Paris Agreement, with limited budget and no statutory powers, with the purpose of representing the interests of future generations. It is led by Mary Murphy, who uses the UN agency's soft power to influence governments, banks, and businesses. She is a powerful figure, but still essentially a figurehead and co-ordinator. Kim Stanley Robinson is absolutely the last author to intimate that one person can save the world. Her point of view allows the reader to see the many ways to tackle climate change: geoengineering, renewable energy, financial reform, rewilding, transformation of agriculture, transport decarbonisation, and postcapitalist economics. As ever in his novels, Kim Stanley Robinson has a very impressive grasp of the material, beyond any other author I've come across. I discussed this with a friend who is currently reading [b:Blue Mars|77504|Blue Mars (Mars Trilogy, #3)|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1429497319l/77504._SY75_.jpg|40711]. He has the trick of extrapolating with considered conviction across an incredible range of disciplines in both the hard and social sciences. Presumably he draws upon a network of experts, identifying key concepts and explaining them with great clarity. I have studied and taught carbon emissions mitigation in academia, so do not praise this lightly. I've read plenty of novels with flimsy and unconvincing economics, in particular. Kim Stanley Robinson synthesises and summarises environmental economics with a succinct accuracy that I can't fault. My knowledge of hard science, engineering, and technology is more limited, but I found his extrapolations almost entirely convincing. I remain sceptical of blockchain, as there's so much baseless hype around it. Nonetheless, I am willing to entertain the possibility that it may be useful if set up and managed as public infrastructure rather than for shareholder returns.

While impressively systematic and convincing, the depiction of technological change and geoengineering are not what make 'The Ministry for the Future' memorable. Obviously I appreciated the economics and the reckoning with bankers. What set this apart for me, from Kim Stanley Robinson's other novels as well other climate change fiction, is his depiction of the violent rage against the hyper-rich elite letting the planet burn. Mary shares protagonist duties with Frank May, who barely survives the catastrophic Indian heatwave and suffers from severe PTSD. He is a fascinating character, the exact opposite of all the men in so-called climate change novels that annoyed me with their self involvement (cf [b:Solar|7140754|Solar|Ian McEwan|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320510358l/7140754._SY75_.jpg|7404751], [b:The Lamentations of Zeno|25893848|The Lamentations of Zeno|Ilija Trojanow|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1455505402l/25893848._SY75_.jpg|17780593]). Climate change has taken over his life and over decades the reader watches how this plays out. Unlike much climate change non-fiction (notably [b:The Future We Choose: Surviving the Climate Crisis|52117860|The Future We Choose Surviving the Climate Crisis|Christiana Figueres|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1577771399l/52117860._SX50_SY75_.jpg|73597978]), Kim Stanley Robinson acknowledges and reckons with probably the main impediments to tackling climate change: oil companies and the super-rich. Moreover, he examines the question, unmentioned in any climate change non-fiction I've read, of whether killing a few super-rich is morally right in order to preserve billions of people alive and unborn. The answer is not simple and this book doesn't pretend that it is. I found the intensity of Frank's anger very easy to sympathise with - I am constantly seething with murderous rage at the destruction wrought by billionaires. The role of violence and sabotage in turning the world away from climate disaster is carefully judged throughout. Violence is shown to not usually be justified, yet can be effective in desperate situations. Although the Children of Kali and their direct violent actions are only an occasional presence in the narrative, their inclusion is important. Likewise, Frank's peaceful death in a hospice was very moving and a significant thing to include. It parallels Mary's later retirement, but mainly felt like a powerful reminder that all lives end. His death is tragic because it is undramatic; not self-sacrifice for the greater good, self-destruction, or violent tragedy. He dies slowly of cancer, as many do. I found this an effective reminder of the scale of a human life, amid discussion of whole populations and vast projects stretching over a hundred years.

I don't think 'The Ministry for the Future' works particularly well as a conventional novel, as it doesn't spend nearly as much time with its characters as [b:New York 2140|29570143|New York 2140|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471618737l/29570143._SY75_.jpg|49898123] or the Mars Trilogy. Although I found Mary and Frank interesting characters, their lives were entirely defined by climate change. This is absolutely not a complaint! The book works brilliantly as a manifesto, polemic, and a narrative of possibility. I cannot be the only person who is consumed by fear and despair about the future right now, and needs convincing, analytical, hopeful narratives to counter the blizzard of disasters that pass for current events. Unfortunately, even Kim Stanley Robinson's outstanding writing abilities cannot make much progress against my anxieties in 2021. [b:New York 2140|29570143|New York 2140|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1471618737l/29570143._SY75_.jpg|49898123] definitely had a stronger positive impact on me back in 2017. Partly, it's the implication that his books are becoming more and more direct in their message because things are getting worse and worse. Will he write another like this but more so in a couple of years, if COP26 languishes? 'The Ministry for the Future' is adamant that there is still time to avoid runaway climate change and save civilisation. I would very much like to believe that, but am really struggling to at the moment. Lockdown life on Plague Island really doesn't lend itself to positivity. Still, I know that such narratives are important. Maybe I need to construct a personal narrative of becoming less anxious first, then I might be able to think about the climate change situation more clearly. ( )

Lots of very cool ideas but very drawn out ( )

Essential reading because of the near future scenarios. But lots of information dumps in alternating chapters. Exhausting; but well worth the read. ( )

Großartiges Buch, allerdings nicht einfach zu lesen und nicht ohne Längen. Trotzdem eine Leseempfehlung! ( )

Kim Stanley Robbinson is one of the most loved contemporary sci-fi writers. I may not always like what he writes, but I respect him. He has unique ideas and researches thoroughly (infodumps galore). Where he usually fails is the plot and sections that drag on. This book is no exception to that. There are some amazing chapters (the opening description of the events in India). But, there were chapters I skimmed over and couldn't wait to get done with.

I have mixed feelings about this novel. This is an unusual mix of a regular narrative, chapters narrated by photons or carbon atoms, news bits and short pieces written by people living in a strange, new world of the near future.

There are only two main characters. Mary is the head of the Ministry for the Future - an international institution established to alleviate the consequences of climate change and make sure there is something left for future generations. And there is Frank, an NGO worker who survived a deadly heatwave in India that will change his life forever.

Most of the story is set in Zurich, but we learn about the world through supplemental chapters by different people/entities. There is not much story per se, even though some characters' fates end up intertwined. A lot of it didn't make much sense. I guess the story was a rather weak vehicle to present some novel ideas. Unfortunately, that is not enough for me and this book was not nearly as emotionally engaging as [b:Aurora|23197269|Aurora|Kim Stanley Robinson|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1436300570l/23197269._SX50_.jpg|42742263] (his previous book which I loved).

The most interesting thing about The Ministry for the Future was reading on to see what will happen with the global situation as the years moved on. Read as a futurology report with a soul, this book is soul-crushing in some parts but strangely optimistic in others.

It was great to read about a future where "the 3rd world" leads the change to save the biosphere. I rooted for India going the way they did in the story. Unlike the majority of the cli-fi books I've read, there is a lot of hope here.

I gave an extra star to this book due to the importance of the central theme, but normally this would be a 3 star read at best. ( )