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The Ministry for the Future

A Novel

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The Ministry for the Future

By: Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrated by: Jennifer Fitzgerald, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Ramon de Ocampo, Gary Bennett, Raphael Corkhill, Barrie Kreinik, Natasha Soudek, Nikki Massoud, Joniece Abbott Pratt, Inés del Castillo, Vikas Adam
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About this listen

From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a remarkable vision of climate change over the coming decades.

The Ministry for the Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, using fictional eyewitness accounts to tell the story of how climate change will affect us all. Its setting is not a desolate, postapocalyptic world, but a future that is almost upon us—and in which we might just overcome the extraordinary challenges we face.

It is a novel both immediate and impactful, desperate and hopeful in equal measure, and it is one of the most powerful and original books on climate change ever written.

One of Barack Obama's Favorite Books of 2020

"If I could get policymakers, and citizens, everywhere to read just one book this year, it would be Kim Stanley Robinson’s The Ministry for the Future." —Ezra Klein

"The best science fiction-nonfiction novel I’ve ever read." —Jonathan Lethem, Vanity Fair

"A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity." —Booklist (starred)

"A sweeping, optimistic portrait of humanity's ability to cooperate in the face of disaster. This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet." —Publishers Weekly (starred)


"The Ministry for the Future ranks among Robinson's best recent works, a collection of actions and observations that adds up to more than the sum of its eclectic and urgent parts." —Sierra


Also by Kim Stanley Robinson:
Red Moon
New York 2140
2312
Aurora
Shaman
Environment Genre Fiction Hard Science Fiction Literary Fiction Post-Apocalyptic Science Science Fiction Fiction Climate Science Fiction

Critic Reviews

"Score a point for the audacity of hope....Robinson digs deep into how, with institutional support and some off-the-books black ops, revolutionary ideas could still seize our world."—Shelf Awareness on The Ministry for the Future
"[A] gutsy, humane view of a near-future Earth...Robinson masterfully integrates the practical details of environmental crises and geoengineering projects into a sweeping, optimistic portrait of humanity's ability to cooperate in the face of disaster. This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet."—Publishers Weekly (starred) on The Ministry for the Future
"A breathtaking look at the challenges that face our planet in all their sprawling magnitude and also in their intimate, individual moments of humanity."—Booklist on The Ministry for the Future
"Science-fiction visionary Kim Stanley Robinson makes the case for quantitative easing our way out of planetary doom."—Bloomberg Green on The Ministry for the Future
"...fresh and exciting. Another stellar effort from one of the masters of the genre."—Booklist (starred) on Red Moon
"Enjoyable and thought-provoking...[Robinson] is one of contemporary science fiction's great scene-setters."—SF Chronicle on Red Moon
"...as convincingly textured and observant as we've come to expect from one of the finest writers of his generation."—Locus magazine on Red Moon
"New York may be underwater, but it's better than ever."—The New Yorker on New York 2140
"Massively enjoyable."—The Washington Post on New York 2140
"Science fiction is threaded everywhere through culture nowadays, and it would take an act of critical myopia to miss the fact that Robinson is one of the world's finest working novelists, in any genre."—Guardian on New York 2140
"[A] near-perfect marriage of the technical and the psychological."—NPR Books on Aurora
"Intellectually engaged and intensely humane in a way SF rarely is, exuberantly speculative in a way only the best SF can be, this is the work of a writer at or approaching the top of his game."—Iain M. Banks on 2312
All stars
Most relevant
A very interesting imagining of what the future chaos of climate change could look like... very thoroughly thought out on a global scale with many moving parts.

I feel like the storyline at times got lost along the way, but definitely well worth a read.

An intriguing possible future

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