This is an epic tale and inspiring account of ways we could work together to tackle climate change. It has a unique writing style that may not be for everyone, but what matters are the ideas in this book. It is overall an optimistic look into the future, but one that may require some "evil" to accomplish.
Full review on YouTube

I really loved reading this book. The mix of point-of-view descriptions, chapters about theories and ideologies, and the bond that grew between Frank and Mary as the world began to implement real solutions to lessen and mitigate against climate change, was powerful. It was a bit longer of a read than I felt was necessary at times, but I was intrigued by the author's ideas throughout. I would definitely recommend this book to a friend – although I may warn them that it's unlike most popular science fiction out there.

The 2025 Paris Agreement begets the “Ministry for the Future,” led by pragmatic Irishwoman Mary Murphy, to ensure Earth’s future through the reversal of climate change. Simultaneously, U.S. clinician Frank miraculously survives an extinction-level heat event in Uttar Pradesh. Robinson’s dense prose explodes Mary’s and Frank’s stories (among scores of human, animal, and other stories) into a provocative look at the economic, legislative, and scientific leaps that must be made in order to control rampant climate events that seem all too real. This creates a prickling tension as epic-scale world events are married to micro-scale storytelling, in which even a lowly photon gets a turn to relate its experiences. 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 review, 9/1/2020

Kim Stanley Robinson is one of my favorite sci-fi authors. His books combine some hard sci-fi, social commentary, politics and just sheer wonder. The Ministry for the Future fits in very well with these themes. The author's powers have not diminished one bit over the years. I already recommend his books to my customers; so I will just add this title to my list.

It's interesting how much KSR's novels have infiltrated the world of politics, recently -- not only did Ezra Klein interview who author for his podcast (an episode that I really recommend), but The Ministry for the Future was also one of President Obama's best books of 2020. It's not hard to see why, given KSR's politics, what he chooses to write about, and the quality of his writing and story-telling.

A must read for all fans of KSR's, of course, but also for anyone with an interest in where we are going from here - as a species, politically, in terms of climate change, and more. Specifically, how might the world change following a catastrophic climate event? Thought-provoking, engaging, and very good. Definitely recommended.

KSR is one of my favorites. This one is simultaneously incredibly dark and yet hopeful. It was on Obama's list for 2020, and I'm hoping more world leaders take note.

Fantastic, incredibly important book. It feels like all of KSR's writing has been leading to this novel. Longer essay forthcoming.

This is a sublime amalgam of a novel; part tale, part primer, part manifesto that harmonizes with authors ranging from Edward Abbey to Herman Melville. The ideas that fly off the pages will challenge, inform and soothe you, possibly overwhelm you. Two main protagonists carry the story line, one a fellow who survives the first wet bulb heat wave which kills millions. Our fellow is burdened with PTSD, survivor’s guilt and despair. Our heroine is the leader of the Ministry with troubles of her own but a determination and adroitness to lead and inspire her team. Characteristic Robinson flourishes of beauty, thought and inspiration are present which provide the awe factor necessary for a spectacular milestone of science fiction.

Kim Stanley Robinson is a super talented writer and full or ideas. That being said, I had a hard time with this title as I drags on for large sections and doesn’t seem to have any real narrative other than climate change and effects of that on humanity short and long term. Excellent compete, but gets bogged down too much for me.

When I read "The Ministry for the Future," a couple of months ago, the American West wasn't yet burning and the San Francisco sky had not turned dim and orange at mid-day. This is near-future science fiction that's so near it feels like it's already happening. Robinson opens the book with a harrowing description of a deadly heat wave in India, one that kills 20 million people.

Surely such an event would be enough to awaken the world to the urgent need to change course on climate? No, it really wouldn't be. In Robinson's prognostication, the global capitalist system staggers on, zombie-like, because the same short- to medium-term incentives remain in place, and there is no critical mass of actors within the system who are willing to look past those incentives.

I believe that in a pre-release interview, Robinson said that "The Ministry for the Future" is his best-case scenario for what the next few decades might look like. That's sobering in itself, because what happens in the book is still extremely bad: Millions dead, millions more permanently displaced.

So Robinson's diagnosis is dire, but at the same time it's optimistic. The heroic bureaucrats (and "dark ops" CIA-style climate agents) of the Ministry for the Future are tasked, under the Paris Agreement, to represent the interests of the generations yet unborn, and they manage to lever a budget in the low billions into a reprogramming of the global capitalist system mentioned above – one where the imperative to stop emitting carbon is programmed in at the lowest level.

Can it truly happen? I hope so, but I question whether it will, or whether it will before too many states have failed for it to make a difference. What this book does convince me of is that there is a path to, while not averting climate catastrophe, sharply limit the extent of human suffering and misery that the catastrophe will cause. That's what we need to work on.

Very well written and what I read really sticks with me. I'll never forget the 'wet bulb heat' and the lake scene. But I couldn't finish it. Both because of current events, and because the book's 'eyewitness' style is a little too glaring a light.

This is a great read if you’re at all interested in the environment. It reads like a mixture of fiction and non-fiction. The style takes a little getting used to. The author dips in and out of the lives of several characters; some we only see once and some are returned to throughout the book. The point is to show the kind of impact each person’s actions can have on the environment: for good or bad.
The title refers to a government agency whose job it is to act on behalf of future generations of life on the planet. The reason being that everything that happens now has an impact later.
This story explores lots of different ways to make a difference. Some of them are simple and some are complex and all are interconnected.

The master of Cli-Fi or climate fiction returns with another story of scientists and politicians working to save our planet from years (centuries) of environmental neglect. The titular ministry is an international group rising out of the Paris Accords that takes a big picture approach to trying to save the planet, and is failing. That is, failing until a disastrous heat wave in India kills millions and the world is reluctantly energized to finally do something - though it may be too late. Robinson expertly navigates possible geo-engineering options and the political battles that will inevitably accompany them. As always, the reader is left with a feeling that they should do something about all of this in the real world and a hopefulness that the smart, dedicated folks that Robinson describes do actually exist and will be there to lead the way. I was supplied with an eArc of this book via NetGalley in exchange for a fair review.

I don't know of any other author currently writing science fiction on environmental themes and yet our environment (cause and effect of global warming) is such a current hot topic.

It is the year 2025. A new worldwide agency, called The Ministry for the Future, has been created to look after world issues and ensure that there is a future for humanity. About this same time there is a massive heat wave in India and millions die (with decomposing bodies further polluting land or what little water had been available). It appears that the Ministry for the Future is an organization in name only but with little power of ability to actually make a difference for the future.

The head of the Ministry, Mary Murphy, spends most of her time trying to convince corporations of their responsibility to the earth, but it's a slow process. When Mary is kidnapped by a survivor of the Indian heat wave, and taunted and blamed for lack of efficiency, Mary plots to start a black ops style splinter group that can unofficially take more direct action instead of business meetings and phone calls. She soon discovers that such a group already exists. Now, if she can just find a way to work with them....

This book is written from the perspective of multiple 'eye-witness' accounts which could be just a little bit jarring for those of us who are used to a more traditional narrative form, but Robinson hooks us right at the start with the gripping accounts of the heat wave.

Some of the ideas presented to restore the planet's health seem ambitious and even preposterous. Many times I realized I was smiling as I read, assuming that this was Robinson's personal belief and because the plans are pretty extreme, the best way for him to present the ideas is through a fictional narrative.

As with many Kim Stanley Robinson novels, there is a pretty large cast of characters but the story here mostly follows Mary Murphy. The book is titled, after all, for the organization which she works for. It also follows Frank May, the heat wave survivor. Remember these two characters and you're in good shape.

I greatly appreciate (in fact I look for) environmentally based science fiction and no one does it better than Robinson. He's prescient ... which makes this book a bit frightening. The reality ... the science ... is that global warming is a fact and the future will likely look very much like Robinson presents it here. And as Robinson points out, there are still some options on how to correct it.

"...the only catastrophe that can't be undone is extinction"

Looking for a good book? Read Kim Stanley Robinson's <em>The Ministry for the Future</em>.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher, through Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review