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The Ministry for the Future

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What to expect

Chosen by Barack Obama as one of his favourite reads of 2020

Established in 2025, the purpose of the new organisation was simple: To advocate for the world's future generations and to protect all living creatures, present and future. It soon became known as the Ministry for the Future, and this is its story.

From legendary science fiction author Kim Stanley Robinson comes a vision of climate change unlike any ever imagined.

Told entirely through fictional eye-witness accounts, The Ministry For The Future is a masterpiece of the imagination, the story of how climate change will affect us all over the decades to come.

Its setting is not a desolate, post-apocalyptic 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.

'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

'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 review)

'Gutsy, humane... This heartfelt work of hard science-fiction is a must-read for anyone worried about the future of the planet' Publishers Weekly (starred review)

'Portrays a vision of the near future where, if some people work hard enough, maybe everything won't come to an end' Entertainment Weekly

Also by Kim Stanley Robinson:
Red Moon
New York 2140
2312
Aurora
Shaman

Critics Review

Bestseller Robinson again tackles climate change head-on in this gutsy, humane view of a near-future Earth careening toward collapse . . . 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 review)
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
Steely, visionary optimism
Guardian
A panoramic epic, the best science fiction-nonfiction novel I've ever read
Jonathan Lethem, Vanity Fair
The Ministry for the Future is a great read. Robinson has written a novel that presents the urgency of this crisis in an original way and leaves readers with hope that we can do something about it. The next chapter in the story of our planet is still being written, and the ending is up to us
Bill Gates

User Reviews

Book 4.0
Narration 3.0
Author Kim Stanley Robinson
Narrator Barrie Kreinik, Fajer Al-Kaisi, Gary Bennett, Inés del Castillo, Jennifer Fitzgerald, Joniece Abbott-Pratt, Natasha Soudek, Nikki Massoud, Ramon de Ocampo, Raphael Corkhill, Vikas Adam
Duration 20 hours and 42 minutes
Release Date
ISBN 9781405541121
Format Audiobook
Publisher Little, Brown Book Group
Genre Fiction: general and literary, Narrative theme: Environmental issues
Availability AU, GB, IE
Rating
4.0 (1 review)
Narration
3.0 (1 review)

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