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The Ministry for the Future

Written 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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Publisher's Summary

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, 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.

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)

Also by Kim Stanley Robinson:

  • Red Moon
  • New York 2140
  • 2312
  • Aurora
  • Shaman
©2020 Kim Stanley Robinson (P)2020 Orbit

What the critics say

"Science-fiction visionary Kim Stanley Robinson makes the case for quantitative easing our way out of planetary doom." (Bloomberg Green)

"[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)

"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)

Featured Article: Canadian Voice Narrators That You Need to Listen to

Discover the voices and stories of Canada with this list of Canadian narrators and authors who are bringing Canadian tales to life in these incredible audiobooks.

What listeners say about The Ministry for the Future

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must read

I think this is the most important book I've listened to. I've started thinking a lot about what I can do.

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way not worth the hype

This is still scifi. There must be a better book that spells out the truths of our time, in a much more concise and digestible way. This book is jumbled and long winded. The story line jumps around so much that one has to relisten multiple times or take notes while listening.
The actors leave much to be desired and some delivery warrants replaying to really understand what was said.

Global warming.
Heat wave kills.
Introduced me to wet bulb temps. never knew about them.
Oil and gas magnates.
Government corruption.
Concept of carbon coin is interesting and would love a book all about that on its own.
Same with the fesability of sail and photovelics.
something that is much more non fiction about marxism, communism, practical, and scientific.

Its a good story, sure. Maybe will be made into a movie or series even. Kind of like the expanse, i guess. but certainly not as gripping from a fiction standpoint.

paper version may be better.

i dont understand all the overwhelmingly positive reviews.

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Fantasy fairy-tale of someone stuck in the 60's

This book is a good way to exercise your eye muscles. You will roll your eyes constantly. It's a fantasy laundry list of things that would have worked out if only capitalism wasn't oppressing us. Yes, Communism is on that list, and let's ignore that capitalism is the only economic system that actually benefited the poor. Let's ignore that from the rise of capitalism to modern day that poverty dropped from about 90% to 8%. Let's ignore that capitalism is the only system that actually gave a damn about the environment (communism surely didn't). Let's ignore that capitalism is the only system that reduced the time people needed to work (spoilers: being a feudal serf was brutal. But so was being a worker in Maoist China.) Let's ignore all of that, because this book certainly did.

This book really should have done some research. It has the main character visiting banks in cities that those banks do not exist in (Hint, the Bundesbank is not in Berlin and the ECB is not in Brussels. They're, ironically, much closer to Switzerland than either of those two cities.) Sure, the author could have found that out by doing a simple Google search. However, this book is just disdainful for anyone who it assumes doesn't share its opinions. Economics is a pseudo-science, political science is a pseudo-science. Climatology, ironically, is a pseudo-science. Anyone who doesn't support the book's desired angle is to be discredited. If you are unfortunate to live in this "non-dystopian" take on climate change, you are likely to be more than discredited, "targeted assassinations" and employed and applauded by the protagonists in this novel. They don't kill anyone "innocent" (which means people they decided were guilty) until they do, and then they invent crimes to rationalise their systematic murder or their political enemies. The ends justify the means, I guess. Except, they don't. Not even in the narrative. The narrative tells us about 50% through that their efforts aren't effective. So, they, a UN agency, are using targeted assassinations to kill people in vain.

I must remind you that this is supposed to be "non-dystopian". This is one of the most "idealistic" depictions of the climate crisis. This book contains unironic adoption of fascist slogans and symbols like "India first" and "Africa for the Africans" and lionises the gilets jaunes, who were famously a magnet for far-right nativists.

The depictions of the EU in this novel are just... bizarre. It's like a caricature of someone who has no knowledge of or experience with the Brussels machine. You think someone who based a considerable part of their novel in the EEC would have some fundamental knowledge of that system. However, it seems that most of their research in this area was limited to the landmarks of Zurich.

Then there is just the bad writing. Things like Mary Murphy's every action being attributed to some perceived stereotypical Irish trait. The characters will frequently say the exact same things or have exactly the same thought, like all the point of view characters share a hive-mind. It's also pretty amazing how characters who have been spending decades of ruining people's lives and actively running the most successful terrorist killing thousands, if not millions, of people are shocked and astounded that they have fostered a climate of fear and violence in which people would seem to attack them directly out of revenge.

There are better and better-written novels on the climate crisis. This book is just hot garbage. It's a fetid fantasy of some hippy that wasn't able to accept that socialism didn't work and only produced immense suffering among the very people it sought to help. I'm not at all skeptical of the climate crisis. I believe we need to take serious action, and needed to some time ago. However, this book can't be allowed to use that crisis as a shield. Just because it writes about that situation, it can't be ignored that its solution to the climate crisis is founded on the idea that we need to murder our way out of it. That's not acceptable.

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Perhaps This Himan Race is Not Yet Run

This is a lengthy and absorbing answer to the dilemma which faces us all. The varied voices of the characters make this a great listen. I am not sure what else to say other than that this is an optimistic look at the future of the human race if and only if the Vast Majority, the silent majority, the hordes and multitudes, somehow collectively move towards safety.

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Brilliant

I know of no better statement for what the future world could be, if only we have the will to truly address climate change and improve life for everyone on the planet—human and non-human.

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Fantastic

This is an incredibly powerful book. Filled with stories of fiction that could so easily be real, prescient, prophetic. It is the story of the human condition and of the disastrous failures of human systems. Of our tendency to ignore future perils for the comfort of the moment. Of capitalism’s tendency to exaggerate the worst in us and elevate the most destructive among us to positions of unchecked power. Of a future that may lead to our end, or ours and our planet’s salvation. Beautiful. Desperate. Angry. Sorrowful. Hopeful.

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An interesting book

There are good points about how people are likely to react to climate change and its effects. And showcases some interesting ideas about how we can mitigate the damage done as well as some likely problems that could come up.

Overall, I enjoyed it.

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Terrible, chip climate changenge Davinci Code

IS not just grossly low resolution progressive, it doesn't make sense at all, I'm just sorry about the time that I lost, I was just trying to find if it makes a point, but is just shame , guilt and crap.

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A long, winding take about a future fate.

The ministry of the future is a long drawn out tale about the consequences of climate change, the challenges of global finance and a future where nature is at the forefront of humanity. This is an interesting look at what we must become in order to save this planet for future generations to come.

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what story?

I didn't feel there was a central character other than the planet and honestly by the end I wanted the planet to lose as this was soooooo drawn out.

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  • depthpsychologist
  • 2020-12-09

Great ideas, uneven narration

I downloaded to this audiobook because Ezra Klein said it was the most important book he had read in 2020—not for the story or literary quality so much as for the realistic and comprehensive way it addresses the coming climate crisis.

This is a novel of ideas in the truest sense. It's really about envisioning the future: what the climate catastrophe will look like, and how the world might change to address it. It is at times tragic and depressing, at other times optimistic. The scope of the novel is impressive. It definitely made me see the climate crisis in a new light, and got me thinking seriously about all kinds of things, and that's what a novel of ideas is supposed to do: make you think. The novel is well worth reading for that reason alone, though be warned at times the story and the characters definitely take a back seat to the ideas.

I found the narration of this audiobook uneven and sometimes quite irritating. This is a huge cast, and it seems like they just mailed out the chapters to a bunch of voice actors with little coordination or direction. So, different characters voices sound radically different at different times. The whole tone can shift radically too. The biggest problem I had though is that some of the voices are just over-wrought, over-done, garish and cartoony. This happens throughout, but I got especially frustrated by the Irish narrator who reads Mary's chapters: her idea of doing a mans voice is make her voice as closed and raspy as possible, her Russian and Indian accents have wild sing-songy intonations, and her American accent is whiney. This is a real shame because Mary becomes the novel's main protagonist and her chapters are long. I got to the point where my heart sank every time she came back on to start a new chapter, and I almost didn't make it through to the end as the result.

All that aside, it's an important book and well worth engaging with one way or the other. If you're picky about your narration, you might want to read it rather than listen to the audiobook.

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  • D. J. Miller
  • 2020-12-05

Ruined by dreadful narration

We have some narrators here, Fitzgerald the worst among them, who read without understanding of:

1. The material
2. How words are pronounced
3. How sentences work
4. Any accent other than their native one

The experience is comparable to an ice pick in the ear. Returning the audiobook and buying a paper copy instead.

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  • Eleanor B. Hildreth
  • 2020-11-11

I raved about it to my friends

The first step to change is being able to imagine how it could happen. I just loved that toward the end of the story, emissions start to fall. They top off at 474 ppm, hang at that level for a decade and then start to drop 5 ppm per year. Reforestation and seaweed farming and ??? I'm listening to it again to learn it better.
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Author is not perfect. He has not much studied nonviolent movements and is, as are so many, rather a leftist. Don't those two go hand in hand? But he knows a LOT about climate. I learned a lot and I've been a climate activist for a dozen years. Nothing he said seemed just plain wrong to me. And his putting all that info in stories is like chocolate coating it.
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Author is rather optimistic. The story characters discuss possible collapse of civilization, but do not mention the possibility of human extinction.
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This book earns author a spot on my climate heroes list: Paul Hawken, Greta Thunberg, Donella Meadows, Al Gore, John Michael Greer, Pope Francis,

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  • Robert Handley
  • 2020-12-26

Multiple narrators distracting (again)

I purchased because of Ezra Klein recommendation and I recognize the importance of this title. However the voice chops of various readers is not consistent. As with many titles, it seems there was insufficient oversight regarding pronunciation of words, voice quality, speed of reading/narrator and acting (overacting/412). Was there a producer in the house? My prejudice is to not struggle with audio/narrator quality and multiple voices, and I knew up front that voicing would be an issue, but the premise is useful. I'm glad I listened.

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  • dan fisklements
  • 2020-11-16

bleak yet optimistic view of climate change impact

difficult to listen to, but an important book none the less. Robinson packs the book full of facts and real science. the plot is a little slow at points, but I'm still glad I listened.

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  • J. Clark
  • 2021-03-07

Narration is a mixed bag, but otherwise compelling

It's really impossible to sum this up, so I'll just toss out a few points:
1. The narration ranges from pretty good to among the worst I've ever heard.
2. The opening is extremely bleak, but once it opens up and gets going, it's an interesting mix of hopelessness and hopefulness.
3. There is a mix of science, philosophy, economics, sociology, and fiction presented in a mix of narrative, interview transcripts, essays, and so on. It's uneven and kind of random, but compelling, so just be ready for that.
4. I see a lot of reviews complaining about the book's agenda. The book doesn't actually pass judgment on the characters' actions, it simply reports their outcome. Maybe some of the economics and philosophy are questionable, maybe not. It is what it is, and I believe these are important conversations to have.

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  • Phillip F Norris
  • 2020-11-04

will listen again

I loved the ideas and the writing though not a plot-driven page-turner. The many narrative performances were top notch.

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  • Lincoln
  • 2020-11-18

the most depressing book ever

wow. I only got to chapter 2. This book put me in such a gross, dark mood. I already know our planet is doomed and the future generations will suffer and die horrible deaths. that is why i chose not to breed. I dont need a play by play of what a couple generations ahead on me will go through in excruciating detail. This is one of those rare times where I will be asking for my audible credit back.

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  • Ben Capozzi
  • 2021-09-13

Flat and Weirdly Naive

Dramatic beginning, but flat pretty much ever after. Some of the characters came across as implausibly, frustratingly, incredibly naive, and while I guess KSR wanted to present a hopeful scenario for massive, positive environmental action, much of this just seemed, again, naive to me, especially in the wake of Trump’s America. While this book is much more international in scope, it just seemed politically too simple. I love this genre of near-future SciFi, though, and I absolutely LOVED KSR’s Aurora (only other book from him I’ve read), but finishing this became more obligation than enjoyment. I much more enjoyed Bacigalupi’s Wind Up Girl, though it’s set further in the future, and Daniel Suarez’s Daemon/Freedom thrillers, set in the present but a much more compelling fictionalization of the death of Capitalism. Ultimately, this reminded me a lot of how I felt reading Daniel Quinn's Ishmael, the one about the talking ape critiquing mother culture? Just make this a long essay, or collection of essays. The weakness of the storytelling and characters distracted me from the ideas.

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  • Margo
  • 2021-07-22

Just drivel

Uninformed economics, stereotyped characters and sympathetic characterization of terrorists are just some of the issues with this book. The ONLY saving grace is the inclusion of technology that might actually be helpful in solving our climate issues! This is mostly a political treatise; where is the 'hard science fiction' we were promised? My husband and I had looked forward to listening to this together but we gave up after 2.5 hours.

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7 people found this helpful