The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson
5 of 5 stars
The book exposes the dangers of climate change and shows how bleak our future looks. Just as we are all subject to some perceptual errors due to the nature of our senses and physical reality, we are also subject to some cognitive errors, built into our brains through the period of human evolution, and unavoidable even when known to us. The first chapter is apocalyptical and depicts the aftermath of a deadly heat wave that hits Indian state of Uttarpradesh, where I was born incidentally and resonate the folly of human growth even more strongly. The first chaper stays with you and you will be tempted to lap up the rest of this book. It is not a small book, with multiple complex characters and additionally, the book attempts to explain the jargon of climate science in plain simple terms. If you are already steeped in knowledge about the climate crisis, you might find yourself skimming some of the explanatory technical aspects; though if you are a newcomer to the science and policy aspects of climate crisis you will find them well-explained without being ‘dumbed down.’ It is a novel but also, through and through, a hard science-fiction novel.
I live in Ireland and the novel switches between different perspectives, with main character—Mary Murphy, in charge of the Ministry in question, an organisation set up under the Paris Agreement to solve the climate crisis in future. Murphy’s character is based upon diplomat Mary Robinson from Ireland and captures the intent of some good humans working to address this most important issue facing humanity today.
The book does not provide any hope or solutions but lays bare the consequences of climate change that are staring us all a few years dow the road. No country will be spared but will they come together to delay or limit the effects of human interference in the natural phenomenon is still to be seen.
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