The Ministry for the Future
- 576
- Pages
- about 11 h
- Reading time
- Kurd Lasswitz Award for Best Foreign Work
- Grand Prix de l'Imaginaire for Best Foreign Novel
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About the book
The Ministry for the Future is a climate fiction novel by American science fiction writer Kim Stanley Robinson, published in 2020. Set in the near future, the novel follows a subsidiary body, established under the Paris Agreement, whose mission is to act as an advocate for the world's future generations of citizens as if their rights were as valid as the present generation's. While the ministry pursues various ambitious projects, the effects of climate change are determined to be the most consequential. The plot primarily follows Mary Murphy, the head of the titular Ministry for the Future, and Frank May, an American aid worker traumatized by experiencing a deadly heat wave in India. Many chapters are devoted to other characters' accounts of future events, as well as their ideas about ecology, economics, and other subjects.
Where the score comes from
The sources average 7.3 across 347 ratings — not yet many, so the reader vote carries 70% of the weight and the rest pulls toward the Science fiction average of 7.8. That is how 7.4 comes out.
| Source | Average | Ratings | Weight |
|---|---|---|---|
| Open Library | 6.8 | 26 | 8% |
| Hardcover | 7.3 | 321 | 93% |
Reader voices
The most-liked reviews on Hardcover (credited to their authors).
“I'd classify The Ministry for the Future as an essential read. In my view, no other book captures the current crisis facing humanity as effectively as this one, nor presents potential solutions as compellingly. Spanning the 2020s, 2030s, and 2040s, Robinson vividly portrays the apocalyptic…”
“There were parts that were quite thought-provoking, but both as a book and a process for how we get to that future it was underwhelming.”
Frequently asked
How long is The Ministry for the Future?
It has 576 pages — longer than 78% of the ranked books in Science fiction.
In this book
Themes this book shares with others — each leads to the best books on it.
If you liked this
Same shelf — Science fiction — with scores between 7.4 and 7.5, closest to this book.
