Listen free for 30 days
Listen with offer
-
The Ministry for the Future
- 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
- Length: 20 hrs and 41 mins
Failed to add items
Add to basket failed.
Add to wishlist failed.
Remove from wishlist failed.
Adding to library failed
Follow podcast failed
Unfollow podcast failed
99p for the first 3 months
The Ministry for the Future
Buy Now for £16.99
No valid payment method on file.
We are sorry. We are not allowed to sell this product with the selected payment method
Listeners also enjoyed...
Summary
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.
Critic reviews
"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)
More from the same
Author
What listeners say about The Ministry for the Future
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- David Adams
- 10-06-21
This is how the world ends
fantastic imaginative storytelling. I enjoyed the many first person narratives, and how the environmental disasters are played out on the world stage. Also the hard science and political theory, my goodness, if you're on the fence on purchasing this book, don't be, it's one of the most fascinating narrative stories about US as a people's, and our place on this fragile blue green dot we call home, Earth.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Neil Simpson
- 06-06-22
This Book is perfect
I am not usually a listener of fiction...
but this beast had me gripped. not only is it a great story, it manages to imagine a post-capitalist world...
...which is some of the most original thinking I have encountered in ages...
simply marvellous
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Jon Freeman
- 09-12-21
brilliantly systemic exploration of our future
The analytical parts of this story are priceless. The story itself is mostly interesting but I felt some passages overlong and even self indulgent. the reading is a bit mixed, certainly good enough but not great with occasional errors that should have been picked up. but this is a timely book bordering on a must-read, and the most fully systemic view of a planet since Dune.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance4 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- A. Newman
- 21-06-22
Thought-provoking
What will the future look like? Kim Stanley Robinson has thought widely and imaginatively about this question, and has clearly drawn deeply from the work of many people who are trying to solve our most frightening ecological and political challenges. The future he creates in this book doesn't always convince - and the narrative device might not always work - but it deserves huge credit for taking a global view of our globalized world. If you want to move beyond a doom-laden, frozen and terrifying vision of tomorrow, and think about how challenges and change can accelerate solutions, it is worth a listen.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance1 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Felix
- 08-08-22
Really interesting story almost unlistenable voice acting
I think very hard to enjoy due to distracting voices that do not add to the story in any meaningful way. What is wrong with just having someone with a comprehensible voice reading the story without doing absurd accents. All of the accents attempted are done so half-heartedly and creates a squirming awkwardness when trying to enjoy the story.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall4 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story4 out of 5 stars
- Anonymous User
- 09-11-22
Interesting story but tough to get through
Interesting story that may just turn out to become reality. It is rather tough or dense to get through though.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance2 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Ben Parsons
- 26-10-21
Moving, motivating look at climate change effects
Incredible writing and content let down by a terrible performance.
The story is engaging, timely and genuinely motivating. It's the KSR you expect (if you like it you like it), but perhaps angrier and more urgent.
But... whoever plays Mary (arguably the main role, though it's ensemble) really struggled with the text.
I would recommend this book to everyone, as it is such a moving, motivating look at the effects of climate change. However, I may suggest the text version, or wait until there is a new audio production of this.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall5 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story5 out of 5 stars
- Heidi
- 08-01-22
A hugely important book for our time.
A playbook of solutions to climate change, wrapped up in a great story. if Don't Look Up explains the urgency of the situation, this book tells us what we need to do about it.
Hopeful, inspiring, terrifying.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance5 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Lucas Haitsma
- 15-04-22
Interesting at parts, but quite dragged out
Definitely interesting overall! But a bit too long to get the message across. Thank you.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!
-
Overall3 out of 5 stars
-
Performance3 out of 5 stars
-
Story3 out of 5 stars
- Audiobooks Nest Reviews
- 05-12-22
Science over Story
🧡 This was fascinating and so very insightful about world politics and economics. It's an incredibly detailed imagining of a climate catastrophe and its aftermath. But as a work of fiction alone, it falls short, with the story very much secondary to the science. I’m still glad I listened and it's made me think about so much, but it is much more dire warning than novel.
💚 I’d compare it to World War Z in tone and structure, but with climate change instead of zombies. Both are a series of separate accounts in the aftermath of a disaster. But this doesn’t hang together as tightly.
__________________________________________________
SOUNDBITE
🎧 Eleven narrators take on this mammoth tome and, for the most part, deliver admirably. However, there are some questionable accents and strange production choices at times.
🎧 There were enjoyable aspects of the audiobook, but on balance, I’d recommend the written version. This was very hard to follow in audio form.
Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.
You voted on this review!
You reported this review!