At the latest Critical Mass meeting in Adelaide I discussed cli-fi through the lens of two Kim Stanley Robinson offerings written 16 years apart.
The recently released The Ministry for the Future starts in the immediate future, with climate change impacts escalating but STILL so much inaction from the masses.
This epic novel-cum-science masterclass then speculates on humanity’s possible actions and reactions in the crisis of our times – climate change – over the next few decades.… Read the rest
Roman notes that John M Ford’s The Dragon Waiting is once again available. Jack Herman provides some notes about this fantasy…
This is an alternative history fantasy (a “counterfactual”) set in the time of Medici Florence (the time of the condottieri) and the Wars of the Roses. The discontinuity in this universe occurred at the time of Julian the Apostate, one of Constantine’s successors; only here Julian did indeed restore religious diversity to the Roman Empire and, after the victories of Justinian in Italy, the Byzantium flourished, and Islam didn’t.… Read the rest
March’s Critical Mass featured Kate Treloar talking about The Ministry for the Future, Kim Stanley Robinson’s 2020 novel; I thought I’d better read it for the discussion.
I spent a week reading the novel, savouring the delight. As Bill McKibben, head of 350.org, noted1, “it’s not a utopia, it’s anti-dystopian, realist to its core.” He compares the book to Bellamy’s Looking Backward 2000-1887.… Read the rest