Kim
Stanley Robinson seems to write two kinds of books. Both are hard
sci-fi in the sense that they focus on either current technology or
near-future technology extrapolated from current science. Both kinds
of books are quick to locate the political elements of technology and
science. While one sort of novel follows in the vein of his Mars
trilogy – set in space and looking toward a sort of hopeful
exploration (though often fraught with its own political
difficulties) – the other kind of novel brings his readers back to
Earth to take a hard look at the problems that we face here. The
Ministry of the Future is one of
the latter kind. While the title makes this sound like a time travel
narrative, it is actually about a UN ministry that is established as
a proxy for future generations as a way to keep current political
entities from taking advantage of as-yet-unborn people. This in
itself is an interesting idea because of the broad rhetoric used
across the political spectrum in America about the importance of
children, fetus, the future, and so on. In this novel, Robinson
points out the fact that our systems loves to short the future while
also counting on those yet to come to solve the ridiculous problems
that we both create and shirk responsibility for.
This
novel is a careful bricolage of narrative, ideas for problem solving,
international intrigue, meditations on environmentalism and
capitalism, and speculation on future technologies and
bioengineering. The central narrative of the novel, detailing Mary
Murphy's heading of the Ministry for the Future and the attempts she
and her team make to bring the Earth back from the brink of
destruction, makes up a small portion of the book. Robinson relies
heavily on juxtaposition throughout to patch together scenes of
striking contrast to highlight the manifold difficulties that we
face. This is a necessary tactic because Robinson recognizes that
the problems that we face are intricately interconnected.
For
as bleak as much of the novel can be, Robinson does find a way to
save the world. It takes invention of a new crypto-currency backed
by the major economies of the world and based on carbon sequestration
and the implementation of many other global-scale projects. But we
have to make it through mass carnage and near collapse to get there.
The disheartening revelation of the novel is that the wealthy and
developed nations must experience the world as others do in order to
take action.
I
do not find this kind of Robinson's novels as entertaining to read as
his space exploration novels, but they are still important to read.
Robinson wants to think about a future that is based in the present
day and fully cognizant of the problems that we face. He never
imagines a future in which humankind is magically no longer like
humankind. This can be disheartening, but it is a more useful way of
looking at the future.
All Rights Reserved Book Blog