16
votes
Tildes Book Club - The Ministry for the Future - How is it going?
Happy New Year friends and fellow readers. In approximately two weeks we will be discussing Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson.
How's it going? I got started just after Christmas and it was such a tense fast paced book that I finished within a week.
Ping @maximum_bake, @RheingoldRiver, @carsonc, @kwyjibo, @syllo, @kfwyre, @PnkNBlck71817, @611828750722
@rosco, @first-must-burn, @CannibalisticApple, @public, @pekt, @DefinitelyNotAFae, @Melvincible, @slothywaffle, @Bifrost51, @skybrian @Sodliddesu, @azaadi @fraughtGYRE @Nsutdwa @PnkNBlck71817 @chocobean @lackofaname, @OnlyGhosts @csos95 @Wes, @cfabbro, @georgeboff @Everdoor, @zorind @Palimpsest @CrazyProfessor02 @maevens @cdb @OceanBreezy @joshs, @elight @jawedzebra @Schnupfenheld , @davek804, @tonestones @Captain_calico @hexagonsun @CharlieBeans @pu1pfriction @Lonan @DialecticCake @kej @LazarWolf @eyechoirs @Thales, @Idalium
@Rudism @crespyl @rsl12 @thermopesos @archevel
@Shevanel , @crialpaca @Weldawadyathink,@blivet ,@syllo, @lhamil64, @tanglisha, @requirement
I just managed to get a copy from the library and am only a few chapters in so far. I didn't look up anything about this book ahead of time and had not read the author before. All I knew going in was that it was science fiction.
All this to say that I was not prepared for that first chapter.
I just picked up the book today and haven't started. You not being prepared for the first chapter is the only thing I know going into it, so I guess I'm in for a wild ride.
I also went in blind. It's a powerful book. It's also not entirely a downer by the end.
That's good to know at least.
I finally finished the book. The overall story was okay, but I wasn't a fan of the segue chapters and found myself checking the percent of the book left a lot more often than I normally do. The segue chapters gave me the same irritated feeling the philosophy chapters in *War and Peace * did. Given how popular War and Peace is, this might just be a me thing. The “notes” chapters made me very annoyed, it made the book feel unfinished.
I felt like the author spent a lot of time on fiddly details like
spoilers
the pumping and what a salvation the blockchain is.Interesting to me, I read Termination Shock maybe six months ago and didn’t get that same sense of too much explaining, even though that book went into great detail about how science-y things worked.
The author did a good job of humanizing the basic story and including relationships that are relatable. I agree with the person who said a lot of the interesting parts happened between the scenes. I believe this was done because the main character didn’t know for sure what happened, but between the first chapter pov and all the segue chapters I didn’t feel like this story was focused enough on the main character for that to make sense. I’ve heard it said in rpg circles to not talk about this cool thing that happened centuries ago and then start the adventure, make the cool thing the adventure. In this case, we heard of the cool things as though we had caught snippets of the news in the background of a movie scene about something else.
Overall my reaction was kind of meh. I didn’t hate it, but I will definitely not read it again.
I'm going to post the formal book discussion soon. Please contribute there also if you are willing.
Oh, thank you. I'd completely forgotten about your question list, it's an awesome way to start the discussion and I appreciate it.
I’ve owned the audiobook for years, but never read it. I want going to participate, but I saw it come up a bunch on other threads so I decided to go for it. So far I am mixed on the quality of the audiobook. I just don’t like some of the narrators. I will try to be vague, but when the PTSD guy was talking to the woman, the narrator voiced the guy as very breathy. It was very unpleasant for me.
Anyway, audiobook aside, the story has me decently captivated. My ADHD is doing weird things right now, so I haven’t been able to read as much as I would like, but I have been enjoying it.
Oof, I just made it to the part you are critiquing and... surely they could have done better than making the male character sound like a Saturday morning cartoon... Some of these lines are really taking me out of the plot.
It's interesting how much of a difference a good narrator makes. I once grabbed a recording of a Sherlock Holmes book that must have been originally a tape meant for the blind - it sounded like they hired Ben Stein to read it. Other books I've really enjoyed the narrators but probably wouldn't have finished the book at all if I'd been reading it.
I'm on hold across like 3 or 4 editions at two libraries and have been for a month, and no luck getting ahold of it yet. Going in blind but might be late. I'm up to being second in line on a physical copy, so... We'll see!
I haven't managed to borrow it from my libraries either. Considering just buying it, but we'll see.
I was 45th in line, then it was suddenly available. I guess people must be busy and pushed it back.
I just got my copy today. I'm leaving for a several-day vacation on Wednesday where I may or may not have decent chunks of reading time, so... fingers crossed I can make significant progress.
I read it a while back after seeing it mentioned here in another thread. I thought it was pretty good but way too unfocused.
I was sold on it being a story of people standing up and saying "fuck you, we're solving this and you better not get in our way."
It's in there but it's really not the focus and I was disappointed that a lot of that stuff was sort of glossed over, and outside a few chapters, mostly happened behind the scenes.
I'll be quite late getting to this read. I originally hadn't planned on reading it, as my previous experience with KSR (red mars) I found too long and felt mixed on the characters. But, I've heard some interesting things about this one so put it on hold a little too late to get to it this month.
Last year I found I really struggled to participate in the discussions even when I had read the book more less in sync with the schedule. Im going to try to be better about commenting this year, even if it's a bit late.
I've had the same thought about the Red Mars, having only read most of the first book. Maybe I'll give it a chance too.
If you couldn't work through the first of the three Mars books ... MFTF is a tough sell instead.
I'd say his Science in the Capital series is quicker to pick up and enjoy, as was Aurora. Even 2312 picked up well.
Red Moon, MFTF, and the Mars trilogy are all slower build up.
Aha, thanks for the heads-up and the recommendations for some other reads! I'll give it a try anyway when I can; I have no issue dnfing books if I'm not into them.
Making good progress! It’s definitely not gripping me the way some other books do, and I’m not exactly sure why, but I’m still enjoying it and I’m not having any trouble spending time reading and listening to it! The audiobook narration is mostly quite good
I find the way the subject / target changes between chapters was kind of jarring. The series-of-short-stories aspect was a bit tight to keep pace.
I'm listening to the audiobook version and just paused at 67% to type this.
It's dark, the introduction is one hell of a gut punch, but it is certainly compelling and I know I'll listen to the end.
Wow that first chapter! More frightening than any horror fiction I ever read. I didn’t love the book, its topic is too serious for my current mood. I marvel at the depth of thought that went into it.
I’m in the mid-80s, so I’m nearing the end of the book. I really, really enjoy Kim Stanley Robinson’s writing style. I both like and dislike the “I am a concept” chapters. The pivots between different short stories make for an interesting storytelling tool, and I’ll think more about that when I write for the actual discussion.
I think we'd be okay with an Honest Orson :)
I'm willing to listen if you've got anything you'd like to say about it! I certainly didn't find it an enjoyable or universally good read.
I mostly appreciated the ethical questions it made me ask myself.
Mmm. I agree with your feedback. I read the book a few years back.
The thing that struck me around realism and our response to climate change was the pumping. He dedicated a decent number of passages discussing the scale of the problem and just how fruitless the effort was from a physics perspective. We had to try, but it was going to cost more energy/emissions than it was going to help arrest the problem.
Also, I'd like to hear a bit about your work if you'd be willing to share it in an anonymous fashion.
Seconded, I've never heard of that career before.
If you have criticism, that can make interesting discussion. Only if you feel like it though.
I started a new series last month, and I don't think I'll have time to read both books simultaneously, so I'll unfortunately have to give this one a miss. Too bad though, because I'm extremely intrigued by everybody commenting about the first chapter!
I made the mistake of starting the book right before GDQ, so I dove into it and then almost immediately put it on pause for a week.
GDQ is now over though, and I’m eager to get back to it. It had me hooked.
Like many have mentioned, that first chapter is a hell of an opener.
I have already finished the book, there wasn't a line for the audiobook at my library so I could easily get it. And like as other people had said, the opening is one hell of a way to open a book. And it really sets the mood of the book.