Termination Shock: A Novel Paperback – November 8, 2022

"Termination Shock" by Neal Stephenson is a tour de force in speculative fiction, seamlessly blending themes of climate change, geopolitics, and technological innovation into a compelling narrative that feels eerily prescient. As a reader deeply engaged with the intersection of science fiction and reality, I found myself captivated by Stephenson's masterful storytelling and thought-provoking insights.One of the most striking aspects of the novel is its portrayal of the dire consequences of climate change and the urgency of addressing it. Through vivid imagery and meticulous world-building, Stephenson paints a haunting picture of a world ravaged by extreme weather events, rising sea levels, and environmental degradation. What truly resonated with me was the realization of the immense carbon footprint we're leaving for future generations to grapple with. Stephenson's portrayal of this reality serves as a wake-up call, reminding us of the urgent need for action to mitigate climate catastrophe.Moreover, "Termination Shock" brilliantly explores the intersection of geopolitics and geoengineering, offering a glimpse into a future where nations vie for control over resources and influence through ambitious technological solutions. Stephenson's portrayal of the geopolitical tensions that arise when these forces collide is both gripping and thought-provoking. The prospect of a third world war sparked by the convergence of geopolitics and geoengineering feels chillingly plausible, serving as a stark warning against the dangers of unchecked technological advancement.What sets "Termination Shock" apart is Stephenson's ability to craft a narrative that feels both speculative and deeply grounded in reality. His meticulous attention to detail and expert storytelling create a world that feels as though it could be our own, making the novel's warnings all the more urgent and compelling.In conclusion, "Termination Shock" is a must-read for anyone interested in the future of our planet and the potential consequences of inaction in the face of climate change. Neal Stephenson's masterful blend of science fiction and social commentary makes for a truly unforgettable reading experience that will leave readers both entertained and profoundly moved.

Anything from Stephenson is automatically on my reading list. His writing is always very vivid, always thought provoking and almost always highly entertaining. I was extremely pleasantly surprised to discover that this novel features a minor character from my native Suriname (we are very rare in real life and so too in fiction), as well as major characters from Punjab, the Netherlands and a mixed race Black American Comanche. So that part was extra fun for me. Stephenson really got his non-white character game on in this novel and I appreciate him a lot for that! It’s also a novel about climate change, so as a longtime climate activist, of course I had to read it. That all being said, it was a little bit light on the science fiction side, reading almost like a contemporary action thriller set in the very near future. Other than the Covid-27 reference he doesn’t give us much of an idea when the action takes place, but I get the sense that it’s maybe 10 or max 20 years or so from now. But weirdly the cars are not as autonomous as one might expect, AI makes a few minor appearances, and overall the novel is fairly low-tech, featuring a lot of drone action which is cool, but not a big stretch in terms of the current state of technology. A lot of the dialog feels almost like satire, making light of modern tech billionaires, constitutional monarchies, international diplomats, and pretty much everyone. Where the novel really shines is with the two main characters who are headed for a collision course. One is a reluctant hero and the other is not quite the anti-hero, and he does a good job with both of them the whole way through. The Dutch Queen character is adorable but feels a little on the lighter side. In general he doesn’t do the female characters as much justice as the males, which is not surprising in general but it is for Stephenson because he’s done a lot of great work with female lead characters in other novels. This novel in some ways also reads like a sci-fi take on the western cowboy novel, which must have been intentional. I enjoyed that aspect of it but I imagine it’s not for everyone. As far as the climate change angle goes, compared to Kim Stanley Robinson I think Stephenson falls a little bit short there. The climate science and geoengineering feels accurate, and is certainly adequate, but it seems to serve mostly as a somewhat static backdrop for the action, which is in classical Stephenson fashion phenomenally visual, intense and entertaining. It does make for a weird contrast with the fairly lighthearted, matter of fact tone of the dialog, which never really goes very deep emotionally. The characters seem to mostly just accept their fate without much angst or contemplation beyond the obvious. That’s not necessarily a bad thing; it keeps the novel fun and entertaining, but it does feel like a guilty pleasure to me, as a climate activist, because it’s dealing with such an important and heavy topic. I never got that feeling reading KSR, who takes climate change extremely seriously in his novels, and reflects a lot more of the deep emotional pain that people experience as they come to terms with the climate crisis we are perpetrating. Last but not least the novel has a pretty dark take on American politics. He doesn’t dive deep there either, but describes our country as a “basket case” and worse. Not that I disagree with his assessment, it’s just interesting to see such candor from an American author about how messed up our politics really are. Anyway, if you’re a Stephenson fan I highly recommend this book because you’ll not be disappointed. If you’re not yet a fan I suggest starting with some of his older fare first. If you’re interested because of the climate angle I would say: don’t expect too much there, other than of course a firm acknowledgement that climate disaster is upon us, and an interesting take on how attempted geoengineering might go down. And if you’re looking for a relatively light, action packed, multi-ethnic/multi-cultural sci-fi cowboy western, this is definitely the book for you!

I've read all of Stephenson's novels, love them all, and this is no exception. Although at first I almost gave up on it, the first third does plod along and I got mired in all the backstory of the ancestors of some of the characters, which felt like it lasted over a 100 pages. But once I got through that the story picked up and moved along at a good pace.Stephenson writes some of the best characters I've ever read, each with very distinct personalities. I really enjoyed Saskia and Red, my two faves in this novel. He has a style of writing that is witty and smart, makes you want to just read a bit more before getting back to whatever one needs to do... but then you end up reading a few more pages, then a few more... was late for a few meetings because of this book!As for it's message on climate change, I can see how things could play out this way. I doubt countries themselves will be able to really effect any impactful changes, it'll probably need some crazy rich entrepreneur to just do something, kind of like SpaceX.Hang in there, it's worth it!

All of the stories mixed with the topic of climate change are very interesting. I enjoyed it very much. A great book.

Neal Stephenson back to his very best. I don't know why he does collaborations, but none of these stack up well against the books he writes alone. He is one of my top 5 writers in the world for both his ideas, and writing skills 😄

Neal Stephenson makes a comparatively late addition to the cli-fi genre with a novel whose title sounds like the name of a heavy metal band. Characteristically, he sets the scene with his very first sentence:"Houston's air was too hot to support airplanes."in the same way he opened his novel "Seveneves" by saying that the moon blew up "with no warning and for no apparent reason". This book is set in some unspecified time in the near future (there's a clever reference to "COVID-19, COVID-23 and COVID-27" on p29) when the effects of climate change (like the atmosphere being too warm for planes to fly) have become more extreme. The heroine of the story is Saskia, the Queen of the Netherlands, a low-lying country which is painfully susceptible to the effects of rising sea-level. Despite her title, Saskia is a typical Stephenson character: sensible, resourceful and accomplished - thus, as the story opens, she's trying to land her plane in Texas, having piloted it across the Atlantic.She's meeting with T.R. Schmidt, an oil billionaire, who's attempting to reverse global warming with a solar geoengineering scheme - more specifically, by injecting sulphur into the atmosphere, forming aerosols which cool the atmosphere by reflecting solar radiation back into space. As usual in Stephenson's books, the details of how this is done and the way technical issues are overcome are presented clearly, but the fact that Schmidt is doing this unilaterally has geopolitical repercussions, illustrating the fact that the effects of geoengineering may not be spread evenly around the world. Tensions develop between countries like the Netherlands who would benefit from the scheme, and those like India, who apparently wouldn't. Meanwhile, China uses sophisticated cyberwarfare techniques to influence the debate in the Netherlands about geoengineering (a feature of this future world is that, despite the increased effects of climate change, there's still no consensus about what to do about it).I'm a big fan of Stephenson's books, so - despite its usual heft - read this one very quickly. Its subject is timely: whilst reading it, I had a conversation with someone who'd experienced this summer's hurricanes in Florida, describing record storm surges that overwhelmed houses that - it unfortunately turned out - were insufficiently elevated. The characters are skillfully delineated - for example, one of them who works in the (London) City was "fresh out of a posh education, sent down to the City for seasoning and to rack up some millions and find a wife who would enjoy picking out curtains in Sussex" [p155]. Recommended.

Le livre est intéressant, mais pas passionnant. Dommage de la part de cet auteur que j'adore.