Venkatesh Rao ☀️
@vgr
Is it just me or does KSR seem like an Ayn Rand of climate politics? Dull, didactic fiction plus weak philosophy? He’s better at both storytelling and philosophy than Rand though. Read a bunch of shorts stories and part of Red Mars before quitting. Ministry of the Future turned me off at blurb level.
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ȷď𝐛𝐛
@jenna
Stan here while acknowledging the grind element. Listened to Mars Trilogy during five long days on a cross-country drive where life imitated art since esp early in the story the characters spend much time on long drives in their rovers. I was ridin’ along with them, grindin’ out the Mars miles
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Diego Basch
@dbasch
I wouldn't take it as far. The book just wasn't very interesting. I finished it, but only because it was for a book club. Neal Stephenson's Termination Shock was better, but still not that great compared with other things he's written.
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Patrick Atwater
@patwater
Ksr reminds me more of https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Fountains_of_Paradise He’s not polemical like rand There’s no word salad speech for instance He’s not a great storyteller though His books are more case studies from a speculative future rather than engaging novels
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Kyle Mathews
@kam
Mike Traven (not on here yet) reviewed it a while ago http://hyperphor.com/ammdi/The-Ministry-for-the-Future — I got bored after a book or two of Red Mars as well which surprised me given how many people seem to love it
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Lucas Baker
@alpha
One of the many whose vision far outpaces both their philosophy and their prose - happens much too often for anything related to economics and the hard sciences.
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