Termination Shock audiobook

I read this latest ultra-near-future story of science fiction by Neal Stephenson on a road trip through the American West. We drove under smoky skies and through swirling wildfire ash. We whipped through thousands of acres of desert transformed into open-air ag factories, irrigated by water trapped by dams four times the size of the big pyramid at Giza. We skirted or traversed some 7 current reservations and countless lands previously promised to and then taken back from the people who already lived there. We were still in the throes of an airborne epidemic yet the fierce individualists of flyover country murmured behind our backs when we went to get hotel coffee wearing a mask. "Think she's gonna rob the place?" No, old-timer, I'm just trying to keep us all alive long enough for you to finish that cigarette you're smoking indoors.SIGH.So EVERY PAGE of this rip-roaring globe-trotting totally wonkish yet completely entertaining novel had something that pertained to my lived experience RIGHT NOW. You really ought to read it. It's a cogent way to learn about solar geoengineering, Sikh martial arts, the Dutch monarchy, copper and sulfur mining, AND the Line of Actual Control, an incredibly important thing that I didn't know anything about until I abruptly read about it in a Neal Stephenson novel and then spent 30 minutes reading about on the internet -- something a character in this book does in exactly the same way some hundred pages after I did it. Talk about your near-future. You could read about these things in MIT Technology Review (https://www.technologyreview.com/2019...) or on The Bridge (https://thebridge.in/featured/gatka-t...) or you could charge your way through this book like I did.In the vernacular of fifteen years ago Internet language (me I'm going to write near-past science fiction when I retire): this is relevant to my interests.

Neal Stephenson writes Cli-Fi! Of course, what this means in layman's terms is that an author with a penchant for a LOT of research and a brave heart just slammed a close-to-home ecological disaster onto our table and has said, read it and weep.It's very valid to compare this novel to KSR's The Ministry for the Future, too, in that it has not only an interesting and deep cast of characters over a relatively decent amount of time, near-future, but that the science comes out as a character of its own.Not as bleak as KSR's recent novel, this one still shows the horrors of rising water levels, human displacement, border clashes, and some real technological solutions that are generally dismissed now because mass-scale geoengineering projects are SCARY. Politically, socially, militarily, it's all going to be a massive mess.But Neal Stephenson pulls a lot of neat tricks here. From making one of the main characters the young Queen of the Netherlands (Dutch Shell Company), we are given a fascinating look at all this from a different viewpoint. The same goes for the Pig Ahab character in Texas, or the Squeegie Ninja who spends a lot of his time on the Indian/China border doing performative (Cherokee head games) maneuvers since no one wants to go so far as to start using bullets.I really enjoyed these characters. A lot. Interesting, somewhat weird, but utterly essential to the overall plot that is very much Neal's bailiwick. I'm reminded of the things he accomplished in Reamde. The quality, as well.This is easily one of the better Cli-Fi SF's I've read, and that's not simply because I have immense respect for the author.

Absolutely brilliant! I've been a long-time reader of Stephenson. The level I've liked his books has gone up and down depending on the release. Termination Shock has the best elements of his work to date and I found it to be in the upper echelon of my favorites of his novels (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, Anathem, Reamde). No spoilers below.Stephenson's ability to connect a variety of vastly disparate nodes into a comprehensive whole is unprecedented. Lots has been made of the dramatic intro to the book (queen-piloted plane crashing into wild hogs being hunted by a Commanche drone pilot on a revenge mission in a painfully overheated Texas), but it's indicative of the whole. He's, of course, done this before (organs, code breaking, and intercontinental cable laying, for example), and in a more complex manner (monks, math, and inter dimensional travel, for example), but never in such a fun and relatable fashion. The jumps and cuts of the different elements rubbing against each other were consistently surprising and enjoyable. The most intriguing component to me, however, was the elaborate network of metaphors layered over the story itself. In addition to the story and character arcs, the dialogue, characters, and actions also function as metaphors for current discussion and arguments on various sides of climate change. Some of the silly one-liners or jokes have deeper meaning on further reflection getting readers to consider the consequences of the world's actions and inactions on the climate.Again, highly recommended. I received an ARC with the request for a review. This review was not influenced in any way by that.

(...)Complexity and connections: that’s what this book is about. Our planet is complex and connected, politically, financially, culturally, genetically, historically, and as a weather system.But the book is also about an important disconnection: the disconnect between people and reality.For starters, there’s the disconnect between “elite cultural and diplomatic circles” and reality. While Termination Shock acknowledges the problematic political course the USA has been on for quite some time – the book is set somewhere after 2029, and the USA by then is “a basket case and global laughingstock” – at the same time Stephenson acknowledges that “on the nuts-and-bolts level of the petroleum and mining industries, they still seemed to get a lot done in the world.” It is something “the chattering classes, who live in that sort of bubble” don’t seem to grasp, just like “the Greens” don’t get that you can’t just stop enough people eating meat or buying cars.But Stephenson’s main target is not those who offer easy critique of the USA or big footprint lifestyle on social media – it is the West at large. A Chinese character utters what is the very heart of this novel: “It is a very curious thing about the West. This inability, this unwillingness to talk about realities. Basic facts that are obvious to everyone not in your bubble.”(...) Full analysis on Weighing A Pig Doesn't Fatten It

This is a fun book about a plan to combat global warming in the near future. All sorts of climate catastrophes are happening, so a small group of people (vigilantes?) have decided to take it upon themselves to fix the problem. Their approach? Climate engineering.This is a rambling, happy-go-lucky sort of story. Like many of Neal Stephenson's fiction, the best part is not necessarily the overall plot, or even the characters. The best part is the arrangement of a few scenes. In these remarkable scenes, crazy things happen that border on the absurd, practically surreal. It's almost like a long, drawn-out joke that is calculated to have an amazing punch line. Stephenson takes his time to build up the background behind these scenes, and then unleashes them into a spectacular trajectory. I love it!And, what is "Termination Shock"? That is a potential downside of climate engineering. What happens if people perform climate engineering for a while, successfully counteract the greenhouse effect -- and then pull the plug? That is called "Termination Shock".

Excellent climate sci-fi, set in the near future. Interwoven stories from vastly different global socioeconomic viewpoints keep it flowing quickly. Global climate politics are not just policy wonk discussions here, but twisty plot points. This was a “late night” read, keeping me up late to finish.ARC provided by NetGalley.

Overall I ended up enjoying this. My main discomfort related to the way a young Sikh character was used in the story.Some very minor spoilers may be inferred from what follows…and my own personal opinion.Despite the oblique theme of cultural discovery, there was no mention of the Golden Temple when Laks was in Amritsar. This is a place of great spiritual, cultural, and political history for Sikhs. Among other things, it was the site of Operation Blue Star, a government sanctioned massacre aimed at rooting out Sikh militants and resulting in the deaths of, among others, many civilian pilgrims to the Temple. Four months after Blue Star, Indira Gandhi was killed by her Sikh bodyguards, which was quickly followed by anti-Sikh riots which resulted in the deaths of 17,000 Sikhs. In the book, the only oblique mention of anything related to this political history is the brief reference to Sikh separatist radical activity connected to the Canadian West Coast where Laks grew up. That activity so briefly referred to culminated in the bombing of Air India 182, the deadliest act of air terrorism prior to 9/11.This is not at all meant to be a comprehensive explanation of the long and complicated history that sprouted some radical activism. I only point out to give some context to my discomfort with a storyline that radicalizes a young Sikh man. It plays into a dangerous stereotype that doesn’t at all accord with the reality of the large majority of the Sikh community, which is founded on peace, compassion, and service. The reason I think it played more into stereotype as opposed to the reality of the development and journey of an individual character is because there is no member of the Sikh community here in BC that isn’t acutely aware of the history and activity of the individuals involved in the radical splinter group responsible for Air India 182. That case is enormously complicated, and involved a whole lot more than you will read about on Wikipedia. I guess my point is that Sikhs already face a lot of discrimination, and playing into stereotypes doesn’t help that. I loved Laks and was so excited to read about a Sikh character given such a prominent role in the story. I just wish it had been more nuanced and provided a little more context.

Termination ShockIt's the near future and climate change is intense. Daytime temperatures in Houston routinely exceed 45 C (~115 F) and people are struggling to survive. Feral swine roam the countryside, and voracious alligators swim upstream searching for cooler water. Sea level rise is starting to inundate low-lying areas, and people are considering extreme measures.Termination Shock is another hard sci-fi novel by Neal Stephenson. The story follows several groups of people as they travel the globe, from Houston, to The Netherlands, and Papua building machines to combat climate change. A young Indian Canadian martial artist travels to Punjab to defend his homeland from aggressors and finds himself at the center of a geopolitical storm.In his typical style, Stephenson explores the complexities of a world on the edge of drastic change. His story examines deep personal relationships and how those relationships inform the activities of nations, allowing individuals to force action while governments tarry. Everyone has their own priorities, and they are often at odds.Termination Shock is relevant to today's climate and political situation. If you are a fan of near-future hard sci-fi, enjoy geopolitical drama, or are concerned about climate change this book will appeal to you.

(Updated and expanded review on my blog)Termination Shock is a near-future science fiction novel/technothriller about climate change. Specifically, it imagines a geoengineering project designed to reduce the Earth's heating, and how it might play out globally.To tell this story, Neal Stephenson assembles a global cast and sends them on a lot of travel. The main locales are West Texas, the Netherlands, and New Guinea.Stylistically, Termination Shock is very Stephenson, full of his classic wry humor, deep dives into topics, feats of martial arts, lots of engineering, and a geek's view of human interactions.Without getting into spoilers, I can describe the book's first half, which is mostly stage-setting for the second. A Texan zillionaire sets up an enormous gun (seriously) (very Jules Verne, I think) to blast sulfur into the stratosphere, shows it off to a global audience, then starts the vast machine going. It's a fait accompli. Stopping it would suddenly warm the Earth even more, which is what the title term describes.That global audience includes leaders from London and Venice, as cities especially sensitive to the sea level rise aspect of climate change. The main part of that audience is a crew from the Netherlands, including its queen, and their actions and reflections take up most of the rest of the story. A B-plot involves a Sikh martial artist who trains, then fights dramatically against Chinese competitors for the Punjab.Now for spoilers:(view spoiler)[the Texan project succeeds in altering the world's climate, which benefits some nations and irks others. A lot of geopolitical scheming goes on, as India fears disaster and China seeks to shape events. Two other sulfur-launching projects are set up, in Albania and New Guinea, then India launches a surgical strike to take out the Texan gun, spearheaded by the Sikh hero. The latter dies tragically, bookending one character's personal tragedy which appears right after the novel's start. (hide spoiler)]Overall, this is an engaging novel. It explores a real-world problem - geoengineering - and does so with political imagination and technical expertise. This is the kind of thing near-future science fiction can do well.A few pieces didn't sit well with me. The Sikh hero plot ended well, but it felt padded out by the author's martial arts enthusiasm. Some of the characters were surprisingly thin, like Willem, a major narrative host, whose personal life barely flickers around the plot.Various notes:-Stephenson describes a vast Dutch engineering project in loving detail. This recalls his recent calls for humanity to attempt more such.-the novel argues that climate change will change some geopolitics, with "some places that most people have never heard of... becom[ing] the Suez Canals of the future." (500) And here's a term to conjure with: climate peacekeeping. (579)-America appears in an interesting way. As a nation it's mostly marginal, with characters mocking it without reprove. -the book is more sex-positive than the rest of Stephenson's work, which is progress.-technologies in play: deepfakes, hydrogen-fueled aircraft, earthsuits (air conditioned gear for dangerously hot climates), personal cooling devices ("Me-Fridgerators"!), drone troop carriers, non-nuclear EMP generators, and lots of drones in general.Otherwise, recommended.Some good quotes:...where Willem came from, a Rhine was sort of a big deal;. A third of the Netherlands' economy passed up and down one single Rhine. They had, in effect, built a whole country around it. Here, though, people were gunning their pickup trucks over a causeway bestriding two and a half Rhines just as a temporary diversion of a seven-Rhine river over yonder. It was one of those insane statistics about the scale of America that had once made the United States seem like an omnipotent hyperpower and now made it seem like a beached whale. (96)

Is taking decisive action against climate change without knowing the global effects better than taking no action until you are sure of the outcome? What if the effects are good for some and bad for others? What if things have gotten so bad that entire regions have been taken over by feral pigs and airplanes can't fly to certain places because it has already gotten too hot?The (only) problem with reading Neal Stephenson's speculative fiction is that his imagination creates possible realities that hit way too close to home. "Termination Shock" could end up being prophetic. This could very well be what our world looks like in 10-20 years. As with any deep look at possible outcomes to global climate change, this one ends with no answers and no solutions. Too many people caught in feedback loops, too many moving parts, and if the machine of humanity tries to change/stop too suddenly, we may be facing a whole different kind of termination shock. The story is great of course, because Stephenson is a great writer. He thankfully avoids moralizing, preaching, or heroifying. He does make one rather nihilistic thought towards the end that sums up as: Climate change is not likely to kill off humanity. Before that happens, the good side of humanity will find a solution to fix it, or the bad side of humanity will destroy us. So...there's that.

Thank you William Morrow for the ARC.I’ve read my fair share of long books. Anna Karenina was long. Shogun was long. But Neal Stephenson’s new mind bending entry,#TerminationShock, is something else entirely. Instead of calling it long, I’d rather say it’s BIG. On every page you feel the vastness of this endeavor. Taking place in the very near future, perhaps 10 to 15 years from now,Stephenson’s epic view of global warming and its unsustainability is a monument to story telling. Using a world wide cast of characters, #TerminationShock never lags in its narrative drive. Many will consider the book science fiction, and it does have its fair share of fictional science, but reads as if it is tomorrow’s headlines describing the doomed fate of the earth unless the world wakes up and smells the coffee immediately. Packed with engrossing exposition that leads the reader into action scene after action scene, #TerminationShock is a prodigious feat of penmanship. In every sense of the word this is a BIG BOOK about a BIG TOPIC which entertains while informing and well worth the time you invest by reading it.

A fun interesting book, well to the right of KSR's 'Ministry of the Future'.While I enjoyed the writing, I was a bit disappointed with the story.The main character is a Queen, another main character is a former gov't minister. The book views the world from private jets and chauffeured SUVs. While the book mentions floods and fire ants driving people from their homes, their perspectives are missing. The story is also really unconcerned about all sorts of colonialism - climate and otherwise - which was jarring when is was reading it during COP26, where historical responsibility of rich countries GHG emissions was repeatedly raised and documented - but was sidelined yet again.

Another brilliant work of speculative fiction by Neal Stephenson, Termination Shock is a fascinating and detailed consideration of our future in the anthropocene. While most climate fiction tends to focus on the largely on the repercussions of a world irreversibly altered by climate change, Termination Shock is equally concerned with questions of what we can and should do to ameliorate the harmful effects humans have caused. Stephenson’s narrative is informed by extensive research and a broad view of climate change in the context of the geopolitical, socio-political, economic, personal and practical. Like all of his novels, Termination Shock engages you on every level: intellectually, emotionally and cognitively. You’ll learn new information; get to know characters that you love and/or are invested in knowing; and be pushed to think in new ways and/or consider perspectives and issues you hadn’t. **more to come near publication date[I received a complimentary advance reader’s copy of this book from William Morrow/HarperCollins and NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review.]

More informative than entertaining. More in the vein of Reamde than in the style of Fall (thankfully). Well worth reading. I am not sure it is worth a second reading

Another great story from Neal Stephenson. It was inevitable he would take up climate change. He made it global, he made it scientific, he made it political and he balanced it all just right for me. I have not had good fortune in studying straight science over the years, so I appreciate novels that teach it to me in ways I can assimilate and apply it to my understanding of the world. I also appreciate how often Stephenson makes me laugh out loud as I read. I respect how deeply he has studied history. All of these aspects make me able to accept that sometimes for many pages I will be learning stuff while having faith that the action will ramp up again. It always does!

This is a book with an important message, but by no means can I call it an easy book to read. For starters, there are way too many characters, several of which go by different names part of the time, and too many different location settings to make things very confusing if you don't pay close attention. Couple that with more than 700 pages, and well, getting through the whole thing requires serious commitment.That said, though, it's worth making the effort, especially if you have an interest in climate change. It takes place in the post-COVID but not-too-distant future, when the world is reeling from the effects of global warming. Everywhere are scenes of impending doom, like devastating, land-altering floods, superstorms and infestations of critters like feral pigs (yes, you read that correctly). The story centers around groups of people from different countries who are seeking ways to rectify (make that survive) the dire situation. At the beginning, the Queen of the Netherlands is on her way to Texas when a storm forces a crash landing of the airplane she's piloting. On her way to meet up with some kind of secret conference with a wealthy Texan who may have devised a way save humanity, she must keep her true identity secret.The rest follows several characters on their journey toward save-the-earth enlightenment, which includes the awareness that whatever solution is found may help some, but at the expense of others. Obviously, there's much more action and food for thought going on here (at 736 pages, a LOT more), but I'll keep those details to myself so other readers can discover them firsthand. My thanks to the publisher, via NetGalley, for allowing me to read and review a pre-release copy.

As I was finishing Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock on the plane from Paris to Dubai, the in-flight entertainment showed the following BBC World News headline: drought in Northern India’s breadbasket region affecting world food supplies, Beijing’s aggressive stance in response to Pelosi’s Taiwan visit, drone warfare resulting in the death of al-Quaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri, floods in Kentucky killing dozens and a new climate change report which warned that scientists and governments were not taking climate change’s worst case scenarios as seriously as… writers of science fiction. Termination Shock is a hard sci-fi thriller which explores the geo-political consequences of climate change in our near future, except that all of today’s issues - literally, as listed above - are central to the narrative. Turns out “near future” is just the time it takes for a manuscript to be published. Spanning the globe - Texas, The Netherlands, West Papua, the Himalayas - the novel imagines the private sector taking the lead in a rogue geo-engineering response to rising sea levels, and charts the impact not just on climate change but on our fragile geo-political equilibrium. Using science, futurism, events ripped from the headlines and a keen knowledge of the latest technological advances, Stephenson conjures the frightening new world order precipitated by our climate response (and lack thereof). It risks reading as a series of insightful non-fiction articles strung along a thin narrative thread, were it not for Stephenson’s trademark colourful characters and highly suspenseful plotting. He’s an expert in describing logistics, sometimes pages of it in minute detail, but when the thriller elements come together, it’s to proportionally rewarding effect. Termination Shock - and the few novels like it - might be the most efficient and convincing weapon to raise mass awareness for the uncharted perils of climate change and its direct corollary: the terrifying prospects of “climate peacekeeping”. As I flew above the United Arab Emirates and its man-made response to encroaching desert, it sent chills down my spine.