If you want to be persuaded of the role that storytelling can play in helping us reimagine our shared futures then this book will do it.  It's my book of the year. 

Theories on system change don't normally come in the form of fiction. Which is why I was so excited to come across The Ministry for the Future in my local library. It's a compelling work of near-term science fiction which sets out to tackle the serious question of what would need to happen for us to actually be able to prevent climate breakdown.  

It doesn't matter where you live or what you do: if you are a business person, a policy wonk, an economist, a physicist, a geo-engineer, a digital guru, an activist, a president, a landowner or a refugee or a person who just likes to read books, you will find a storyline in here that you can relate to and be inspired by.  

Science fiction explores the art of the possible. In this novel, Kim Stanley Robinson role-plays the interactions of a series of plausible solutions that are already on the table across a vast array of domains, from politics to finance, blockchain, social & digital technology, culture wars, religion, geo-engineering, security, energy and movement of people. 

The story is long. There are twists and turns, unintended consequences, surprising heroes; terrible setbacks and unexpected breakthroughs. The path forward is not easy. There are some wonderful women who make all the difference.  It's not solved by the Global North. It's gripping, humane, global in scope and ultimately hopeful. 

One of the keystone ideas is the eventual transformation of the global financial system through the carbon coin (based on Delton Chen's Carbon Reward). As the economist Kate Raworth says in this fascinating interview with both Delton & Stan that "Stan and Delton are doing a phenomenal service to the world by coming up with a very powerful proposal and putting it in a major work of fiction so that we see the possibility of something far more ambitious.....so that central bankers can see themselves as heroes."  

I once heard Alistair Campbell describe how he looks carefully at the books in the bookshelves behind politicians when they are interviewed. If he can see fiction then he knows that there is a person who is willing to use their imagination to bear on the leadership decisions they make.  What stories are you reading to help you make good decisions in the context you find yourself in? 

All of which takes me back to my local library, where I found this book. I think of libraries like strips of wildflower meadow left unmown on a verge. They are a critical part of our survival system. Places of biodiversity of thought and unexpected finds.  Places away from the tyranny of algorithms where you might just find the next story we all need.