Imagining the climate crisis in the near future: Neal Stephenson’s Termination Shock

Science fiction set in the near future can be very useful for futurists. Such stories give us glimpses of the present day unfolding over just a few years. Creators either work with current trends, imagine new developments, or both.

That’s why our online bookclub has been reading near future sf over the years. Books by the likes of Kim Stanley Robinson, Madeleine Ashby, Cory Doctorow, Malka Older, and Vernor Vinge have proven fine combinations of entertainment and food for thought.

In that spirit I just read Neal Stephenson‘s new novel, Termination Shock. (Amazon through our little bookstore). This one also fit my research into climate change, because it imagines a near future where the climate crisis has gotten worse, and people turn to massive geoengineering projects to address it.

Here I’ll share some initial thoughts. I’ll stash spoilers in a couple of paragraphs after a suitable warning sign.

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…