The Ministry for the Future by Kim Stanley Robinson isn’t a book that lauds ecoterrorists. In fact, it mostly manages to avoid the subject across its many pages. Yet, at the center of its speculative account about the eponymous ministry and its leadership over the next few decades, the dark side is the linchpin for transitioning Earth to its peaceful, sustainable future.
It’s a strange setup for a plot-driven novel, in which the actual plot — the sabotage to airplanes, the sinking of cargo ships — is mentioned casually as news commentary, sometimes in conversations between characters. The so-called Children …
