The Lost Cause

It’s thirty years from now and we’re making progress, mitigating climate change, slowly but surely. But what about all the angry people who can’t let go? For young Americans a generation from now, climate change isn’t controversial, it’s just an overwhelming fact of life. But so are the great efforts to contain and mitigate it. Entire cities are being moved inland from the rising seas. Vast clean-energy projects are springing up everywhere. Disaster relief, the mitigation of floods and superstorms, has become a skill for which tens of millions of people are trained every year. The effort is global. It employs everyone who wants to work. Even when national politics oscillates back to right-wing leaders, the momentum is too great; these vast programmes cannot be stopped in their tracks. But there are still those Americans who cling to their red trucker caps, their grievances, their anger, their nostalgia for the golden age of assault rifles. Their ‘alternative’ news sources reassure them their resentment is right and pure and ‘climate change’ is a con. They’re your grandfather, your uncle, your great-aunt. They’re not going anywhere. And they’re armed to the teeth.

About the Author :
Cory Doctorow (craphound.com) is a science fiction author, activist and journalist. He is the author of many books, most recently Radicalized and Walkaway, science fiction for adults; How to Destroy Surveillance Capitalism, nonfiction about monopoly and conspiracy; In Real Life, a graphic novel; and the picture book Poesy the Monster Slayer. His latest book is Attack Surface, a standalone adult sequel to Little Brother; his next nonfiction book is Chokepoint Capitalism, with Rebecca Giblin, about monopoly, monopsony and fairness in the creative arts labour market (Beacon Press, 2022). In 2020, he was inducted into the Canadian Science Fiction and Fantasy Hall of Fame.

Review :
Completely delightful...Neither utopian nor dystopian, it portrays life in SoCal in a future woven from our successes (Green New Deal!), failures (climate chaos anyway), and unresolved conflicts (old MAGA dudes). I loved it. An urgent call to action… It is rare to read realistic depictions of climate disaster that inspire hope rather than despair, but this lively work of cli-fi does This chronicle of mutual aid is politically perceptive, scientifically sound, and extraordinarily hopeful even amidst the smoke. Forget the Silicon Valley bros – these are the California techsters we need rebuilding our world, one solar panel and prefab insulated wall at a time. Offering a deeply political take on the future... As with the latter work of Kim Stanley Robinson, this is a novel that not only deftly asks how we can build a better world, but sketches out how we might do so This book looks like our future and feels like our present — it’s an unforgettable vision of what could be. Even a partly good future will require wicked political battles and steadfast solidarity among those fighting for a better world, and here I lived it along with Brooks, Ana Lucía, Phuong, and their comrades in the struggle. Along with the rush of adrenaline I felt a solid surge of hope. May it go like this. Simultaneously hopeful and nihilistic… [A] horrifyingly plausible vision of the route to the future The always-excellent Doctorow’s new novel is set a generation from now, when climate change is a fact of life…as ever, Doctorow takes an intriguing approach There is a passion in Doctorow’s writing that you cannot help but be swept away by... thought provoking [Doctorow is] an excellent communicator of what is possible and we need voices like his, if we going to avoid being sucked into an abyss ruled by corporate overlords Invites readers to ponder the complexities of bridging the gap between generations and finding common ground in the face of a global crisis A thought-provoking and engaging read, enlivened by Doctorow’s satirical wit… if you want hope and enthusiasm despite the problems currently besetting the world, then read this novel