Termination Shock

A Novel

By: Neal Stephenson

Narrated by: Edoardo Ballerini

New York Times Bestseller

From Neal Stephenson—who coined the term “metaverse” in his 1992 novel Snow Crash—comes a sweeping, prescient new thriller that transports listeners to a near-future world in which the greenhouse effect has inexorably resulted in a whirling-dervish troposphere of superstorms, rising sea levels, global flooding, merciless heat waves, and virulent, deadly pandemics.

“Stephenson is one of speculative fiction’s most meticulous architects. . . . Termination Shock manages to pull off a rare trick, at once wildly imaginative and grounded.” — New York Times Book Review

One man—visionary billionaire restaurant chain magnate T. R. Schmidt, Ph.D.—has a Big Idea for reversing global warming, a master plan perhaps best described as “elemental.” But will it work? And just as important, what are the consequences for the planet and all of humanity should it be applied?

Ranging from the Texas heartland to the Dutch royal palace in the Hague, from the snow-capped peaks of the Himalayas to the sunbaked Chihuahuan Desert, Termination Shock brings together a disparate group of characters from different cultures and continents who grapple with the real-life repercussions of global warming. Ultimately, it asks the question: Might the cure be worse than the disease?

Epic in scope while heartbreakingly human in perspective, Termination Shock sounds a clarion alarm, ponders potential solutions and dire risks, and wraps it all together in an exhilarating, witty, mind-expanding speculative adventure.

©2021 Neal Stephenson (P)2021 HarperCollins Publishers

A lot of travel but no destination

There were a lot of characters and a lot of events to set up the story. However the book read like a collection of short stories on a theme that were loosely connected but many just faded away without doing much to support the main story. The main story line itself seemed to lose steam before the end of the book and then it was quickly and awkwardly wrapped up so it could be finished and everybody could go home.

My Favorite Climate Change Book To Date

First off, (although it may go without saying) Edoardo Ballerini knocks the narration out of the park. Easy 5/5.

But it’s more than just a good performance. The substantive story of ‘termination shock’ gripped me from beginning to end (all 20-something hours). As with virtually every book, even the best, there are certainly things that I personally felt “meh” about.

1) The whole “In the future, the US gov is a basket case/ laughing stock (see: COVID, Trump, and Qanon)” has become a bit of a trope in Cli-Fi. ‘Termination Shock’ handles it with a bit more subtlety than most (US Americans are still significant players, even if their government is absent); Still, the overall premise has become a bit pedantic.

At some point, I’d like to read a book that imagines a more active role for the US Gov in a story like this, but ‘Termination Shock’ isn’t trying to be that book. Instead, with the US Gov conveniently off the table, we get the opportunity to bring other compelling global players closer to the forefront.

2) As sometimes comes with a great book, I felt like I could use a bit more closure with the final ending. In general, I really loved how the story all came together. The resolution just felt a little meh. Not bad; Not “Wow! What an ending!” For some reason I’m not qualified to diagnose, it just seems like they cropped the story a little too early.

All that said, I’ve of the mind that you shouldn’t rate a book by its ending - just because it’s the last thing you read. All caveats aside, ‘Termination Shock’ is an easy 5/5 as far as I’m concerned.

Maybe it helps that I came into this having done my “solar geo-engineering homework,” so I didn’t have a problem tracking with all the science and modeling talk. Still, I got the impression this would be just as approachable for someone who never came across the concept (albeit, your reaction might start off with a bit more of a “WTF?!”). Since ‘The Planet Remade’ isn’t normally considered a beach read, you might actually preferring skipping that “homework” anyways; ‘Termination Shock’ probably leans pro stratospheric sulfur, but it doesn’t gloss over any of the risks, complications, or short comings. Room is left for debate.

Extraordinary performance of a complex story

Neal Stephenson’s stories are always ridiculously complicated, detailed, and complex. Termination Shock is certainly all of that. Edoardo Ballerini’s brilliant performance kept me moving forward with the story. I thoroughly enjoyed it and feel left with a good deal to think about.

Baroque Cycle termination shock

The guy that wrote The Baroque Cycle can not possibly be thrilled with Termination Shock.

Feels abbreviated.

Neil Stephenson is a meandering sort of author who nevertheless has a lot of skill bringing plot threads together. He digresses on tangents and infodumps, but makes them warm and entertaining. His characters tend to be startlingly likable, even in terrible situations. He can be very even handed and fair on the most polemic of subjects. All those things are here, but incompletely. The book is fine, but doesn’t shine as well as some of his other works like Anathem or Seveneves do. I don’t regret the time I spent with it. I probably would’ve liked to have spent more.

Another great work of speculative fiction

Termination Shock was well written, and perhaps Stephenson’s most approachable work. While previous works tend to sprawl across many characters and even eras, TS keeps a tighter focus and quicker pace here, and it benefits as a novel. Think of it as Neal Stephenson unplugged.

Sort of Silly

I thought this book was meandering, silly and shallow. Not very plausible, really, India… Come on. —- Global warming is not a comic subject.

Up there with Cryptonomicon and Reamde - Loved It

Mr. Stephenson does a good job of creating characters and situations that are believable and coherent. This book harkened me back to some of Mr. Stephenson's earlier masterpieces. Well worth the credit spend!!!

Everything I was looking for

In depth research, character development, language control, interesting set ups and characters and imaginative plot.

Interesting concept, but not fleshed out enough

I wish the author had done more with the concept the book introduces. I was ready for a global catastrophe or something more exciting than what the book delivers. Its an interesting read and I loved the characters, but it never really got off the ground. I was very disappointed in the ending.