I'm going to start with saying I've enjoyed the Mars Trilogy greatly. I've re-read it recently - it does show it age a bit, both by the underlying world moving on and by the narrative structure of a grand epic that feels a bit quaint in 2024.

The Ministry for the Future, though... it's not a book? I mean it's one in the physical sense, but it's not a proper novel. It's a bunch of happy magical thinking stories where everything works out. There's a lot of unconnected snapshot viewpoints, and then Central Banks deploy bitcoin and AI and everything is redeemed, and Russian aircraft carriers save the Antarctic. That's a rather disappointing investor spiel, not a proper sci-fi novel.

I should have known better, seeing as it carries "favourite book of Obama" on the cover. I'm struggling to believe he's read it, as near the middle it calls out the assassinations by drone that his presidency made such wide use of - and blames them on him by name.

Then again, it's nice to fantasize about oil execs getting tagged like that.