Told through a globe-spanning narrative that blends nonfiction and the viewpoints of multiple characters across a variety of formats, from meeting notes to elegiac prose, The Ministry for the Future is a cautionary climate tale that manages to be realistic and hopeful.

In 2025, a heat wave sweeps through Uttar Pradesh in India, killing 20 million in a catastrophe that cannot be ignored, but which is quickly enough forgotten by most as “all around the world, the CO2 emissions continued.” Frank May, an American aid worker suffering on the ground when it happens, who manages to survive—barely—never will, however.

Created shortly before the heat wave under the Paris Agreement, the Ministry for the Future in Zurich, Switzerland, is charged with advocating on behalf of future generations. Mary Murphy, its head, is a former foreign minister of Ireland, charged with a job made delicate by politics, in a time when extreme measures are needed. When Mary is kidnapped by Frank, she finally becomes willing to take those measures--and she won’t be alone.