Termination Shock: A Novel

Written 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 readers 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.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperAudio
• Release date: Nov 16, 2021
• ISBN: 9780063028081

Neal Stephenson

Neal Stephenson is the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the novels Termination Shock, Fall; or, Dodge in Hell, The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. (with Nicole Galland), Seveneves, Reamde, Anathem, The System of the World, The Confusion, Quicksilver, Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, Zodiac, and the groundbreaking nonfiction work In the Beginning . . .Was the Command Line. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Reviews for Termination Shock

[Joe Matazzoni · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The characters are all people I want to spend more time with. I read a review that said this was too talky, but I disagree. I learned a lot about climate change and climate engineering. Overall, Stephenson does an excellent job constructing an elaborate plot that leads step-by-step meticulously to an extremely exciting conclusion. A lot of fun and kept me entertained the whole way

[mithril_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Excellently detailed.

[mae · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Loved the protagonists each and every one , not to forget the interesting vision of a most probable future where geo engineering seems to be absolutely necessary to save at least parts of some countries as we know them and the problems this will bring with it.

[Joel Orr · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Fascinating characters. Gripping and generally believable plot line. Enjoyed it!

[bitesh ASMR · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

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[dennis morgan · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

He's back. After whatever Fall was supposed to be, the master of the techno-thriller has done his best since Cryptonomicon (IMHO). It's all there: action, erudition, character and plot. The narrative pathcwork of cultures, geography and people makes for one satisfying quilt of a story. And, yes, there is an ending that doesn't feel contrived or truncated.

[jwhenderson_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A wealthy and eccentric Texan takes action against climate change in the all-too-near future in this novel from the pen of Neal Stephenson - one where improbable weather phenomena and natural disasters aren't so improbable. Saskia, better known as the Queen of the Netherlands, loses control of her aircraft as she is making a landing in Waco, Texas, due to a pig stampede that blocks the runway. Since Saskia's trip to America isn't exactly official, she and her group beg Rufus for assistance in getting to Houston so they may meet T.R. Schmidt. Rufus just so happens to be on the runway hunting the vicious boar that killed his young daughter.Although Schmidt believes that the United States is "a clown show," he has the resources to build a gigantic gun that can spray sulfur into the atmosphere to counteract the impacts of global warming. Saskia, a few Venetian nobility, as well as officials from Singapore and other locations that stand to lose the most due to a rising sea level, have all been invited to witness what he has been working on. When Schmidt fires his gun and it actually fires, a massive international discussion breaks out. Is Schmidt's geoengineering idea the best move to take?With so much sulfur in the air, what will happen to the world's weather patterns?Will other nations decide to manufacture their own weapons or make an effort to block Schmidt's activities? The more than 700 pages in Stephenson's most recent book nearly turn themselves as the several plotlines, a signature exemplar of almost any Stephenson novel, intertwine. This particular novel is a unique example of a climate thriller because it is attempts realism about political obstruction in the face of catastrophe while also daring to envisage a scenario in which people might genuinely band together and attempt to save civilization.

[schant-1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

DNF @ page 235. I usually like Stephenson's big, rambling tech discourses but this one is just turgid, and with more than a whiff of a libertarian "billionaires with big tech will fix it" attitude that I find unconvincing.

[gwendydd · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

In the near future, when climate change is making more of the world uninhabitable due to rising sea levels, drought, and heat, a rich tycoon decides to take matters into his own hands by shooting pure Sulphur into the stratosphere to cool the planet. The book examines, in Stephenson's typical nerdy detail, just how one would go about doing this without breaking any laws, and the technical and geopolitical consequences.That's the main storyline, but we see this story unfold through the eyes of the Queen of The Netherlands, who is trying to navigate her ceremonial role while also influencing the climate policies of her country; a Texan who makes a living hunting feral swine (Stephenson totally read the "30-50 feral hogs" tweet and decided to write whole novel about it); the Queen's right-hand man; and a Canadian Sikh and martial arts expert who joins a guerilla war over the border between Pakistan and China.The plot of this book doesn't hold together as well as some of Stephenson's other thrillers, nor does it have a very satisfying conclusion. As always, Stephenson can make the endless technical details pretty interesting, and he spends a lot of time geeking out over military details. It's a decent beach read.

[themulhern · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Stephenson did his best work with "Anathem" and is now certainly in decline. It was a good career, though. Here, we find him recycling plot ideas, as well as his usual pre-occupations. Three contemporary subjects pop up in this book to its detriment: stupid COVID protocols, Harry and Meghan, and Trump. One feels that the last two were inserted by an editor after the book was written. On the other hand, the feral pigs are great, and poor Rufus is still working through his guilt at the end, like a real human being. I devoted more thought to container ships than I have ever done before in my life. With the introduction of the stick fighter with the electronics in his brain, Stephenson retreads the territory of "Interface" with more modern technology. Given the way plot devices were being recycled I was expecting Rufus to end up like Bobby Shaftoe in Cryptonomicon, but the book ended up having an ending a great deal more like Reamde's.

[maggieflo_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This is a speculative fiction story about climate change and the use of geo engineering to slow down damage to the atmosphere.The story centres around four characters: the Queen of the Netherlands, Frederika Mathilda Louise Saskia who is looking for ways to keep the North Sea from deluging her country and is heading to a high level meeting in Texas. TR Mccooligan is an extremely wealthyTexan who owns a string of gas stations and sulphur mines in the US and New Guinea. He has invited several world thinkers and influencers to witness his solution to climate change which involves launching cylinders of sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere. Deep Laks is a Sikh from Biritish Columbia who has some very special skills in martial arts combat that makes him an invaluable asset to the Indian government. The most interesting character of all is Rufus, a mixed race American from Oklahoma who is a Jack of all trades including a keen wild boar marksman, an expert drone user, mechanic, good person and problem solver.The story is very compelling because of the concepts, the characters, the plot, the inventive ways of using technology such as drones and the other sub characters who contribute to the plot.Termination shock refers to what might happen to the climate if solutions were found to be workable but for whatever reason, ceased to be used, possibly causing more harm than good.Good story

[guide2_1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Somewhat slow after the opening, with two very different threads. Some interesting concepts mixed with current event commentary. So ok overall, but not his best work.

[aadyer · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A good, speculative, piece of fiction that varies between interesting and truly gripping. Probably a bit too long with possibly too much in the way of side issues but the characterisation and use of unusual and different characters made this somewhat different to what I expected.Enjoyable. I would now consider reading something by Neal Stephenson that again

[dhm-16 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Mastery of story and characters; outstanding narrator in Edoardo Ballerini. Interesting contrast in approach with Kim Stanley Robinson's Ministry for the Future, since both Big Books came out at the same time. Best Stephenson since Reamde, and might surpass it in multi-threaded and attention-holding storyline.

[prefrontaller · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Hard sci-fi book set in the near future about geoengineering projects to mitigate the harms of global warming. There are 3 interwoven threads to the novel. But one of the threads felt too belabored and reduced my overall enthusiasm for the story. Of course, given that it's a Stephenson novel, there are plenty of smart ideas in here. But wasn't as much an engaging read as some of his earlier books.

[grandpahobo_1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Another terrific story from Neil Stephenson. I was amazed at how he was able to weave so many recent events into the story.

[quondame · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Neal Stephenson having fun again and inviting us on a romp though climate change amelioration via feral hogs, the Netherlander royals, lots of sulfur and sinister Chinese operatives. Typically it is significantly longer than it needs to be for the amount of fun on offer and as unconvincing as Stephenson often is.

[santhony_35 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Some of the finest novels I’ve ever read were written by Neal Stephenson (Cryptonomicon, Snow Crash, Anathem, The Diamond Age). Others have been disappointing, most particularly Reamde, which I found absurd. Seveneves had flaws, but had an interesting premise and was well written. I found this work to be very similar to Seveneves in that respect. Like so many recent novels, climate change forms the background of the story. Set in the near future, temperatures have soared and sea levels have risen. A Houston billionaire has decided to take remedial action and enlisted the support of the “woke” Queen of the Netherlands (the main protagonist in the story), along with various others most closely impacted by the crisis.Unfortunately, the remedial action undertaken does not uniformly benefit all of the nations of the world. A secondary thread follows a Canadian Sikh, who travels to India to “find himself”, only to be recruited by the Indian special forces for an act of environmental “defense”. The Chinese also play a role. As in Seveneves, some of the scenarios border on the silly, but the writing is generally good and the book is certainly readable. The chapters dealing with the India/China “line of actual control” was not only highly entertaining, but educational.So, at the end of the day, this is not one of Stephenson’s best efforts, but is not a bad read.

[bobvtreader · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Having read the reviews I had high expectations. On the other hand, being a scientist I had lower expectations. The books falls somewhere in-between. Reflection the heat and light back off of the planet using sulfur dioxide, is at best a short term solution. One is still left with a high concentration of carbon dioxide. We need to lower the concentration of carbon dioxide 50 years ago, The climate change package that was recently put forth was written by the polluter and is nothing more than a suicide pack amongst the nations. While countries are bad actors it is big business who is the real problem and the book touches only briefly on their role in pollution. As a story, it is interesting, though it has too many one and two dimensional characters in it. Who is the hero/heroine? The queen maybe but not TR. He is another Elon Musk. The real heroes are some pf the minor characters, especially Red. And while it is Epic in Scope, it is also an epic mess. On the other hand the story is good enough to keep one reading.