Robinson skillfully blends science, philosophy, aesthetics, economics, and politics to imagine one outcome for the imminent catastrophe of global warming. Rather than dystopia, Robinson realistically considers the varieties of actions that must be considered to move toward sustainability, strongly critiquing capitalism as part and parcel of this imagining but without a revolutionary idealism. Banks play a central role because economics is as unavoidable as the extinction event we currently live within.
The large cast of readers nicely reflects the international cast of characters and the wide range of cultures and ideologies that structure this great novel.