Labor Leads the Climate Revolution in this Enthralling Climate Fiction Epic
Why I Loved Nick Fuller Googin's "The Great Transition"
3 Reasons Why This Cleantech Pro & Climate Activist Loved the Epic New Climate Novel “The Great Transition”
Hello darling dreamers and world-weavers,
I just finished my favorite new climate fiction novel I want to recommend to you. Nick Fuller Googin’s “The Great Transition,” imagines a future where the world does the damn thing, working together to draw-down atmospheric pollution to Net Zero emissions, by changing the way we live, work, travel, and lead, and the challenges throughout and after; exploring generational ideas of a Just Transition and Climate Accountability through the personal perspectives of a family connected to organizing and inspiring global climate action.
But if I had to tell you just three reasons why I enjoyed the book, it’s because this book’s 1. imaginative world-building, 2. relatable & revolutionary characters, and 3. central collective cultural values.
1. Imaginative: Envisions a Vivid Renewable-Powered Climate Future
“When the maglev tilts down-city, you get the famous Nuuk view: a sparkling flow of hexagonal metal and mass-timber and photovoltaic glass that cascades from plaza to rambla, plaza to rambla, the whole city hugging the cliffs above the ocean— which has nearly finished rising, the scientists say.”
The world-building in The Great Transition book just puts you there: blending ecological changes, societal adaptations, and wonders of tech (always reminding us: “We had all the technologies we needed for a clean transition”) to craft awe-inspiring near-future climate settings. Through the Great Transition, the world has taken on a Climate Emergency footing, facing the crisis with changes that create captivating scenes and set the stage for the narrative drama to unfold.
I found the world-sculpting exposition provided through character perspective and personal family storytelling to charge the novel’s setting with an adventurous energy, working naturally into the unfolding plot.
2. Relatable: Felt through Characters Charting Revolution with Epic Family Drama
“We should be in love and never stop fighting to make the world a better place.”
If you thought fast-forwarding into our climate future would feel unrecognizable, don’t fret. Through the Great Transition’s multi-generational multi-perspective story, I was pulled through personal and global drama while learning about how the new world came to be. From rebellious youth to rebel climate revolution leaders; from history class schoolwork to multi-pov love stories; from concerned parents to secret assassination plots.
I loved learning about the characters through organic yet clever narrative framing devices. Through their actions and perspectives, I enjoyed seeing ways to apply collective principles that drive us to a truly just and sustainable future.
3. Powerful: Sharing World-Turning Values of Solidarity, Mutual Aid, & Cooperation
“Solidarity. The team of teams, the high of highs.”
Where this book shines the brightest is in showing how values of Community over Commodity, Mutual Aid and Solidarity, and Planet-Wide Cooperation work in systems, in-practice, to fight for collective survival against the systems that created the the conditions for such climate disruption. I appreciate how deeply the story and characters get to the root of the crisis, our relationships to one another, and to the world, and how we can transform those to empower one another.
Reading about historically-undeserved folks on the margins seizing power to help protect the world with indigenous movements, climate migrants, and labor leading, Nick Fuller Googin’s novel “The Great Transition” puts a renewable electric charge in me to inspire and nurture these values further in our everyday.
“Cooperation. That’s life’s success story. Not competition.”
If you enjoyed Kim Stanley Robinson’s clifi novel “The Ministry of the Future,” you’ll get a lot out of Nick Fuller Googin’s spiritual successor, “The Great Transition.”
Without giving too much away, I hope this review piqued your interest.
If you add “The Great Transition” to your TBR list, you’ve read it already, or come across any clifi books like it, let me know!
With that, I’ll leave you with my favorite quote from “The Great Transition”
“Seize the transition. Make it our own. We are the workers.
We do the work. The time has come to save the future we want. For us.”