Termination Shock

(Run Time: approx. 23 hours)

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.

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.

Neal Stephenson (Author) is the author of Reamde, Anathem, and the three-volume historical epic the Baroque Cycle (Quicksilver, The Confusion, and The System of the World), as well as Cryptonomicon, The Diamond Age, Snow Crash, and Zodiac. He lives in Seattle, Washington.

Edoardo Ballerini (Narrator) - Called "a master in his field" (The New York Times) and "in a class by himself" (Oprah Daily), Edoardo is a 2 time winner, and 5 time nominee, of the Audio Publishers Associations "Best Male Narrator" Award, a two time winner of Society of Voice Arts Awards, an AudioFile Magazine "Golden Voice" and the American Library Association's 2023 "Voice of Choice." He is also a familiar face on screens, with credits ranging from the recent A Murder at the End of the World to The Sopranos and Boardwalk Empire. edoardoballerini.com