Lol I haven't read any of Victor Hugo so I wouldn't know, but it's at least been good practice for speeding up my reading by looking at what's actually important. Kim Stanley Robinson does a phenomenal job of recounting geography (areography) and routes that I unfortunately have no point of reference for, but they honestly matter very little beyond "this is in the north, this is in the middle, this is in the south".

Ministry for the future looks good.