Flood

by Stephen Baxter | Science Fiction & Fantasy |
ISBN: 0451463285 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingGoryDetailswing of Nashua, New Hampshire USA on 2/5/2017
Buy from one of these Booksellers:
Amazon.com | Amazon UK | Amazon CA | Amazon DE | Amazon FR | Amazon IT | Bol.com
This book is in the wild! This Book is Currently in the Wild!
1 journaler for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingGoryDetailswing from Nashua, New Hampshire USA on Sunday, February 5, 2017
I found this good-condition paperback at a local thrift shop. It's a richly imagined and detailed look at a global apocalypse that begins with unusually heavy rains. The book opens with a harrowing peek at the rescue of four hostages, some of whom have been held for years, and their safe return to London - a London that's in danger from the rising waters. The survivors have formed a close bond, and it ties them together through the subsequent events of the story, even when their paths diverge for a time. I don't know whether this conceit was strictly necessary; later in the story, as the time-skips increase, the significance of their old bonds seem less important, and there are new characters to get attached to. Still, it was an interesting way to kick things off.

The actual disaster is, of course, the star here. The early flooding is considered just extreme weather conditions and/or global warming, but nothing that will get TOO awful - soon the waters will recede, or at least stop rising. But no... the theory here is that vast underground reservoirs of water are being forced up, in such volume that eventually all land will be under water. It takes years for the world's governments to believe this, and in the meantime the stopgap measures - dams, floating cities, ships, migration to higher ground - cause global turmoil.

I enjoyed seeing the different reactions to the crisis, with tragedies on an ever-increasing scale and with unexpected societal shifts as survivors stream into locales formerly empty - high desert lands in the US, etc. - and with the extremely wealthy having their own ideas of how to manage the situation. It's a connection between one tycoon and the hostages that gets them onto one of the "Arks" - but it's clear that if the waters never do recede, life on board a ship (however well equipped) can't last indefinitely.

The story shifts between these global details and the individual stories of the original characters and a growing group of friends, lovers, allies, foes, and children. By the end of this volume, we've gone from 2016 to 2052, and it's unclear whether there's any future left for humanity on Earth - which, some characters point out, should probably be renamed "Water" at this point. But there are other options - see the next book, Ark!

[There's a TV Tropes page on the series, of which this is the first book.]

Journal Entry 2 by wingGoryDetailswing at Little Free Library, 65 Main St. in Wilton, New Hampshire USA on Saturday, August 26, 2017

Released 6 yrs ago (8/26/2017 UTC) at Little Free Library, 65 Main St. in Wilton, New Hampshire USA

WILD RELEASE NOTES:

I plan to leave this book in the Little Free Library at around noon or so; hope the finder enjoys it!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2017 One Word Title release challenge. ***

Are you sure you want to delete this item? It cannot be undone.