This is the second book from this author and I was
eager to read it as I enjoyed The Windup Girl so much. Also set in some undated
near future it is also set in a world where technological and biological
advances for the elite are traded off by the reduced quality of life for under
classes. While addressing the consequences of earlier mismanagement of earth’s
resources the story is mostly about the relationship between the two main
characters.
It was an entertaining read and I enjoyed learning
about the dystopian world that the author had created.
‘In America’s Gulf Coast region, where grounded oil tankers are being
broken down for parts, Nailer, a teenage boy, works the light crew, scavenging
for copper wiring just to make quota — and hopefully live to see another day.
But when, by luck or chance, he discovers an exquisite clipper ship beached
during a recent hurricane, Nailer faces the most important decision of his
life: Strip the ship for all it’s worth or rescue its lone survivor, a
beautiful and wealthy girl who could lead him to a better life.’
This is the second book in the series after The Long
Earth that explores the wonderful possibilities surrounding the discovery of infinite
parallel dimensions that have just become accessible to the majority of
humanity. It is a fascinating setting that mixes science fiction, fantasy
(Trolls, Elves, Kobolds and other alien species that crop up in mythology) and
old fashioned exploration adventure. It does however lack a little narrative strength
which means the conclusion is somewhat lacklustre and less than satisfying,
however I would still recommended the books to those who like their fantasy a to
be little more logical and a little less magical.
‘A generation after the events of The
Long Earth, mankind has spread across the new worlds opened up by
Stepping. Where Joshua and Lobsang once pioneered, now fleets of airships link
the stepwise Americas with trade and culture. Mankind is shaping the Long Earth
– but in turn the Long Earth is shaping mankind ... A new ‘America’, called
Valhalla, is emerging more than a million steps from Datum Earth, with core
American values restated in the plentiful environment of the Long Earth – and
Valhalla is growing restless under the control of the Datum government...
Meanwhile the Long Earth is suffused by the song of the trolls, graceful
hive-mind humanoids. But the trolls are beginning to react to humanity’s
thoughtless exploitation ... Joshua, now a married man, is summoned by Lobsang
to deal with a gathering multiple crisis that threatens to plunge the Long
Earth into a war unlike any mankind has waged before.’
The main reason I bought this book was its connection
with the local area, however I was interested in how it was written and how
much relevance there was in the subject matter to more recent events.
Written as a pamphlet to try and express the author’s
views about how he saw Britain declining in power as it squandered its position
on the world stage and how if it continued it could be the ruination of the
country. Written just after the Franco-Prussian war it describes an invasion of
Britain that the country is unprepared for and woefully unable to protect
itself from.
Some of the mistakes made by the fictional government
of the day (the loss of primary industries to cheaper foreign completion, the reliance
on the service sector for income and the reduction in infrastructure investment)
could be seen as occurring in real life policies many years after this book was
written – luckily without the same consequences.
This was my first foray into the dark and mysterious
world of the Cthulhu Mythos and it was interesting to finally read from what
itself has become a cult genre. I think I will need to read more of these
before I come to a conclusion or find myself totally converted to the Eldar cause.
If nothing else it is interesting to see how this
style of fiction was addressed almost a century ago.
I read this after watching the TV Series of the same name and I soon found that it was quite a different proposition. The book is
much darker with an almost unending streak of cruelty running all the way
through it that pummels the reader with one evil event after another until you
eventually have to either give up or submit to the ultimately depressing
ending. It least the television show allowed the characters to have some hope
and possibility of redeeming features, not so the book. I have only read a few
books by this author and I have often found them to be of a similar vein, so if
you are a fan then you will probably enjoy this one too.
‘On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the
town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an
invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming
wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people
running errands in the neighboring town are divided from their families, and
cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from,
and when—or if—it will go away.
Dale Barbara, Iraq vet and now a short-order cook, finds himself teamed
with a few intrepid citizens—town newspaper owner Julia Shumway, a physician’s
assistant at the hospital, a select woman, and three brave kids. Against them
stands Big Jim Rennie, a politician who will stop at nothing—even murder—to
hold the reins of power, and his son, who is keeping a horrible secret in a
dark pantry. But their main adversary is the Dome itself. Because time isn’t
just short. It’s running out.’
