Book Review

‘Mindstar Rising’ by Peter F. Hamilton

· January 5, 2013 · Book Review · , , , , , , , , , · 2 Comments

The cover of the 17th November 2012 edition of New Scientist headlined:

CLIMATE CHANGE

Five years ago we feared the worst. But it’s looking even worse than that.

It seems that the climate models were wrong. The rate-of-loss of arctic ice, the increase in rainfall intensity, and the searing heat waves have already reached the levels that were predicted for the end of this century. As I read the dire warnings of more extreme weather in the northern hemisphere, the current and expected fall in crop yields in the UK due to heavy rainfall, the need to develop heat-tolerant crop varieties, and the likely flooding of many low-lying cities—the world created by Peter F. Hamilton in the Greg Mandel trilogy came to mind.

ImageHamilton’s first novel, Mindstar Rising, is set in England, where global warming has reshaped the physical, social and economic state of the country. Note that I said England; political chaos and industrial collapse have resulted in Wales and Scotland existing as separate political and economic entities. In the novel, massive flooding created a huge refugee problem, necessitating the requisition of buildings (shops, hotels etc.) under the government’s ‘one home policy’ to provide emergency housing. This re-imagined England has spent the past twelve years sweltering under bright hot skies, with high humidity and an annual rainy season. Most of the familiar plants and trees are gone, replaced by more tropical varieties. Low lying areas used for farming have been reduced to mud-clogged marshlands and bogs, and every available green space has been appropriated for raising crops.

Peterborough is the new industrial capital—referred to in the book as the new Hong Kong. ‘If you can’t get it in Peterborough, you can’t get it anywhere.’

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Author Reading: Kenneth McCloud – ‘The Incident’

· December 9, 2012 · Book Review · , , · No Comments

The English Department of Royal Holloway, University of London hosts a number of events during the academic year which feature authors reading from and talking about their most recent novel. These ‘Lunch Time Readings’ are reasonably well attended by both English students and members of staff. Last year Sir Andrew Motion read from his novel ‘Silver’ to a crowded lecture theatre.

In November the guest author was Kenneth McCloud reading from his debut novel ‘The Incident’. This novel is interesting in that it is framed around one day in the life of a young lifeguard in Germany. Within this frame three interlinked stories are told: the lifeguard (present day, in the context of the novel), the grandfather and his World War Two experiences, and Gerd a refugee from the Cold War.

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Review: Red Country by Joe Abercrombie

· December 2, 2012 · Book Review · , , · No Comments

Red Country is the third of Abercrombie’s stand-alone books, after Best Served Cold and The Heroes. While all three books can be read in isolation they are based in the same world as The First Law trilogy and feature some well-loved characters.

Abercrombie draws, in part, on his experience as a film editor when writing and he has likened Best Served Cold to a gangster/revenge movie set in something like a Machiavellian renaissance Italy, and The Heroes to a big-picture war film like Waterloo or A Bridge Too Far. His new book, Red Country, with its air of ‘narrowed eyes’ and ‘clenched jaws’, is firmly set in the fantasy equivalent of a good western.

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