eXtinction

I bought Ray Hammond's book 'eXtiction' from amazon a few days ago and just finished reading it. It's a environ-apocalyse story set fifty years into the future. The interesting thing is that it was only published last year, and so draws on more modern influences than other sci-fi novels- the changing superpowers, the US Patriot act, and so on. If only for that, it's very interesting to read, as an example of the modern science fiction novel. The story itself isn't bad either, a bit like 'The Day After Tomorrow' (which I enjoyed), but with more of a scientific grounding. Like 'The Day After Tomorrow', it plays on an topic of science which I find very interesting- the way the magnetic poles are slowly switching positions.

Basically the story is this- in the year 2055, all weather is controled by special satellites (which, incidentally, have a realistic method of operation), as by this point global warming is pretty bad (a lot of low-lying lands are underwater at the beginning of the book), the satellites are used to keep the worst of the effects away from developed countries. Third world countries have been mostly wrecked and the survivors forced to like on floating hulk-cities (can I mention that I really, really liked this bit?) as environment refugees who no-one wants to take in. Unfortunately for everyone (and everything) on earth, the effect of having the climate so controlled is having a very bad effect of the world at large. This part is slightly vague and could have been better edited, at first it seems as though the earth is sliding out of orbit, then later that the magnetic poles are switching at a very fast rate (unlike 'The Day After Tomorrow', where the time scale a pure fantasy, this has actually happened before). 

Either way, it turns out that planet Earth is Very Pissed Off, and is trying to fry human beings off her backyard. Literally. There's a nice build up of various disasters (including an earthquake in San Fransisco that put the 1906 one to shame), before everything goes off at the same time. All the volcanoes erupt at the same time, there's tidal waves and effectively, everyone dies except those plucky people in the hulk cities (did I hate that bit? Ohh yeah. Cliche much?). 
The fun part is that all the world leaders and the two main protagonist are on a lunar colony, watching all this happen. They then use the very same equipment that caused the whole mess to try and put it right, and for some weird reason and incredibly bad writing on the part of the author, it works (totally wrecking the main message of the book). And then- blegh, I won't go on. It's a decent story, but the ending just ruins it. Just close just before the end of chapter 23 and imagine everyone on earth just died. Or that the people on the hulks just told them to frag off and die instead of helping them. Or that using the climate control instruments is just the last straw and the world implodes. Or that Cthulhu wakes up and eats everybody. Any of these endings would better than what actually happened.

Another thing I didn't like was the author's writing style. He just seems incapable of transmitting emotion in his writing. Personally, I think it due to the fact that he describes all the disasters in a very cold, clinical fashion of numbers and statistics. It's interesting and fun to read if you like documentaries, but it's hard to dredge up sympathy for any of the characters. I spent most of the time cackling and hoping the Yellowstone volcano would explode and kill of even more people. It probably did, but that happened off-screen. Even the San Fransisco earthquake, where the main male character lost his kids, had very little emotion. It worked with numb shock, but it did make it hard to identify with anyone. It did have it's moments of (I think entirely unconcious) dry humor, which did make it fun to read- in a cold-blooded way.
The romance wasn't bad, typical Hollywood set down on a page, but it did have build up and the characters were okay. Most of the plot points were fairly predictably, but it was only annoying once or twice. 

To be honest, I didn't buy it expecting George Martin, so I wasn't that disappointed. If you liked 'The Day After Tomorrow', you'll like this book. It would make a very cool film, now I think about it. The disaster scenes would make for brilliant CGI, and the story would corny enough to appeal to the gits in Hollywood. I bought the book because I like disaster movies for the disaster, not for the so-called 'heartrending scenes of humanity' that follow. The only things that ever tore my heart were well-written slash tragedies, things that were conspicously absent from this hetro-central book. I could have forgiven that if there hadn't been so many places a gay relationship could have been mentioned, instead we're supposed to believe that every one of the 2,000 people stranded on the moon were hetrosexual (they had a massive orgy at one point). It irritated me because this was meant to be a modern book.

I liked the science part, Mr Hammond has definitly done his research, and the brutal government supression it right on target. The book has so many holes in tone and characterisation it could be made of cheese, but hey. The world get flooded, shaken to pieces and burnt to a crisp- what could be better?

eXtinction

I bought Ray Hammond's book 'eXtiction' from amazon a few days ago and just finished reading it. It's a environ-apocalyse story set fifty years into the future. The interesting thing is that it was only published last year, and so draws on more modern influences than other sci-fi novels- the changing superpowers, the US Patriot act, and so on. If only for that, it's very interesting to read, as an example of the modern science fiction novel. The story itself isn't bad either, a bit like 'The Day After Tomorrow' (which I enjoyed), but with more of a scientific grounding. Like 'The Day After Tomorrow', it plays on an topic of science which I find very interesting- the way the magnetic poles are slowly switching positions.

Basically the story is this- in the year 2055, all weather is controled by special satellites (which, incidentally, have a realistic method of operation), as by this point global warming is pretty bad (a lot of low-lying lands are underwater at the beginning of the book), the satellites are used to keep the worst of the effects away from developed countries. Third world countries have been mostly wrecked and the survivors forced to like on floating hulk-cities (can I mention that I really, really liked this bit?) as environment refugees who no-one wants to take in. Unfortunately for everyone (and everything) on earth, the effect of having the climate so controlled is having a very bad effect of the world at large. This part is slightly vague and could have been better edited, at first it seems as though the earth is sliding out of orbit, then later that the magnetic poles are switching at a very fast rate (unlike 'The Day After Tomorrow', where the time scale a pure fantasy, this has actually happened before). 

Either way, it turns out that planet Earth is Very Pissed Off, and is trying to fry human beings off her backyard. Literally. There's a nice build up of various disasters (including an earthquake in San Fransisco that put the 1906 one to shame), before everything goes off at the same time. All the volcanoes erupt at the same time, there's tidal waves and effectively, everyone dies except those plucky people in the hulk cities (did I hate that bit? Ohh yeah. Cliche much?). 
The fun part is that all the world leaders and the two main protagonist are on a lunar colony, watching all this happen. They then use the very same equipment that caused the whole mess to try and put it right, and for some weird reason and incredibly bad writing on the part of the author, it works (totally wrecking the main message of the book). And then- blegh, I won't go on. It's a decent story, but the ending just ruins it. Just close just before the end of chapter 23 and imagine everyone on earth just died. Or that the people on the hulks just told them to frag off and die instead of helping them. Or that using the climate control instruments is just the last straw and the world implodes. Or that Cthulhu wakes up and eats everybody. Any of these endings would better than what actually happened.

Another thing I didn't like was the author's writing style. He just seems incapable of transmitting emotion in his writing. Personally, I think it due to the fact that he describes all the disasters in a very cold, clinical fashion of numbers and statistics. It's interesting and fun to read if you like documentaries, but it's hard to dredge up sympathy for any of the characters. I spent most of the time cackling and hoping the Yellowstone volcano would explode and kill of even more people. It probably did, but that happened off-screen. Even the San Fransisco earthquake, where the main male character lost his kids, had very little emotion. It worked with numb shock, but it did make it hard to identify with anyone. It did have it's moments of (I think entirely unconcious) dry humor, which did make it fun to read- in a cold-blooded way.
The romance wasn't bad, typical Hollywood set down on a page, but it did have build up and the characters were okay. Most of the plot points were fairly predictably, but it was only annoying once or twice. 

To be honest, I didn't buy it expecting George Martin, so I wasn't that disappointed. If you liked 'The Day After Tomorrow', you'll like this book. It would make a very cool film, now I think about it. The disaster scenes would make for brilliant CGI, and the story would corny enough to appeal to the gits in Hollywood. I bought the book because I like disaster movies for the disaster, not for the so-called 'heartrending scenes of humanity' that follow. The only things that ever tore my heart were well-written slash tragedies, things that were conspicously absent from this hetro-central book. I could have forgiven that if there hadn't been so many places a gay relationship could have been mentioned, instead we're supposed to believe that every one of the 2,000 people stranded on the moon were hetrosexual (they had a massive orgy at one point). It irritated me because this was meant to be a modern book.

I liked the science part, Mr Hammond has definitly done his research, and the brutal government supression it right on target. The book has so many holes in tone and characterisation it could be made of cheese, but hey. The world get flooded, shaken to pieces and burnt to a crisp- what could be better?