AS THE WATERS RISE

Feltman’s final novel in a speculative trilogy tells a tense, intimate postapocalyptic story of familial conflict, set in the subway tunnels of what used to be New York City.

The Colony of New York, built underneath the ruins of the city following the great hurricane of 2085, faces mounting challenges as the 24th century draws to a close. Violent gangs draw in disillusioned youths. Increasingly frequent tremors (“The earth surrounding the tunnels was warming, shifting and changing”) damage buildings and cause pipes to leak or burst. Air quality is on the decline, leaving people fatigued and unable to work. Dealing with all of these problems would be enough for Manny Stewart, the Colony’s police commissioner and one of its wealthiest citizens, but he must also deal with his son, Zach, who’s become increasingly defiant and seems to have come under the sway of bad influences. Manny’s desperation to keep Zach out of trouble, combined with his own trauma of growing up with an abusive alcoholic father, causes him to come down harder and harder on his son—but the more he tries to control him, the more he resists. The generational conflicts reflect the tension between anxiety and hope that pulls at the Colony as it seeks its future. Feltman’s postapocalyptic setting is well developed and filled with the just the right amount of detail to make it feel lived in, without inundating the reader with minutiae. However, much to the novel’s credit, the setting mostly serves as a backdrop to a taut, unflinching portrayal of a difficult father-child relationship with high stakes that extend well beyond their home. Feltman excels at ratcheting up tension, but she also finds hope in unexpected places, leading to some hard-earned, authentically joyous and optimistic moments. Manny, in particular, is a memorable protagonist, often difficult to like but ultimately deserving of the reader’s admiration.

Strong postapocalyptic worldbuilding supports a gripping family drama.