RISE OF THE JELLIES

In this SF novel, a Canadian retirement haven is the epicenter of a bizarre environmental crisis, as jellyfish go airborne, becoming flying predators of birds and anything else they can grab and sting.

Qualicum Beach, on Canada’s Pacific coast, is an affluent community with a large population of retirees and boaters. The haven’s leaders are always striving to revitalize its image. They see an opportunity when the place inexplicably becomes the focus of a strange maritime phenomenon. Jellyfish of all kinds (and from all over the world) suddenly arise from the waters and take to the air—some drift placidly with the breezes, but others propel themselves at will, hunting for food. Initial sightings and stinging attacks on humans—like local fisherwoman Emma Toonie—and wildlife are dismissed as hype and internet hysteria. But as evidence becomes undeniable, a different sort of hype sets in, as Qualicum Beach promotes itself as the “Flying Jellyfish Capital of the World.” A leading jellyfish biologist, sexy Australian Honey Purcell, flies in to investigate, soon joined by Toonie, flirty Filipino American CIA agent Paul Ip, and various hangers-on, the media, and homegrown entrepreneurs peddling antijellyfish devices. As the jellyfish plague spreads worldwide, atmospheric swarms of the deceptively serene creatures lethally take down airplanes while Qualicum Beach remains under the worst of the siege. Can science find answers? Wilford’s cheeky, engrossing thriller harkens back to the creepy crawly, nature-on-the-rampage potboilers that overran the paperback racks following the smash 1974 novel Jaws. Remember Nightwing, Slither, The Rats, Slugs, Night of the Crabs,and even John Halkin’s Slime (1984), which also posited jellyfish gone bad? But—besides sidestepping the sex and gore that typified that herd—Wilford also delivers a good-natured, homey, regional Canadian character comedy in the manner of Susan Juby’s Woefield Farm series. In addition, there are the requisite eco-messages of genetically modified chemicals and corporate pollutants creating havoc (not that any lessons seemed to be learned in the end). Jellyfish science in painless doses introduces readers to such fetching breeds as the “kingslayer,” the Irukandji, the sea wasp, moon jellies, and the Praya dubia siphonophore, “a long, wavy bright-white string with flashing sparkles of red, yellow, blue, and green, like flying Christmas lights.”

This engaging SF comedy about marauding jellyfish shows the softer side of eco-terror fiction.