An odd but thematically profound and engrossing cli-fi tale.
This fusion of eco-thriller, New Age–powered speculative fiction, brutal social commentary, and comedic SF à la Douglas Adams offers sagacious solutions to the present-day climate crisis.
Loosely based on the Starseed lore from the works of Margaret Doner, Horowitz’s debut novel begins in the near future with Earth on the brink of a mass extinction event. Not only are climate disasters ravaging the planet (flooding, heat waves, forest fires), but infectious diseases like West Nile, Lyme disease, and even the black plague are on the rise. And because of the increasing prevalence of industrial pollutants in the air and water, humankind is indeed “getting dumber by the minute.” The planet’s only hope for salvation comes in the form of the Arcturians, benevolent aliens who want to rid Earth of an infestation of malevolent invaders (known as Reptilians) who want to enslave the planet, just like they have countless other star systems. The Arcturians are further motivated because many of their spiritual brothers and sisters (known as Starseeds) have been secretly living on Earth and are in peril as well. In an effort to gather the myriad Reptilian villains together in one place and eradicate them, the Arcturian brain trust comes up with a plan with a group of elite scientists and military brass. They’re going to hold a party that is bigger than Woodstock, a bash that is like “Disney World on acid.” They even have a Rolling Stones cover band: “A Mick Jagger lookalike played Sympathy for the Devil. He was ninety-two years old and rocking the stage with his tongue hanging out of his mouth—except it wasn’t on purpose. He was, of course, performing with a Keith Richards clone, who looked no different than Richards had in any decade.”
While humor is arguably one of the biggest challenges to do well as a writer, Horowitz largely holds his own, particularly with Mel Brooks–ian comedy involving explosive farts, anal probes, and military missions like “Operation Pickle Tickle.” But some of the humor does miss the mark, and the satirical tone often contradicts the solemnity of the subject matter. That said, the impact of the Arcturians’ message—as well as their common-sense solutions—is more than enough to fuel this series opener. Part 4, in particular, is revelatory—filled with countless ideas to ignite and inspire change, from a full transition to electric cars to renewable wind-water-solar energy to a worldwide tree-planting campaign. The author, a renowned expert on Lyme and other tick-borne diseases, spells out the chilling consequences if humankind fails in stopping this planetary ecocide: “Without coordinated action and cooperation among countries, those few who survived would do so without any significant quality of life. We’d all fall like dominos.” The sheer uniqueness of this storyline—which includes references to Area 51, Atlantis, Star Trek, vampires, zombies, angels, astrological birth charts, alien absinthe, and seven-breasted women—is a strength as well as a weakness. Finding the target audience for this highly unusual story could be difficult. A strange little gem of a tale or an allegorical how-to guide on how to save the planet? Only time will tell.
An odd but thematically profound and engrossing cli-fi tale.Pub Date: March 1, 2022
ISBN: 978-1-63758-169-8
Page Count: 448
Publisher: Permuted Press
Review Posted Online: Jan. 7, 2022
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.
A man walks out of a bar and his life becomes a kaleidoscope of altered states in this science-fiction thriller.
Crouch opens on a family in a warm, resonant domestic moment with three well-developed characters. At home in Chicago’s Logan Square, Jason Dessen dices an onion while his wife, Daniela, sips wine and chats on the phone. Their son, Charlie, an appealing 15-year-old, sketches on a pad. Still, an undertone of regret hovers over the couple, a preoccupation with roads not taken, a theme the book will literally explore, in multifarious ways. To start, both Jason and Daniela abandoned careers that might have soared, Jason as a physicist, Daniela as an artist. When Charlie was born, he suffered a major illness. Jason was forced to abandon promising research to teach undergraduates at a small college. Daniela turned from having gallery shows to teaching private art lessons to middle school students. On this bracing October evening, Jason visits a local bar to pay homage to Ryan Holder, a former college roommate who just received a major award for his work in neuroscience, an honor that rankles Jason, who, Ryan says, gave up on his career. Smarting from the comment, Jason suffers “a sucker punch” as he heads home that leaves him “standing on the precipice.” From behind Jason, a man with a “ghost white” face, “red, pursed lips," and "horrifying eyes” points a gun at Jason and forces him to drive an SUV, following preset navigational directions. At their destination, the abductor forces Jason to strip naked, beats him, then leads him into a vast, abandoned power plant. Here, Jason meets men and women who insist they want to help him. Attempting to escape, Jason opens a door that leads him into a series of dark, strange, yet eerily familiar encounters that sometimes strain credibility, especially in the tale's final moments.
Suspenseful, frightening, and sometimes poignant—provided the reader has a generously willing suspension of disbelief.Pub Date: July 26, 2016
ISBN: 978-1-101-90422-0
Page Count: 352
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: May 3, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 15, 2016
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For those who like their science fiction dense, monumental, and a bit overwrought.
Brown is back with Book 4 of his Red Rising series (Morning Star, 2016, etc.) and explores familiar themes of rebellion, revenge, and political instability.
This novel examines the ramifications and pitfalls of trying to build a new world out of the ashes of the old. The events here take place 10 years after the conclusion of Morning Star, which ended on a seemingly positive note. Darrow, aka Reaper, and his lover, Virginia au Augustus, aka Mustang, had vanquished the Golds, the elite ruling class, so hope was held out that a new order would arise. But in the new book it becomes clear that the concept of political order is tenuous at best, for Darrow’s first thoughts are on the forces of violence and chaos he has unleashed: “famines and genocide...piracy...terrorism, radiation sickness and disease...and the one hundred million lives lost in my [nuclear] war.” Readers familiar with the previous trilogy—and you'll have to be if you want to understand the current novel—will welcome a familiar cast of characters, including Mustang, Sevro (Darrow’s friend and fellow warrior), and Lysander (grandson of the Sovereign). Readers will also find familiarity in Brown’s idiosyncratic naming system (Cassius au Bellona, Octavia au Lune) and even in his vocabulary for cursing (“Goryhell,” “Bloodydamn,” “Slag that”). Brown introduces a number of new characters, including 18-year-old Lyria, a survivor of the initial Rising who gives a fresh perspective on the violence of the new war—and violence is indeed never far away from the world Brown creates. (He includes one particularly gruesome gladiatorial combat between Cassius and a host of enemies.) Brown imparts an epic quality to the events in part by his use of names. It’s impossible to ignore the weighty connotations of characters when they sport names like Bellerephon, Diomedes, Dido, and Apollonius.
For those who like their science fiction dense, monumental, and a bit overwrought.Pub Date: Jan. 16, 2018
ISBN: 978-0-425-28591-6
Page Count: 624
Publisher: Random House
Review Posted Online: Jan. 22, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Feb. 1, 2018
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