Apocalyptic novel set in the near future – mainly NORTH AMERICA

6th February 2023

The Forcing by Paul E Hardisty, apocalyptic novel set in the near future – mainly North America (and Calgary, Texas, Belize and Australia)

The planet has heated up. Polar ice has melted, sea levels have risen, and global weather patterns have changed. The temperate north has seen minimal rain and catastrophic crop failure. There are wars in Africa over food supply The young generation blames the older generation for ignoring years of warnings. The young seize control of North America, and wreak vengeance on the old. Their homes are seized and they are relocated to Texas in the south of the United States as young Texans move north. The old are promised accommodation and facilities similar to those they have left behind but, in fact, end up in prison camps. We follow the relocation of one Canadian couple – David Ashworth, known to his friends and students as Teacher, and his wife May, They are moved to a camp outside Fort Worth, where they end up sharing accommodation with a millionaire industrialist and his wife, a high court lawyer, two recent immigrants to America, and a hospital worker. The dynamics are ‘interesting’. Teacher and his wife plan an escape and, for reasons too complicated to explain in a short review, take the industrialist and the female recent immigrant, Francoise, along with them. Life in the camp may have been extremely unpleasant, but it was nowhere near as dangerous as on the outside. They progress through a series of nightmare experiences, heading for the Gulf of Mexico coast where they intend to acquire a boat to take them down to South America.

The sea is as dangerous as the land. Poisonous oil slicks and chemical residues abound. The air is putrid. They are caught in a violent storm and attacked by ‘pirates’ – desperate men who have no other way of survival. Eventually they reach Belize – a country that has very largely escaped the disasters of further north. Two of them decide not to stay but to keep sailing further south.

The book is written in two time zones. First, in the time of their experiences and second, as Teacher approaches the end of his life and looks back. No spoiler, we are told early in the book, that he settles on the relatively unimpacted Australian coast and starts to build a new life. Alternate chapters describe his current existence and what he went through to get to where he now is.

The Forcing is a very thought provoking book. We really do ignore the current climate warnings at our peril. Paul E Hardisty is a very eminent environmental scientist who has worked as an engineer and hydrologist all over the world. He knows what he is talking about.

Tony for the TripFiction team

Catch the author on Twitter @Hardisty_Paul 

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