Mike Sump

Funny and likeable characters? It's a no-brainer.

Revisado: 09-11-21 El oyente recibió este título gratis

I read this book when it first came out, and I jumped at the opportunity to listen to it in audio. It was a fun read, but the book via Audible is fabulous. Veronica Giguere’s portrayal of the potpourri of characters makes them come alive in your mind. I hope that this partnership can continue and that Ms. Giguere will so enliven the rest of Ms. Booth’s “Thrive Spacecraft Adventures.”

The author has created an interesting and complicated world, and she has populated it with a cast of interesting--if offbeat--characters that you’re sure to like. She’s a master at dialogue, her scientific postulates are sufficiently plausible, and she’s funny. Funny and likable characters? What more do you want?

I admit that I’m biased because I love all of Ms. Booth’s work, including her original dystopian series (the Calm Act; Feral America), which consists of a dozen or so books focused on a divided and desperate America, struggling to maintain a civilized society in the midst of devastating climate change. I think they’re well written, entertaining, and thought-provoking—and thus are important!

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An Important First Novel

Revisado: 02-17-18

Would you listen to End Game again? Why?

I would. I've listened to it and read it, and I think it's an important contribution to spreading the word about climate change and the consequences that will befall us all, albeit in a very entertaining story.

What other book might you compare End Game to and why?

I've never read anything like it except for the other books in the Calm Act series.

This is Ms. Booth’s first novel and it is a promising start. The dystopian future she envisions is “near turn” and feels plausible. It is a dark and horrible future—it is the end of the species after all--but our heroine and the rest of the cast are strong and engaged and we breeze along with them with faith and with hope for their (and our) future. I think this is an important subject and I hope the book is widely read.

What about Laura Bannister’s performance did you like?

I think she's well captured the softness of Dee Baker while revealing her strength and creativity.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

So many, so many. The aborted "last trip" to Montreal. The escape from Adam's house. The formation of the food cooperative. How Dee discovered and used the "truth" that had been hidden from the population, including the armed forces. Her abduction from the Ark and incarceration by Homeland Security. The death of Zack.

Any additional comments?

The world has failed to come to grips with global warming and with climate change, and it is now too late to do anything about preventing the crisis. There are global water and food shortages and massive migrations of people seeking a place and a way to survive. Equally bad, weather patterns are violent and unpredictable and capable of dramatically reducing population levels.

Internationally, each nation finds that they must commit draconian acts to ensure their own survival. Russia nukes the Middle East, the European Union reverts to banishing all Moslems who won’t convert (something they last did in the Middle Ages), and the United States blockades their coasts and secures their borders, both internationally and within the country. Freedom of movement and most of our guaranteed freedoms have been effectively abrogated. Canada is doing what it can and may even absorb some new provinces from the northern tier of US states as a way to “help out.”

The US government and their Homeland Security Apparatus are building “arks,” protected areas where some level of the population can survive the killing weather, the shortages, and life inhibiting atmosphere. The rest of the population--the government won’t say this--but they are probably to be considered expendable.

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Special treat for the listener: read by author.

Revisado: 02-17-18

Would you consider the audio edition of Civilly Disobedient to be better than the print version?

Both formats have their strengths, and I've both read and listened to this book. I think that having the author read the novel gives both an insight into her art and also a particular pleasure.

What did you like best about this story?

This audiobook is the first of two pieces of short fiction collectively called The Calm Act Genesis. These two novelas provide the reader with an entertaining story, while providing background on how the climate crisis first affected the people of the United States.

We meet Dee Baker, the lead of all 3 Calm Act novels, who decides to attend a protest rally in Philadelphia after her company stipulates that no employees can attend it. This novel is set at a time when the United States is still functioning more or less as it does in our own time, before the crisis worsened, and before the border closings of the Calm Act seal the United States into “super states” without rights of transit.

The protest rally is met with government resistance and Dee acts heroically, foreshadowing her future as an important contributor to the future state.

Which scene was your favorite?

I think the scene where Dee helps organize the boathouses into aid stations is a terrific scene and gives us an insight into both her empathy and organizational abilities.

If you were to make a film of this book, what would the tag line be?

On the edge of the future, climate change comes crashing down on the city of our independence.

Any additional comments?

I strongly recommend the entire series for the entertainment and edification of the listeners/readers.

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