In these crazy, unprecedented, uncertain times it may be questionable whether one wants to be reading a book about the end of the world. Nevertheless, in After the End we have an intelligent novel of epic quality. Definitely one for your reading list.
When the comet Smith-Kim pulls loose from the Kuiper belt and heads straight for Earth, there isn’t much time to prepare for the imminent destruction of the world as we know it. Luckily a small group of scientists have set up the Sanctuary project – a Noah’s Arc of sorts – which has a plan to rebuild and repopulate the planet with plant, animal and human life.
The story does well in avoiding altogether the terror of the comet’s strike. Rather, it focusses on how the characters cope with their strange new barren landscape; in what the survivors do once the devastation has settled. We follow a selection of characters from both inside and outside the Sanctuary as they struggle to make sense of a world where one literary has to start again.
This novel is high on the human element with poignant illustrations of anthropology. It is about relationships, responsibilities and how moral values are tested. There are shades of Bradbury and Jeff VanderMeer and the scope of Dan Simmons, while all the detail is in just the right places; there’s enough science to keep things realistic but not too much and the story is well-paced and easy to read. Plus there’s a healthy pinch of imaginative sci-fi with a neurotic master computer and a few extra-terrestrial surprises as we head towards a thrilling and satisfying end.
A cut above your average apocalypse novel with scenes that will stay with you for a long time after reading.
When a rogue comet collides with the Earth, setting the entire planet afire, there are few survivors. Among them are a submarine crew, an underground sanctuary of scientists, and scattered individuals. Those who do survive, by forethought or chance, rise from the ashes, continue to procreate, and their descendants find new ways to live, create new cultures, new societies, new theologies. In addition, an alien spore has arrived with the comet, and over the decades it grows and evolves into a new form of vegetation that develops a symbiotic relationship with a species of Earth. This relationship expands to become a formidable threat to mankind, even as the age-old clash between science and superstition, logic and faith, continues to divide humanity.
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