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The Sea is Boiling Hot
In the world of Heron Attee’s time, scientific wastes had so fouled the atmosphere that men were forced to erect giant bubbles over their cities so that the air inside could be continually purified and made breathable. Outside the city domes, humans would strangle and die from breathing the air.
Even the oceans of Earth were so befouled by thermal pollution from atomic plants that life within the great waters had long since died off.
And the people of the domed cities lived a fantastic, hedonistic life dedicated to sex, violent games, and programmed hallucinations. Desperation hovered over mankind: exctinction was coming ever closer.
But one man, the brilliant scientist Heron Attee, discovered a means of reversing the process of Earthdeath…if it wasn’t too late….
Even the oceans of Earth were so befouled by thermal pollution from atomic plants that life within the great waters had long since died off.
And the people of the domed cities lived a fantastic, hedonistic life dedicated to sex, violent games, and programmed hallucinations. Desperation hovered over mankind: exctinction was coming ever closer.
But one man, the brilliant scientist Heron Attee, discovered a means of reversing the process of Earthdeath…if it wasn’t too late….
- GenresScience Fiction
Published January 1, 1971
25 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
August 11, 2016
It took me a while to make up my mind on this bit of retro sci-fi pulp fiction trash. The Sea is Boiling Hot is a heavy-handed example of the ecological disaster porn genre, in which man's reckless resource waste has reduced us to a state in which only absurd Jetsons technology allows life on Earth to continue. Everything is awful, joy-inducing lobotomies are all the rage, and everyone seems to finally agree with me that coffee tastes like crap.
Butt all is not lost! Our protagonist, Heron Attee, has discovered IMBUSTION, a technique which converts pollution to oil, nuclear waste to nuclear fuel, and makes Sir Isaac Newton spin in his grave. However, Heron is sick of civilization, and feels it deserves to die out. And so begins our happy tale!
I picked up the book hoping for weird sci-fi absurdity, which the title and cover promised in spades, but sadly the book was pretty tame here. Sci-fi dystopia tropes run rampant, but never really go that extra mile to be hilarious. Instead, the author seems intent on destroying sex. Heron's journey is filled with people who just want to screw him at first sight, nearly non-stop. Sexy octogenarian at the cafe? Check. Creepy cyborg lady with an aquarium for a torso? Check. Band of fifth graders? Check. The whole world is in heat, except for sad ol' Heron. There is a strong theme of discomfort around physical intimacy running around here, harkening back to the Puritanucal 50's before Woodstock and The Monkees came and sexed up everyone's brains. And since the book lacks characters or concepts of interest, as well as jolly fun Flash Gordon insanity, you're left with a stern mother's disapproving glare as the novel's strongest element.
Two stars. One for being a book, and one for a satisfying ending. And maybe out of leniency since this is the author's only published work. Feel free not to add this one to your collections.
Butt all is not lost! Our protagonist, Heron Attee, has discovered IMBUSTION, a technique which converts pollution to oil, nuclear waste to nuclear fuel, and makes Sir Isaac Newton spin in his grave. However, Heron is sick of civilization, and feels it deserves to die out. And so begins our happy tale!
I picked up the book hoping for weird sci-fi absurdity, which the title and cover promised in spades, but sadly the book was pretty tame here. Sci-fi dystopia tropes run rampant, but never really go that extra mile to be hilarious. Instead, the author seems intent on destroying sex. Heron's journey is filled with people who just want to screw him at first sight, nearly non-stop. Sexy octogenarian at the cafe? Check. Creepy cyborg lady with an aquarium for a torso? Check. Band of fifth graders? Check. The whole world is in heat, except for sad ol' Heron. There is a strong theme of discomfort around physical intimacy running around here, harkening back to the Puritanucal 50's before Woodstock and The Monkees came and sexed up everyone's brains. And since the book lacks characters or concepts of interest, as well as jolly fun Flash Gordon insanity, you're left with a stern mother's disapproving glare as the novel's strongest element.
Two stars. One for being a book, and one for a satisfying ending. And maybe out of leniency since this is the author's only published work. Feel free not to add this one to your collections.
September 18, 2021
Science fiction books with covers like this are so often half plot and half the author exploring his kinks in the safety of futuristic fiction. And this one is no exception.
February 13, 2016
If you're a science fiction buff, please read this book. It was a very interesting story of how the future might be. I enjoyed all the characters and the author really does a good job at bringing this tale to life. But with all science fiction stories there's always WTF moments. This book has quite a lot of those and some parts are a little awkward but still tasteful I guess (lol). Read this book, it'll be a fun ride.
September 13, 2023
As science fiction goes, this is amazingly prescient. A future where industrial waste has turned the earth to waste; boiling seas, dead ecology, poisoned air... humanity lives in domes as if they'd colonized a strange and hostile planet.
Still, they have a civilization going. Have games and recreation, advanced virtual realities, even scientists who hope to repair the earth.
But one scientist says 'enough'. He has a cure for the second law of thermodynamics, and refuses to share it. Is he right to say that tech can never cure the evils of tech? Can't say; but he puts up a fight to keep it from being put to test.
A clever, adventurous dystopian vision. Not the bright happy sort of thing I prefer; but double-damned worth reading in 2023.
Still, they have a civilization going. Have games and recreation, advanced virtual realities, even scientists who hope to repair the earth.
But one scientist says 'enough'. He has a cure for the second law of thermodynamics, and refuses to share it. Is he right to say that tech can never cure the evils of tech? Can't say; but he puts up a fight to keep it from being put to test.
A clever, adventurous dystopian vision. Not the bright happy sort of thing I prefer; but double-damned worth reading in 2023.
January 27, 2020
2/5 (Bad)
The Sea is Boiling Hot (1971), George Bamber’s sole novel length contribution to the genre (thankfully), is the unabashedly pornographic version of the ecological disaster, humanity cooped-up in massive domed [...]
Full review: http://sciencefictionruminations.com/...
The Sea is Boiling Hot (1971), George Bamber’s sole novel length contribution to the genre (thankfully), is the unabashedly pornographic version of the ecological disaster, humanity cooped-up in massive domed [...]
Full review: http://sciencefictionruminations.com/...
May 27, 2018
Found this in a used book store; not bad.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews