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Human Rites #1
The Last Albatross
From bestselling Australian author and environmental scientist Ian Irvine comes a chillingly realistic thriller that will have you asking: Is there life after global warming?
Hercus Barges, a middle-aged failure embittered about ruinous climate change, is planning the ultimate crime: the destruction of western civilisation. And he knows just how to do it. Hercus attempts to blackmail his old friend Ryn Hardey into helping him, for they share a terrible secret from their student days.
Ryn can’t stop Hercus without implicating himself, but Hercus won’t take no for an answer. And Ryn has another urgent problem. His research on Antarctic ice sheet melting is showing alarming results and he can’t work out why.
Then Hercus’ secret gets out, and it’s worth a fortune to a doomsday ecological cult. Soon Ryn and his partner Jemma are on the run from ruthless eco-terrorists and professional hitmen. As Ryn struggles to work out what will happen when the ice melts, Jemma tries to uncover Hercus’ catastrophic plan – before it’s too late.
Global warming, unstoppable climate change and environmental terrorism collide in The Last Albatross – Book One in the shatteringly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
Hercus Barges, a middle-aged failure embittered about ruinous climate change, is planning the ultimate crime: the destruction of western civilisation. And he knows just how to do it. Hercus attempts to blackmail his old friend Ryn Hardey into helping him, for they share a terrible secret from their student days.
Ryn can’t stop Hercus without implicating himself, but Hercus won’t take no for an answer. And Ryn has another urgent problem. His research on Antarctic ice sheet melting is showing alarming results and he can’t work out why.
Then Hercus’ secret gets out, and it’s worth a fortune to a doomsday ecological cult. Soon Ryn and his partner Jemma are on the run from ruthless eco-terrorists and professional hitmen. As Ryn struggles to work out what will happen when the ice melts, Jemma tries to uncover Hercus’ catastrophic plan – before it’s too late.
Global warming, unstoppable climate change and environmental terrorism collide in The Last Albatross – Book One in the shatteringly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
396 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
8 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Ian Irvine
74 books661 followersI'm an Australian author of 34 novels, mainly fantasy. They include the bestselling Three Worlds epic fantasy sequence, which has sold over a million print copies. It comprises The View from the Mirror quartet, The Well of Echoes quartet and The Song of the Tears trilogy. I’ve just finished The Gates of Good and Evil quartet, the long-awaited sequel to The View from the Mirror. Book 3, The Perilous Tower, was published recently and the final book, The Sapphire Portal, will be published on November 1, 2020.
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.au...
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LATEST BOOK
WHY I WRITE
Funny thing is, I never wanted to be a writer. From an early age my ambition was to be a scientist. I’m an expert in pollution and I’ve spent my professional life studying it in far-flung places like Mauritius, Sumatra, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, Papua-New Guinea and Western Samoa, as well as all over Australia. Often scuba diving to the bottom of foul, smelly harbours and hammering tubes deep into the polluted mud to collect samples for chemical analysis. Now that’s living!
I was a small, quiet kid who devoured books from the moment I learned to read. When I was naughty, Mum wouldn’t let me read anything for a week – talk about a cruel and unusual punishment.
I discovered fantasy in the early 70’s, with The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea trilogy, and was immediately hooked. But there wasn’t much fantasy in those days; within a couple of years I’d read everything available. I wanted more and bigger tales, on vaster canvases, but they didn’t exist. That’s why I had to become a writer – to write the kind of stories I wanted to read.
WHAT I WRITE
I’ve never wanted to write about superheroes or huge, reckless warriors who know no fear. I write epic fantasy about underdogs and ordinary people who, in pursuit of their goals, are put to the limit of human endurance. My characters aren’t fantasy stereotypes, they’re real people with believable motivations and unfortunate flaws. I’m well known for strong female characters who have as many adventures as the men, and frequently get them out of trouble (I have five sisters). My characters are often small or clumsy or inexperienced or handicapped in some way, yet they make up for it with cleverness, ingenuity or sheer, low cunning. My antagonists are real, complex people who do bad things for strong and deeply-held reasons – never ‘just because they’re evil’.
Though my characters suffer every kind of torment imaginable, at their lowest point they discover the truest form of courage – they keep fighting because the fate of the people they care for, and the world they love, depends on them never giving up.
SOME RECENT REVIEWS
"Irvine is a veteran storyteller who excels in sustaining complex plots with well-rounded characters. Here, he delivers a compelling tale of vengeance, loyalty, and the search for a place in the world." Starred review, Library Journal (US)
"That Grand Master of the vast epic is with us again! The first gripping volume of what promises to be a vintage Irvine treat. More please!" Crisetta MacLeod, Aurealis Express
"Incredibly exciting. The end will have you eagerly anticipating the next book." Good Reading (Aus)
"He knows how to spin an epic yarn and tell it with real gusto ... ambitious in scope and tirelessly action-stuffed." SFX
Facebook, https://www.facebook.com/ianirvine.au...
Signup to my email newsletter for free books and special offers, preview chapters, news and other great stuff. https://www.ian-irvine.com/join-my-ne...
LATEST BOOK
WHY I WRITE
Funny thing is, I never wanted to be a writer. From an early age my ambition was to be a scientist. I’m an expert in pollution and I’ve spent my professional life studying it in far-flung places like Mauritius, Sumatra, Mongolia, South Korea, the Philippines, Papua-New Guinea and Western Samoa, as well as all over Australia. Often scuba diving to the bottom of foul, smelly harbours and hammering tubes deep into the polluted mud to collect samples for chemical analysis. Now that’s living!
I was a small, quiet kid who devoured books from the moment I learned to read. When I was naughty, Mum wouldn’t let me read anything for a week – talk about a cruel and unusual punishment.
I discovered fantasy in the early 70’s, with The Lord of the Rings and the Earthsea trilogy, and was immediately hooked. But there wasn’t much fantasy in those days; within a couple of years I’d read everything available. I wanted more and bigger tales, on vaster canvases, but they didn’t exist. That’s why I had to become a writer – to write the kind of stories I wanted to read.
WHAT I WRITE
I’ve never wanted to write about superheroes or huge, reckless warriors who know no fear. I write epic fantasy about underdogs and ordinary people who, in pursuit of their goals, are put to the limit of human endurance. My characters aren’t fantasy stereotypes, they’re real people with believable motivations and unfortunate flaws. I’m well known for strong female characters who have as many adventures as the men, and frequently get them out of trouble (I have five sisters). My characters are often small or clumsy or inexperienced or handicapped in some way, yet they make up for it with cleverness, ingenuity or sheer, low cunning. My antagonists are real, complex people who do bad things for strong and deeply-held reasons – never ‘just because they’re evil’.
Though my characters suffer every kind of torment imaginable, at their lowest point they discover the truest form of courage – they keep fighting because the fate of the people they care for, and the world they love, depends on them never giving up.
SOME RECENT REVIEWS
"Irvine is a veteran storyteller who excels in sustaining complex plots with well-rounded characters. Here, he delivers a compelling tale of vengeance, loyalty, and the search for a place in the world." Starred review, Library Journal (US)
"That Grand Master of the vast epic is with us again! The first gripping volume of what promises to be a vintage Irvine treat. More please!" Crisetta MacLeod, Aurealis Express
"Incredibly exciting. The end will have you eagerly anticipating the next book." Good Reading (Aus)
"He knows how to spin an epic yarn and tell it with real gusto ... ambitious in scope and tirelessly action-stuffed." SFX
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Displaying 1 - 23 of 23 reviews
February 20, 2023
Are you happy and content? Do you want to be depressed and anxiety ridden? Then this is the book for you. Fortunately I don’t have a soul, so the book didn’t affect me other than to be a mildly disappointing read. This is a very angry book. It’s a dystopian dsystopia. There is no bright side. The main thrust is ecological and environmental catastrophe, but with the addition of Luddite level technological aversion. The characters are all nasty and vindictive. And obsessed with sex in a way that has nothing to do with the story. I’m not sure why I persevered to the end. It’s a train wreck. You don’t want to watch, but you can’t turn away.
Written in 2000 and set in the very near future of 2010, so is now ancient history. This could partly explain why the book doesn’t work now. So much it envisages didn’t happen. The book feels dated even though it’s only 20 odd years old. There’s at 2 totally unrelated plotlines that never come torgether. The world building is inconsistent an erratic. There is a few good ideas and I empathises was the ideals behind the story, but it’s just not good. He should stick to fantasy. His fantasy books are good.
Would I recommend this book? Probably not, ‘Venomous Lumpsucker’ by Ned Beauman is a better eco-collapse book.
Written in 2000 and set in the very near future of 2010, so is now ancient history. This could partly explain why the book doesn’t work now. So much it envisages didn’t happen. The book feels dated even though it’s only 20 odd years old. There’s at 2 totally unrelated plotlines that never come torgether. The world building is inconsistent an erratic. There is a few good ideas and I empathises was the ideals behind the story, but it’s just not good. He should stick to fantasy. His fantasy books are good.
Would I recommend this book? Probably not, ‘Venomous Lumpsucker’ by Ned Beauman is a better eco-collapse book.
November 5, 2022
An interesting concept, to write a cynical early-90s near-future sci-fi based around climate change, but it's held back by huge technical issues, weird boomer politics, cringy male-author-writing-female-protagonist cliches, and just bad writing where any conceivable plot twist fails to happen.
The epilogue makes me think you *could* write something interesting about climate change as an intergenerational trilogy, each generation coping with a different epoch as the earth changes? But I can't imagine this is going to pull it off at all.
Biggest issue: The story takes place in an era of climate change, life is getting harder, disasters are on the rise. All of the characters who care about this are bad guys, caring about climate change is basically equivalent to terrorism. Only Rin engages with climate change for non-evil reasons, and he just produces models and feels like someone should probably do something.
The epilogue too talks about climate change being used as a political lever to form a one-world government, crack down on dissent and implement a eugenics program and eradicating humanity - reads like a catalogue of the most tedious reactionary right-wing opinions, and I'm genuinely unsure how much of that is the author's own. *Maybe* it's setting up something wider in the trilogy?
Smaller issue, but still bothered me: One plot thread deals with an evil insurance company using climate change forecasts for insider trading - but what's described isn't inside trading. They pay scientists to produce forecasts then make business decisions before they're widely publicised. That's not insider trading, that's not even *bad*, that's just proprietary research. This comes as a surprise to Ryn, who works for them, and apparently never understood what his job is.
The female protagonist - Gemma Hardy has body image issues. As such, she'll tell you about her thighs every few minutes. Also, she's always horny. And there's a random plot thing about an orgasm pill, that has nothing to do with anything in the story? And at key crisis moments her big concern is how her bum looks. There's just a big "breasting boobily" vibe going on.
The bit that really bugged me were that her character development from being timid and dependent apparently includes "confronting professional hitmen", as if "was freaked out by hitman who sexually assaulted her and said he'd come back the next day and kill her" is a character flaw.
But more than anything - the clear absence of any plot twist at any point. There's quite a few points where it's set up like something surprising is going to happen, and just consistently does not. It's not that the twists are unsurprising, there just aren't any. The amount of espionage and mystery identities going around, you'd think *someone* would double-cross someone, or turn out to be behind one of the schemes.
The epilogue makes me think you *could* write something interesting about climate change as an intergenerational trilogy, each generation coping with a different epoch as the earth changes? But I can't imagine this is going to pull it off at all.
Biggest issue: The story takes place in an era of climate change, life is getting harder, disasters are on the rise. All of the characters who care about this are bad guys, caring about climate change is basically equivalent to terrorism. Only Rin engages with climate change for non-evil reasons, and he just produces models and feels like someone should probably do something.
The epilogue too talks about climate change being used as a political lever to form a one-world government, crack down on dissent and implement a eugenics program and eradicating humanity - reads like a catalogue of the most tedious reactionary right-wing opinions, and I'm genuinely unsure how much of that is the author's own. *Maybe* it's setting up something wider in the trilogy?
Smaller issue, but still bothered me: One plot thread deals with an evil insurance company using climate change forecasts for insider trading - but what's described isn't inside trading. They pay scientists to produce forecasts then make business decisions before they're widely publicised. That's not insider trading, that's not even *bad*, that's just proprietary research. This comes as a surprise to Ryn, who works for them, and apparently never understood what his job is.
The female protagonist - Gemma Hardy has body image issues. As such, she'll tell you about her thighs every few minutes. Also, she's always horny. And there's a random plot thing about an orgasm pill, that has nothing to do with anything in the story? And at key crisis moments her big concern is how her bum looks. There's just a big "breasting boobily" vibe going on.
The bit that really bugged me were that her character development from being timid and dependent apparently includes "confronting professional hitmen", as if "was freaked out by hitman who sexually assaulted her and said he'd come back the next day and kill her" is a character flaw.
But more than anything - the clear absence of any plot twist at any point. There's quite a few points where it's set up like something surprising is going to happen, and just consistently does not. It's not that the twists are unsurprising, there just aren't any. The amount of espionage and mystery identities going around, you'd think *someone* would double-cross someone, or turn out to be behind one of the schemes.
December 7, 2011
The Last Albatross is set in a near future Australia where the technology, environment and economy is failing. It is a story of extreme environmentalists versus, in the beginning at least, an apathetic materialistic woman and her partner.
The heroine of the story is Jemma. She is an overweight, unconfident school-teacher who wants to have a child. Her older partner, Ryn, is a computer scientist who forecasts the damage from major weather events. At the start of the book he is working on a program that forecasts the effects of the collapse of one of the Antarctic ice shelves.
In his youth, Ryn and a mentally unstable friend Hercus found a bar of plutonium at Maralinga and buried it in a relative’s back yard. There it remains for years until Hercus returns into Jemmas and Ryn’s life. He is distressed about materialists destroying the environment is going to get rid of them all. And so the adventure begins.
I did not really like the characters. Not my type of people. Jemma had sold her soul to un-fulfilling nothingness long before the novel started. Ryn was too rapped up in his work to care about anything. Hercus wanted to blame the world for everything bad in his life. In the end, only really Jemma came close to redeeming herself.
I did have a problem with technology constantly refusing to function throughout the story. Although the Australia in the novel is a virtual corporate dictatorship, I still kept on thinking, only fools will buy the corporation’s goods if they don’t work. Others will buy, make, illegally import, invent some other product that actually works or just go without. Basically I thought Jemma and Ryn fell into the fools category, the type of people who keep on going back to the Reject Shop to buy a replacement for something that just broke.
I think the novel was too long. It should have ended with Jemma and Ryn’s attempts to stop Hercus using the plutonium. Instead, it continued with Jemma improbably taking over a speech in front of world leaders from her ailing husband. I thought Jemma’s and Ryn’s reputation was so soiled at the time that it would be a bit like Lindy Chamberlain addressing a child care conference. We know a dingo did it, but still there is baby’s blood thrown by the media all over Lindy.
The novel ends up portraying all environmentalists as extremist nutters. This aspect of the novel really rubbed against me. I was surprised to see the author himself has/does work in the environmental field.
Overall, I thought the novel okay, it did keep me reading. I was just frustrated by its character’s motivations and some of its ideas.
The heroine of the story is Jemma. She is an overweight, unconfident school-teacher who wants to have a child. Her older partner, Ryn, is a computer scientist who forecasts the damage from major weather events. At the start of the book he is working on a program that forecasts the effects of the collapse of one of the Antarctic ice shelves.
In his youth, Ryn and a mentally unstable friend Hercus found a bar of plutonium at Maralinga and buried it in a relative’s back yard. There it remains for years until Hercus returns into Jemmas and Ryn’s life. He is distressed about materialists destroying the environment is going to get rid of them all. And so the adventure begins.
I did not really like the characters. Not my type of people. Jemma had sold her soul to un-fulfilling nothingness long before the novel started. Ryn was too rapped up in his work to care about anything. Hercus wanted to blame the world for everything bad in his life. In the end, only really Jemma came close to redeeming herself.
I did have a problem with technology constantly refusing to function throughout the story. Although the Australia in the novel is a virtual corporate dictatorship, I still kept on thinking, only fools will buy the corporation’s goods if they don’t work. Others will buy, make, illegally import, invent some other product that actually works or just go without. Basically I thought Jemma and Ryn fell into the fools category, the type of people who keep on going back to the Reject Shop to buy a replacement for something that just broke.
I think the novel was too long. It should have ended with Jemma and Ryn’s attempts to stop Hercus using the plutonium. Instead, it continued with Jemma improbably taking over a speech in front of world leaders from her ailing husband. I thought Jemma’s and Ryn’s reputation was so soiled at the time that it would be a bit like Lindy Chamberlain addressing a child care conference. We know a dingo did it, but still there is baby’s blood thrown by the media all over Lindy.
The novel ends up portraying all environmentalists as extremist nutters. This aspect of the novel really rubbed against me. I was surprised to see the author himself has/does work in the environmental field.
Overall, I thought the novel okay, it did keep me reading. I was just frustrated by its character’s motivations and some of its ideas.
April 18, 2009
The protagonist was occasionally annoying, as was the idea of technology fritzing out on a massive scale on a regular basis. (Can you imagine the internet going down? That's pretty much impossible, and yet it happens dozens of times in the book.) Maybe it lost a bit of its intended effect because it takes place in 2010 and I read it in 2009. But I just wasn't all that interested in a fictional account of politics gone wrong and what it would be like to live in a world where the albatross was extinct, coffee cost $900 a kilo because of a coffee famine, and the female orgasm pill is available at your local pharmacy. It wasn't totally devoid of merit -- obviously I mostly liked it (despite paging through entire sections), or else I wouldn't have finished it -- but I don't think I'll be reading the sequel.
December 29, 2012
This book appealed to me by the very nature of its subject matter which has become even more topical of late. Climate change and approaches to how best to manage humans stamp (ing) on mother earth. His characters are once again believable even if we dont like them or what they are doing. A hero or two along the way and a very bleak future for our planet with power corrupting once again.It took me a while to settle into to this book but once again I enjoyed his writing style and it made me keen enough to want to read the next 2 books in this trilogy.
July 24, 2021
This book was so terrible. I listened to the audio book and it was read by a man ( and the character telling the story is female) I am not sure if this made it worse.
The characters have no depth, the story has so many inconsistencies. The portrayal of the female characters is so shallow and full of stereotypes. It is obvious that the character has no idea about childbirth and females in general.
I cannot believe I finished it as it was so bad.
The characters have no depth, the story has so many inconsistencies. The portrayal of the female characters is so shallow and full of stereotypes. It is obvious that the character has no idea about childbirth and females in general.
I cannot believe I finished it as it was so bad.
January 11, 2021
Well, that was disappointing. There was a solid idea for an interesting story, but I did not enjoy the writing at all. The characters were all unlikeable (I was rooting for the disasters to win) and there is way too much time spent focusing on one characters sex life... which really adds nothing at all to the story. The ending didn't leave me wanting to read any more of the series.
March 5, 2009
Obviously an early work but worth wading though for the relevance to the later books in the series, which are great.
January 1, 2013
Not what I expected but so far I am enjoying this series & agree with Sue's comments
December 2, 2021
A hopefully not too prophetic story of potential horrors resulting from climate change and dangerous activists.
From bestselling Australian author and environmental scientist Ian Irvine comes a chillingly realistic thriller that will have you asking: Is there life after global warming?
Hercus Barges, a middle-aged failure embittered about ruinous climate change, is planning the ultimate crime: the destruction of western civilisation. And he knows just how to do it. Hercus attempts to blackmail his old friend Ryn Hardey into helping him, for they share a terrible secret from their student days.
Ryn can’t stop Hercus without implicating himself, but Hercus won’t take no for an answer. And Ryn has another urgent problem. His research on Antarctic ice sheet melting is showing alarming results and he can’t work out why.
Then Hercus’ secret gets out, and it’s worth a fortune to a doomsday ecological cult. Soon Ryn and his partner Jemma are on the run from ruthless eco-terrorists and professional hitmen. As Ryn struggles to work out what will happen when the ice melts, Jemma tries to uncover Hercus’ catastrophic plan – before it’s too late.
Global warming, unstoppable climate change and environmental terrorism collide in The Last Albatross – Book One in the shatteringly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
From bestselling Australian author and environmental scientist Ian Irvine comes a chillingly realistic thriller that will have you asking: Is there life after global warming?
Hercus Barges, a middle-aged failure embittered about ruinous climate change, is planning the ultimate crime: the destruction of western civilisation. And he knows just how to do it. Hercus attempts to blackmail his old friend Ryn Hardey into helping him, for they share a terrible secret from their student days.
Ryn can’t stop Hercus without implicating himself, but Hercus won’t take no for an answer. And Ryn has another urgent problem. His research on Antarctic ice sheet melting is showing alarming results and he can’t work out why.
Then Hercus’ secret gets out, and it’s worth a fortune to a doomsday ecological cult. Soon Ryn and his partner Jemma are on the run from ruthless eco-terrorists and professional hitmen. As Ryn struggles to work out what will happen when the ice melts, Jemma tries to uncover Hercus’ catastrophic plan – before it’s too late.
Global warming, unstoppable climate change and environmental terrorism collide in The Last Albatross – Book One in the shatteringly prophetic Human Rites trilogy.
April 8, 2021
I was really looking forward to reading this book. The premise is good. A dying world, corporate greed run rampant and Eco-terrorists holding a rotting world to account. Some of the ideas were really interesting, such as the death lottery and reality TV gone gone too far, but overall I felt the bigger issues were never really explored in any great depth.
The plot centres around a husband and wife and how their roles slowly reverse. The wife tapping into inner reserves and finding strength she never knew she had. Unfortunately, her actions and behaviour often made me think the author doesn't know how to write a women. The story meanders along and takes far too long to get anywhere. The sex scenes don't add or drive anything, apart from when the protagonist uses her feminine wiles to trick the bad guy. The characters are unlikable, whiney and sometimes just plain boring. I tried, hoping it would get better, but called it a day when I realised I didn't really care what happened when the husband was kidnapped.
The plot centres around a husband and wife and how their roles slowly reverse. The wife tapping into inner reserves and finding strength she never knew she had. Unfortunately, her actions and behaviour often made me think the author doesn't know how to write a women. The story meanders along and takes far too long to get anywhere. The sex scenes don't add or drive anything, apart from when the protagonist uses her feminine wiles to trick the bad guy. The characters are unlikable, whiney and sometimes just plain boring. I tried, hoping it would get better, but called it a day when I realised I didn't really care what happened when the husband was kidnapped.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 21, 2021
Didn't want to put it down. The projection of what life will be like in the nearish future (sadly quite believable) coupled with a great action story. Very relatable, realistic characters. I will certainly be seeking out the sequels.
May 18, 2020
A great book that hits a little bit too close to the reality we've found ourselves in. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.
September 13, 2020
Has some good ideas and a fast read
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 20, 2025
Couldn't get into this enough to keep going with this series
September 23, 2007
Ian Irvine you've done it again.
Once more you take us on an incredibly wonderful and ridiculously depressing adventure. I found myself helplessly turning the pages desperate to hear more about our doomstricken planet despite the tears running down my face.
Seriously though, could he write more depressing books? Its just tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. And it doesn't get better throughout the Human Rites trilogy.
Oh no.
No, it gets more and more depressing until you just throw the book away rather than let Irvine spite you by reading it.
When Gemma's husband dies, i was shocked at the lack of humanity in his writing. Jesus, talk about a horrible death; blood filling his eye. I don't consider myself squeamish but... eww.
dont get me wrong, its a great book. well written, interesting characters and a whole new world (not literally)to explore.
buy this book.
then read the next one.
skip the third its not worth it.
I'm gonna go ahead and give my review for the Terminator Gene right here as i can't find it on this site.
4/5
The best in the series and also the only one with a happy ending. The most thrilling and best of all no incredibly devasting deaths. Yay.
Once more you take us on an incredibly wonderful and ridiculously depressing adventure. I found myself helplessly turning the pages desperate to hear more about our doomstricken planet despite the tears running down my face.
Seriously though, could he write more depressing books? Its just tragedy after tragedy after tragedy. And it doesn't get better throughout the Human Rites trilogy.
Oh no.
No, it gets more and more depressing until you just throw the book away rather than let Irvine spite you by reading it.
When Gemma's husband dies, i was shocked at the lack of humanity in his writing. Jesus, talk about a horrible death; blood filling his eye. I don't consider myself squeamish but... eww.
dont get me wrong, its a great book. well written, interesting characters and a whole new world (not literally)to explore.
buy this book.
then read the next one.
skip the third its not worth it.
I'm gonna go ahead and give my review for the Terminator Gene right here as i can't find it on this site.
4/5
The best in the series and also the only one with a happy ending. The most thrilling and best of all no incredibly devasting deaths. Yay.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 27, 2011
I guess there's space in the bookshops now for a new genre of popular fiction, the eco-thriller. This one, set in 2010, is as pessimistic as they come with suicide greenies, greenie murder cults, gormless henchmen and corrupt business types.
Its interesting but not terribly well written. Huge parts of it are terribly contrived and the plot twists are pretty easy to see coming. But it's an enjoyable romp and I'll buy the sequels if I find them.
He has some ignorant views on carbon trading I must say, as a carbon industry person myself, but I guess it's like doctors reading medical thrillers. All in all he paints a very pessimistic view of the future tinged with some outstanding naiveté.
As some other reviewers have expressed, the main character is a bit unconvincing and really feels like a woman written by a man. You do grow to like her by the end though, without giving anything away.
Dave
Its interesting but not terribly well written. Huge parts of it are terribly contrived and the plot twists are pretty easy to see coming. But it's an enjoyable romp and I'll buy the sequels if I find them.
He has some ignorant views on carbon trading I must say, as a carbon industry person myself, but I guess it's like doctors reading medical thrillers. All in all he paints a very pessimistic view of the future tinged with some outstanding naiveté.
As some other reviewers have expressed, the main character is a bit unconvincing and really feels like a woman written by a man. You do grow to like her by the end though, without giving anything away.
Dave
November 25, 2016
I really liked this book, which was a bit of a surprise as this is not normally the kind of book I normally go for.
Based in a world that is ending a couple plan to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The husband (Ryn) gets a call from an old friend and invites him around for dinner. The friend (Hercus) is an eco terrorist with a plan to save the earth.
What happens next is a fast paced story about a battle between big business, those trying to save the earth and the government with the couple caught in the middle.
Although it was fast it did seem to slow down at the end. They could have finished it about 3/4 of the way through with a quick resolution but the last bit dragged on.
I would say that the author has really done his homework. While it is dated there is a lot of stuff predicted in here that has come to pass. Who is to say the rest will not happen?
Based in a world that is ending a couple plan to celebrate their wedding anniversary. The husband (Ryn) gets a call from an old friend and invites him around for dinner. The friend (Hercus) is an eco terrorist with a plan to save the earth.
What happens next is a fast paced story about a battle between big business, those trying to save the earth and the government with the couple caught in the middle.
Although it was fast it did seem to slow down at the end. They could have finished it about 3/4 of the way through with a quick resolution but the last bit dragged on.
I would say that the author has really done his homework. While it is dated there is a lot of stuff predicted in here that has come to pass. Who is to say the rest will not happen?
April 30, 2008
I haven't read any of his other books, he is a little too Scifi for my taste. But. This series is good. It has a global environmental bent to it. Very current, Very believable. It can be a bit difficult to follow thru all three books as it does spiral down into inevitable disaster. Just read this first one, its a good story in itself. And then decide if you want to go on.
February 12, 2012
For a book that really isn't my style (I don't seem to have the energy for thrillers), I enjoyed this. Jemma is a great heroine, and I found Irvine's suggestions about what might happen to the world under pressure from global warming very prescient. I'll be reading the next one.
June 8, 2014
This was the first book of Ian Irvi8ne's (no relation) that I ever read. It's an eco-thriller, and the first book in the trilogy. Irvine has written 29 novels to date, many of them in trilogy format in the fantasy genre. If you've not yet sampled his work then this is a great way to start.
April 12, 2007
ulf bamert is evil
November 8, 2012
Loved it. Very different to my normal fantasy preference. An action packed adventure in a near future global warmed Earth.
Whilst part of a trilogy it can stand alone.
Whilst part of a trilogy it can stand alone.
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