Killing Juggernaut

by Jared Bernard

Ecologist Edward O. Wilson has famously stated that he doesn’t want to be pessimistic about the future of the world, but he can’t ignore scientific evidence. Ecologists are now predicting that up to half of life on Earth will go extinct by the end of the century based on current rates of extinction. In the late 21st century, the no-nonsense ecologist Zara Dimitrov can never understand or forgive her father, a director for a national park, for dying when she was in high school. So she runs away from home to begin a life of solitude while at the same time trying to carry on his legacy of conservation. Early in the 22nd century, eighteen-year-old Mashechka McGuigan lives in a suppressed society whose sole purpose is to fulfill the so-called Mission for Humanity, the monumental endeavor to evacuate ecologically-devastated Earth. And she absolutely must replace her father as the mission’s leader. As the time to do so draws near, her uncertainties are exposed when she discovers the dark truth about her mother. Approaching the mid-23rd century, a bitter scientist named Patrick Nelson, whose profession has vaporized, works to help as many people as possible survive famine and disease. Then he uncovers that the one key to survival is lost. How their lives are entwined will take the reader on an odyssey that includes the heart of Africa, the eastern seaboard of North America, the mountains of Eastern Europe, the wetlands of Australia, the agricultural expanses of Latin America, and the political turmoil of Southeast Asia. With an arsenal of scientific evidence and societal trends, Killing Juggernaut plunges the reader into the future to reveal the consequences of creating a world with virtually no basis for survival.

460 pages, Paperback

Published November 25, 2015

About the author

As a biological researcher, I have worked in many settings from arid grasslands to boreal and tropical forests, where I focus on the biodiversity and evolution of insects. My fiction has appeared in Amazing Stories, AcademFic, etc. and my non-fiction has appeared in The Conversation, Natural History, History Today, and American Forests among others. In my debut literary/science fiction novel, Killing Juggernaut, an ecologist fights to salvage disintegrating ecosystems at the end of the century.

Reviews

[Reader Views · Rating 5 out of 5]

KILLING JUGGERNAUT

Jared Bernard
BookBaby (2015)
ISBN: 9781682224045
Reviewed by Paige Lovitt for Reader Views (11/15)

Article first published as Book Review: ‘Killing Juggernaut’ by Jared Bernard on Blogcritics.

“Killing Juggernaut” by Jared Bernard begins at the end. Planet Earth is in dire straits. Entire species of plants and animal are wiped out worldwide. Lack of clean water leads to pandemics. Environmental degradation from overpopulation, farming, and industrialization is responsible for creating a severe global socio-economic crisis. Attempts at conservation have failed because of distrust of governmental control and greed.

The narrator of this story is an astronomer named Patrick. The tale begins at the end of the story with seventy-one year old Patrick as the last survivor on the planet. Having to watch as other survivors in different colonies died off from starvation, dehydration, and disease, he journeys to Africa, where human life began, in order to die. Patrick has written a journal to share the story of what happened to bring about the demise of humanity. He hopes that there are people out there somewhere that will find his journal and know the truth.

As an astronomer, Patrick spent 40 years trying to track the progress of the gigantic space ship Apeiron. It carried 32,000 people from Earth and headed for Pegasus, a planet with a biosphere 50 light years away. Apeiron launched in 2104 and was supposed to land in 2162, but no messages had been received from it for years. The anticipated return of Apeiron to shuttle more survivors to the new planet, was everyone’s last hope for survival. Using the remaining functioning antennas at the Array Operations Center in North America, Patrick discovers some messages that tell him the fate of the ship. In trying to figure out exactly what happened, he learns about the key people involved in the creation and the destruction of this ship.

Mission Commander Dr. Aidan McGuigan was behind the idea for this ship. He helped lead The Mission for Humanity, whose goal was to lessen the population of Earth by sending inhabitants to a new planet. Parents and their children were carefully selected for this mission. The children were to be future replacements for their parents when the ship finally reached the new planet, and were to be trained to coordinate the return of the shuttle. Things did not go quite as expected. In reviewing ship’s logs, Patrick discovers that the children began an uprising, which attacked the very aspects of the ship that were to help keep them alive. Whether it was lack of faith in the mission or depression from being contained in a closed environment for so long, things were not going as planned and the destructive acts led to more problems. The knowledge Patrick gained from what happened was eye opening, but unfortunately too late to be able to use it to save the planet.

As a reader, it made me feel sad to know that this could very well be the future of our planet. With the overuse of our natural resources and the destruction of the habitats of various species, I am disheartened to think that we are headed in this direction. I feel that “Killing Juggernaut” by Jared Bernard is important reading. Even though it is a fictional story, it is incredibly realistic. It is also really well written and the development of the characters keeps the novel from being buried in scientific and technical jargon. This novel is highly recommended reading.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

While all sci-fi and thriller readers will appreciate Killing Juggernaut, Jared Bernard's focus on three individuals who separately (and differently) react to the scientific premise that ecological destruction will bring about the end of humanity will especially delight fans of apocalyptic and environmental works.

Written from the perspective of an astronomer's reaction to impending disaster, his journey to the desert and his diary of events make for a gripping story.

The title Killing Juggernaut may portend a military novel or a thriller but in fact the story line begins with a scientist's desperate mission to understand the events that have led to humanity's downfall, and it is enhanced by two very different individuals' experiences and perspectives about the path of humanity's rocky road to ruin.

The scientist protagonist strives to 'keep his writing simple' for whomever might discover his saga, and so his scientific explanations are tempered by observations that clearly explain his discipline and perceptions without jargon or confusing technical explanations.

The story is narrated from these different perspectives and includes news reports, personal feelings towards these events and outcomes ("It seems as if witchcraft has befallen our society."), insights on the Mission for Humanity project, and other struggles for survival which makes for a gripping saga that is precise and revealing in its approach.

Killing Juggernaut reveals the killing forces at work on levels ranging from personal and environmental to social and political as it documents the end of humanity's long journey. There's even room for love in such a scenario: a surprise touch for a story filled with angst and special interest insights on impending disaster.

Revealing, engrossing, and hard to put down, Killing Juggernaut is just the ticket for sci-fi readers who want a pointed observational piece on the survival (or demise) of humanity.