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Reliance
Un’eruzione solare lascia la Terra priva di energia, ma è un inconveniente temporaneo o l’inizio di una spirale che finisce nell’anarchia?
Il professor Martin Monroe di Belfast conosce le risposte, ma una volta bollato come maniaco della cospirazione, fa fatica a convincere gli altri dell’imminente disastro. Il suo unico amico, Simon Wilson, che sta ancora affrontando la perdita di sua moglie, è l’unica persona disposta ad ascoltarlo.
L’agente per le comunicazioni governative, Lisa Keenan, combatte contro la burocrazia e la sua stessa mancanza di fiducia, per spargere la voce. Chiede l’aiuto di Martin, nonostante le proteste dei suoi colleghi.
Con una moglie e un bambino appena nato a cui pensare, l’ufficiale delle guardie carcerarie, Derek Henderson, deve scegliere il dovere rispetto alla famiglia e accettare le conseguenze delle sue decisioni.
La totale dipendenza del mondo dalla tecnologia e dall’elettricità che la alimenta porterà alla disgregazione irreversibile della società su scala globale?
Il professor Martin Monroe di Belfast conosce le risposte, ma una volta bollato come maniaco della cospirazione, fa fatica a convincere gli altri dell’imminente disastro. Il suo unico amico, Simon Wilson, che sta ancora affrontando la perdita di sua moglie, è l’unica persona disposta ad ascoltarlo.
L’agente per le comunicazioni governative, Lisa Keenan, combatte contro la burocrazia e la sua stessa mancanza di fiducia, per spargere la voce. Chiede l’aiuto di Martin, nonostante le proteste dei suoi colleghi.
Con una moglie e un bambino appena nato a cui pensare, l’ufficiale delle guardie carcerarie, Derek Henderson, deve scegliere il dovere rispetto alla famiglia e accettare le conseguenze delle sue decisioni.
La totale dipendenza del mondo dalla tecnologia e dall’elettricità che la alimenta porterà alla disgregazione irreversibile della società su scala globale?
368 pages, Paperback
Published November 1, 2020
1 person want to read
About the author
Paul McMurrough
13 books30 followersAuthor of the Powerless Earth Series, Paul was born and raised in Belfast, Ireland. Until the age of 15 he could barely read. Then, when introduced to Computing at school, he was finally able to make sense of the letter spaghetti on the pages of the text books.
He went on to get a degree in Computer Science followed by a career in Software and later in IT & Business Consulting.
You may know him from Game of Thrones, where he played "Back of Head from 100 yards" or in The Fall with Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson where he played "Elbow at the bar" - His acting career ended soon after.
He went on to get a degree in Computer Science followed by a career in Software and later in IT & Business Consulting.
You may know him from Game of Thrones, where he played "Back of Head from 100 yards" or in The Fall with Jamie Dornan and Gillian Anderson where he played "Elbow at the bar" - His acting career ended soon after.
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
July 7, 2023
A shocker this, and very much a book for our times. Paul McMurrough wrote it in 2020, but during the power problems of 2022 it couldn’t be much more relevant. If it’s become apparent now—duh—that relying on Mr Putin for major European electricity supply wasn’t the best idea ever, he’d be up the creek with the rest of us in this particular scenario.
The title is simple and to the point. What happens when a planet so heavily reliant on electrical power becomes powerless? McMurrough sets out to show us, and paints a deadly dystopic picture in so doing.
Time, 2020, more or less. Media focus, the shooting of President Trump. The real problem, a predicted solar flare, to be accompanied by a CME—Coronal Mass Ejection—the like of which has never been seen on such a scale before. It’s massive, and it’s on a collision course with the Earth. It’s also predicted to take out the power grid for the entire planet, so why isn’t anybody more worried about it?
Because the person making the prediction is Martin Monroe, a professor of Astro-physics unfairly discredited and ridiculed by the media over his view on the Hale-Bopp comet some years ago. His predictions are spot-on, however, and the community—apart from best friend Simon, government communications officer Lisa Keenan and prison officer Derek Henderson—is forced to learn this the hard way.
McMurrough’s narrative forces the reader to confront the reality of our over-heavy reliance on electricity. Communications are affected—because most phones are either battery-charged mobiles or electricity-powered hand-held devices. Petrol pumps are electric-powered, as are Cashpoints, so when the money runs out and vehicles run dry—we can forget paying by card, because—you get the point. Panic buying occurs, on a scale far exceeding that seen during lockdown, and storeholders—who can’t be paid by card—give away the food that will rot because the freezers are off. They can’t let one customer run up a debt for other goods without doing so for all though, and when people can’t get the supplies they need by legitimate means, looting begins. The system—our system—stands like a pack of cards, and when the power holding the whole thing up is pulled out from under it, like the proverbial rug—chaos and anarchy ensue, and people begin to die.
I can’t praise this text enough, or author Paul McMurrough, who sets it in his native Northern Ireland, thus introducing the factor of too few prison officers—many have elected to stay with their families, and who could blame them?—abandoning the prison, leaving the divided-on-sectarian-lines institution in the hands of the leaders of both factions to run, taking the weapons and locking-up the place behind them. There must be some ‘ordinary’ criminals amongst them though, some of whom have picked a lock or two in their time—I think you can see where I’m going with this.
It's a terrifying story, because it could happen, and then God help us all. The worst and best thing about it? There’s a second book, Control, which I’m off to download. Highly recommended.
The title is simple and to the point. What happens when a planet so heavily reliant on electrical power becomes powerless? McMurrough sets out to show us, and paints a deadly dystopic picture in so doing.
Time, 2020, more or less. Media focus, the shooting of President Trump. The real problem, a predicted solar flare, to be accompanied by a CME—Coronal Mass Ejection—the like of which has never been seen on such a scale before. It’s massive, and it’s on a collision course with the Earth. It’s also predicted to take out the power grid for the entire planet, so why isn’t anybody more worried about it?
Because the person making the prediction is Martin Monroe, a professor of Astro-physics unfairly discredited and ridiculed by the media over his view on the Hale-Bopp comet some years ago. His predictions are spot-on, however, and the community—apart from best friend Simon, government communications officer Lisa Keenan and prison officer Derek Henderson—is forced to learn this the hard way.
McMurrough’s narrative forces the reader to confront the reality of our over-heavy reliance on electricity. Communications are affected—because most phones are either battery-charged mobiles or electricity-powered hand-held devices. Petrol pumps are electric-powered, as are Cashpoints, so when the money runs out and vehicles run dry—we can forget paying by card, because—you get the point. Panic buying occurs, on a scale far exceeding that seen during lockdown, and storeholders—who can’t be paid by card—give away the food that will rot because the freezers are off. They can’t let one customer run up a debt for other goods without doing so for all though, and when people can’t get the supplies they need by legitimate means, looting begins. The system—our system—stands like a pack of cards, and when the power holding the whole thing up is pulled out from under it, like the proverbial rug—chaos and anarchy ensue, and people begin to die.
I can’t praise this text enough, or author Paul McMurrough, who sets it in his native Northern Ireland, thus introducing the factor of too few prison officers—many have elected to stay with their families, and who could blame them?—abandoning the prison, leaving the divided-on-sectarian-lines institution in the hands of the leaders of both factions to run, taking the weapons and locking-up the place behind them. There must be some ‘ordinary’ criminals amongst them though, some of whom have picked a lock or two in their time—I think you can see where I’m going with this.
It's a terrifying story, because it could happen, and then God help us all. The worst and best thing about it? There’s a second book, Control, which I’m off to download. Highly recommended.
Displaying 1 of 1 review