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The Heatstroke Line: A Cli-Fi Novel

by Edward L. Rubin

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"The Heatstroke Line" is a novel that shows what climate change will do to the United States. It is intended as a warning. Many Americans are willing to deny the reality of climate change because they think that it will only affect tropical countries and oceanic islands that are far away from us. The Heatstroke Line depicts a United States that with its coastal cities flooded and its remaining land sweltering under debilitating heat. It has broken into smaller units that are in conflict with each other and it is dominated by more northerly nations, such as Canada, that now have temperate climates. There are already a number of "cli-fi" novels that deal with global warming. But most of these belong within the category of post-apocalyptic science fiction. They use a disaster - nuclear war, epidemic or ecological disaster - to wipe away the complexities or modern civilization and tell an adventure story. The Heatstroke Line is different. It shows an imaginable future, not very distant from the present, when there are still modern houses, cars, governments, schools and political conflicts. The purpose is to bring home to Americans the devastating effects that climate change might have on our nation. "The Heatstroke Line" is a real story - relatively short, filled with action and written in simple, easy to read prose. It does not preach and it does not try to advance scientific arguments. Its goal is to make the consequences of climate change real and immediate. It is intended to motivate people who believe that climate change is real to take action, and to induce those who deny climate change to re-think their position. WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: "Edward Rubin has temporarily exchanged his academic cap for a novelist's hat and has written a powerful cli-fi novel set in the near future. "He knows that "Mad Max," "The Hunger Games," "Waterworld," "The Walking Dead," and innumerable other books, movies and TV series attract large audiences by portraying a future where society has been devastated by war, disease, environmental calamity or supernatural disaster. Such post-apocalyptic tales constitute an important and widely-popular genre. "As a novelist, Rubin wants to place his own cli-fi footprint in the sands of time and hopes that his book will serve as a kind of warning flare for readers now and in the future." -- Dan Bloom, The Cli-Fi Report… (more)
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Dr. Daniel Danten is an entomologist in Mountain America. In the future, climate change has hit hard and most of what was once the United States is now far too warm for humans to live and thrive in; they are below the heatstroke line. Countries in the northern latitudes, such as Canada, are now in power are. Dan studies one of the bugs that has become a major problem below the heatstroke line, biter bugs- giant insects that have evolved a taste for animal flesh, including humans. Until recently, Dan has been happy at his job that supports his wife, a food inspector, and three children. Now, Dan feels the need to do some serious research into controlling the biter bugs instead of simply studying their evolution. When he asks the government about this line of research, Dan is surprised at how quickly they agree. However, when Dan is scheduled to travel to the Confederacies for his research, tragedy strikes. Dan and his colleagues are kidnapped for his knowledge of the biter bugs and Dan is forced to work on an alternate plan for the biter bugs in order to help the Confederacies.

I have always been interested in books that deal with the very real and present issue of climate change. The Heatstroke Line takes on this issue headfirst. The world that Rubin has built after the climate has changed is realistic and interesting. I was intrigued to explore the new world where the USA was no longer a world power due to wars over temperate and arable land; however humans persisted, maybe not in as high numbers, but persisted. Among other important changes in the way people live, food production, cooling, and the change in landscape after the climate warmed, the evolution of insects was one of the main issues, and a dangerous one. As an environmental scientist, this peaked my interest since human interaction with insects will definitely be an issue with climate change. I enjoyed reading about Dr. Danten's studies and plans for the biter bugs; however, there was a lot of science, research and entomology included, which might be heavy for some readers. The excitement did ramp up when Dan was kidnapped, conspiracy, political intrigue and survival were paired with the contrast of Dan's residence with a family in the Confederacies where he begins to care for their daughters. Overall, a very interesting and science driven look at a possible future if our habits do not change.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review. ( )
  Mishker | Feb 26, 2017 |
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"The Heatstroke Line" is a novel that shows what climate change will do to the United States. It is intended as a warning. Many Americans are willing to deny the reality of climate change because they think that it will only affect tropical countries and oceanic islands that are far away from us. The Heatstroke Line depicts a United States that with its coastal cities flooded and its remaining land sweltering under debilitating heat. It has broken into smaller units that are in conflict with each other and it is dominated by more northerly nations, such as Canada, that now have temperate climates. There are already a number of "cli-fi" novels that deal with global warming. But most of these belong within the category of post-apocalyptic science fiction. They use a disaster - nuclear war, epidemic or ecological disaster - to wipe away the complexities or modern civilization and tell an adventure story. The Heatstroke Line is different. It shows an imaginable future, not very distant from the present, when there are still modern houses, cars, governments, schools and political conflicts. The purpose is to bring home to Americans the devastating effects that climate change might have on our nation. "The Heatstroke Line" is a real story - relatively short, filled with action and written in simple, easy to read prose. It does not preach and it does not try to advance scientific arguments. Its goal is to make the consequences of climate change real and immediate. It is intended to motivate people who believe that climate change is real to take action, and to induce those who deny climate change to re-think their position. WHAT OTHERS ARE SAYING: "Edward Rubin has temporarily exchanged his academic cap for a novelist's hat and has written a powerful cli-fi novel set in the near future. "He knows that "Mad Max," "The Hunger Games," "Waterworld," "The Walking Dead," and innumerable other books, movies and TV series attract large audiences by portraying a future where society has been devastated by war, disease, environmental calamity or supernatural disaster. Such post-apocalyptic tales constitute an important and widely-popular genre. "As a novelist, Rubin wants to place his own cli-fi footprint in the sands of time and hopes that his book will serve as a kind of warning flare for readers now and in the future." -- Dan Bloom, The Cli-Fi Report

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Edward L. Rubin is a LibraryThing Author, an author who lists their personal library on LibraryThing.

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