Entertaining but found it hard to suspend my sense of disbelief. ( )

Relentlessly grim. ( )

This is another offering in the grand tradition of British disaster novels. No triffids, Martian invaders or death of grass here, just lots and lots of water. The early scenes feature storms and record high tides, as parts of the eastern coast of England get swamped. This is definitely not fun to read while commuting on the Docklands Light Railway, in the East End of London, near the Thames barrier, as I was for the early chapters. The accepted explanation is global warming, but it slowly becomes clear that there is no connection between the melting poles and the ever escalating rise in sea level. Pretty much up until the end though, this self-deluding assumption is never challenged as people cannot accept what is happening.

The global catastrophe is seen through the eyes of a handful of core characters, who 'meet' as hostages of various extremist groups in a Spain disintegrating into political, religious and ethnic factions. There is a relic here of the Time's Tapestry series, as parts of the research for that series of novels pops up again to justify a fractured Spain.

The hostages' rescuer, Nathan Lammockson, a canny and ruthless tycoon, is perhaps the only person who mounts a continual struggle against calamity. There is plenty of research in this novel to explain the sea level rise, and illustrate how things start to fall apart, with little vignettes from all over the world. One of the main roles of the core set of characters is to be recipients of these dollops of knowledge, or to get involved in escapades which require context/background.

And from the research come plenty of memorable scenes in the novel. The destruction of motorways out of London to keep the homeless trapped in the metropolis. The Statue of Liberty sinking beneath the waves. The Pope being helicoptered out of a drowning Vatican. An ocean liner being built by Lammockson on an Andean peak, as a 'ark' of refuge to be floated later by rising waters. Big Ben seen through the windows of a deep sea vessel. Civilisation reduced to fleets of rafts and sargasso seas full of floating plastic rubbish. And Everest itself eventually going under the waves.

While the prose does not really rise to the challenge of the some of the scenes in this novel, the ideas are well-worked out and things are set up for a gripping sequel. ( )

creepily plausible, and very enjoyable. ( )

A rare treat, this - a proper global DISASTER story! And the author sets a cracking pace. Within the first hundred pages London then New York fall prey to spectacularly rising tides, and the rest of humanity is left fighting for the last of the Earth’s higher ground before much longer. Surprisingly, considering it’s where stories like this can fall down (especially Hollywood ones ;p) the characters give an affecting human perspective on the catastrophe without, ahem, annoying the hell out of the reader. Also, as you might expect if you know Mr Baxter’s books, it’s packed with awesome ideas and unforgettable moments. Brilliant. ( )