James Bradley (2) (1967–)

This was a heavy read for bedtime. I was expecting more time spent in the ocean learning about its creatures, you know the world of creatures IN the ocean. Instead I got all the people of the world and how we have seriously messed up our planet by being IN the ocean. We have used the ocean for evil— transporting humans across oceans and enslaving them—and for a little good—like surfing. But mainly it's all bad.

We've killed species, we've trawled the ocean floor disrupting ecosystems show more we know little about, we're causing rising ocean temperatures and melting ice sheets so quickly that entire islands are being wiped out—islands where people have lived for hundreds (thousands?!) of years. One may argue that it would happen anyway, that the planet has an ebb and flow of climactic changes as seen through various ice ages and warmer periods, and sure, that IS true, but HUMANS DONE *$^@#ED UP.

Those changes are happening far faster than they would in a normal planetary climate cycle. So fast that plants and animals don't have time to adapt (or evolve) to this new warmer world. And thus instead of feeling even a little bit of hope, I mainly feel lost. I mean, there's little chance the krill will thrive when they have no ice to hang out under as krill-children. And if the krill go, so go the whales and penguins and seabirds (and LOADS of other creatures). There's just so much loss.

This is what happens when I only glance at a description and choose a book solely based on a pretty cover, an interesting title, and vibes. An important read that informs and educates but also really brings you down—so be ready to learn, to be held accountable as settler-colonialists, and to dive deep into the world in the ocean. show less

I don't even know where to start, honestly. I was tempted to just review this with a 'yeah, nah.' Instead:

* Early on there are rolling summer power outages. In one instance the power goes off at midnight, and in the morning the character says 'all the food will be spoiled.' This is literally not true, and terrible research, which isn't promising for a novel based on research. How did the editor not catch this? As someone who has lived through rolling power outages, our first google search show more was 'how long does food last in a closed fridge during a power outage?' Hot tip, 80% of their food wasn't spoiled. The characters then repeatedly throw out their food after every outage and buy it new again. The privilege is insane.

* Cremains are not fine dust that feel as though they are barely heavier than air. A cursory google search confirms they are like coarse sand, and heavier than you think. This could have been a symbolic choice, but in a book of badly researched knowledge (sans climate change), it just feels like...bad research.

* Mystical 'mysterious' ex-doctor Bangladeshi beekeeper only exists to give one character hope.

* The amount of privilege depicted is genuinely incredible.

* Every woman character is detached, aloof or cut off from her emotions or only feels rage or dislike generally, and seems to be damned by her children (or lack thereof). The same can be said for Ellie, Summer and Maddie. Less so Lijuan. Whenever a man becomes detached or aloof, it's always implied or described to be the woman's fault, even though one man responds by literally *going to Antarctica* and yet...still...blaming his wife...for their distance. The latent misogyny embedded in the text is so present it's inescapable. Women are only really hopeful in momentary bursts. Men are usually the ones carrying the 'true emotions.' Whether it's Noah, or Adam, or Tom. Young girls seem to be allowed to have 'real emotions' too. For a while. But then everyone will wonder whether the girl will hurt herself because of them.

* The only overtly queer character in the novel is an underage teenager who pressures another teenage character to make out in front of a camera set up and then shames her when she doesn't, oh and also gives her drugs. Not...ideal representation at the best of times. Nothing else to balance this out.

* The ending is rushed. Suddenly there are aliens? But wait, 15 pages later the book is over! And everyone is staring up at the Shimmer, and there's hope, for no reason! None of the characters introduced in the last section are remotely believable, engaging or likeable. They have a poor excuse at futuristic names except for Izzie. They're not compelling, and what they have to add to the story contributes nothing.

Anyway, I could go on, but basically this felt like extremely easy to read garbage. I feel like I can kind of tell what this book was trying to do, but with no interesting characters to really hook into, and the author's willingness to slowly kill off most of his cast because of the dull plodding of time, there was no real reason to hook into future characters either (I don't always mind this technique, it's been done to great effect by authors like Anne Marie MacDonald, Jeffrey Eugenides and Arundhati Roy). The majority of storylines are never resolved, and are left open-ended in a way that feels lazy rather than creative or well thought out. show less

(Spoilers Abound. Beware!)

This was a frustrating book for me.

Climate Change is a hard issue to tackle in a novel, and most authors get it only partly right, mostly due to it being an incredibly complicated and tangled set of issues that affect every aspect of our daily lives. Authors, generally, manage to think through two or three strands really well, and then let the rest of the world go on operating mostly as-is, which makes no sense.

In Clade, extreme weather is grappled with very show more effectively and convincingly, and some aspects of larger impacts such as changes to daily temperatures and the disintegration of glaciers. Some parts, such as runaway genetically engineered species meant to mitigate some of climate change's harms, were a nice touch.

But the broader implications of how this would affect society as a whole are largely not touched on or considered at all. One gets the impression that after a set of catastrophic storms that take place over the next fifty years or so, climate change is largely over and we get back to normal. This is ridiculous. Storms are going to keep coming and getting worse for at least the next few centuries, and that's just storms.

Who is growing the food?
Who is picking it? Distributing it?
How is it being stored?
How is anything growing, in a changed climate subject to all of these storms and temperature increases?
Who the hell is spending their careers developing virtual reality technologies while society is crumbling around them?
And then who is financing these projects?
Who is mining, processing and transporting the minerals?
Are they still using fossil fuels? If so, god, WHY? If not, what are they using?
The characters are constantly flying all over the place. What in god's name are the airplane's fueling with?
What is the power source for all the technology that is constantly being referenced?

So that's one set of frustrations.

The other set is that climate change is apparently not enough of an existential threat for him.

About two-thirds of the book is about climate change. Then, having run out of steam on ice caps and monsoons, he brings in a plague, aliens, and magnetic pole reversal.

Why?

Finally, his underlying theme seems to be that human life will still be worth living (because we'll have fancy technology and great parties on newly formed beaches?), so don't worry so much.

We hardly need, as a species, to be encouraged not to fear climate change, since we're apparently so determined already not to let it bother us that in the 150 years or so we've known of the possibility and the decades in which it's been scientifically known as an existential threat we've done almost nothing. People will go on having babies, yes, and many of those babies will have wonderful lives, yes, but is that really the overall point that needs to be made at this juncture in our history? show less

Gabriel Swift is a student of anatomy in London during the 1820s, dependent on the goodwill of his guardian. He is a likeable character at first, appearing considerate and kind, yet with an unfortunate tendency to submit to other men’s stronger wills. By accident he becomes complicit in the shady dealings of the body snatchers who supply the anatomists with a ready stream of corpses on which they can practise their craft. Through a series of events Gabriel sinks deeper and deeper into the show more dark London underworld, gradually abandoning his humanity in favour of easy money.

There is no denying that James Bradley paints a very dark picture of London towards the end of the Georgian era, and very atmospheric it is too. His prose often is a joy to read, and with his protagonist Gabriel Swift he has given the reader someone who is very eloquent and examines his feelings frequently, taking us into his confidence. Gradually a more unpleasant side to his character is revealed, as he becomes more and more involved in the dark dealings of the body snatchers himself. His situation created ambivalent feelings in me because I couldn't help feeling a certain empathy towards him, but I also often felt like shouting at him to shake him out of his passivity. It is painful and infuriating in equal measures to watch as he slips ever further away from a previously upheld morality, allowing the lure of easy money to become the thought foremost in his mind when it is presented to him, forsaking his humanity in the bargain; in the most unpleasant passages the novel recalls the notorious deeds of Burke and Hare in Edinburgh. Even to himself he shies away from admitting what he has done, only ever calling it ‘the thing’. When eventually his past seems to catch up with him, and he is shunned by everyone in the colony, I only felt that he was receiving his just deserts, and could not feel sorry for him. At the very end he talks about being remade, yet personally I can’t see it: at no point does he express remorse for the crimes he has committed, and, no matter where he goes, I feel his secret will always follow him. With his actions, Gabriel has broken the most basic moral code there is, and there will be no redemption for him. show less