America City by Chris Beckett
America, one century on: a warmer climate is causing vast movements of people. Droughts, floods and hurricanes force entire populations to simply abandon their homes. Tensions are mounting between north and south, and some northern states are threatening to close their borders against homeless fellow-Americans from the south. Against this backdrop, an ambitious young British-born publicist, Holly Peacock, meets a new client, the charismatic Senator Slaymaker, a politician whose sole mission is to keep America together, reconfiguring the entire country in order to meet the challenge of the new climate realities as a single, united nation. When he runs for President, Holly becomes his right hand woman, doing battle on the whisperstream, where stories are everything and truth counts for little. But can they bring America together—or have they set the country on a new, but equally devastating, path?
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About the Author
Chris Beckett is a British social worker, university lecturer, and science fiction author.
Beckett was educated at the Dragon School in Oxford and Bryanston School in Dorset, England. He holds a BSc (Honours) in Psychology from the University of Bristol (1977), a CQSW from the University of Wales (1981), a Diploma in Advanced Social Work from Goldsmiths College, University of London (1977), and an MA in English Studies from Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge (2005).
He has been a senior lecturer in social work at APU since 2000. He was a social worker for eight years and the manager of a children and families social work team for ten years. Beckett has authored or co-authored several textbooks and scholarly articles on social work.
Beckett began writing SF short stories in 2005. His first SF novel, The Holy Machine, was published in 2007. He published his second novel in 2009, Marcher, based on a short story of the same name.
Paul Di Filippo reviewed The Holy Machine for Asimov’s, calling it “One of the most accomplished novel debuts to attract my attention in some time…” Michael Levy of Strange Horizons called it “a beautifully written and deeply thoughtful tale about a would-be scientific utopia that has been bent sadly out of shape by both external and internal pressures.” Tony Ballantyne wrote in Interzone: “Let’s waste no time: this book is incredible.”
His latest novel, Dark Eden, was hailed by Stuart Kelly of The Guardian as “a superior piece of the theologically nuanced science fiction”.
Dark Eden was shortlisted for the 2012 BSFA Award for Best Novel.
On 27 March 2013 it was announced that Julian Pavia at Broadway Books, part of the Crown Publishing Group, had acquired the US rights to Dark Eden and Gela’s Ring from Michael Carlisle at Inkwell Management and Vanessa Kerr, Rights Director at Grove Atlantic in London, for a high five-figure sum (in US dollars).
Beckett comments on his official website: “Although I always wanted to be a writer, I did not deliberately set out to be a science fiction writer in particular. My stories are usually about my own life, things I see happening around me and things I struggle to make sense of. But, for some reason, they always end up being science fiction. I like the freedom it gives me to invent things and play with ideas. (If you going to make up the characters, why not make up the world as well?) It’s what works for me.”
My Review
4 Stars
One hundred years into the future America is a different country. Climate change has hurricanes slamming into our coasts and turning the southwest into a giant dust bowl. People are desperate for a place to live and start moving to the northern states. But those states don’t want them and threaten to shut borders down. As tensions increase a politician called Slaymaker runs for president on the grounds of reconfiguring America.
Although set in our future this book has a taste of what we live with today. But I have to say that part that got me was the media and campaigning tools. It’s sad in today’s world to see how stories get spins put on them to appeal to one person’s beliefs. This is a sad example of where that could go.
I don’t always like to read books that are so heavy in regards to politics with today’s reactions. I went into this book with an open mind and found it an interesting take on world events. It has several points that make you think of different possibilities. It’s definitely an interesting read.
I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.
I would like to thank Independent Publishers Group and the Author for the opportunity to read and share this book.
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