Termination Shock

I must own ten or more books by Neal Stevenson, from Snow Crash, to Cryptonomicon to Seven Eves. More on those later. Neal came to me by way of my oldest son. I was looking for something to read. He gave me Neal. I started buying. I started reading. I was hooked. They were big books, with big stories. I couldn’t put them down.

Now comes his latest. Termination Shock. It’s a big book but not in the same way as the others. It’s long for sure, but it’s a rather simple story about a rich guy trying to save the world from global warming. At first, I was a little put off when I finished the book. But then I realized it stuck with me. One reason being, I suppose, is that it’s mostly set in Texas and talks about how people manage to live in world gone heat mad. They were Earthsuits to protect themselves. There have been days this summer when I could have used one. It also talks about how people have taken to living in their RVs, moving from place to place, fleeing rising water, a warming world, and a host of other calamities. Given the number of RV parks dotting the landscape these days. I’d say that’s coming true.

Basically, this is a good book to read if you’d like the bejeezus scared out of you because you’re beginning to realize that maybe, just maybe the scientists actually got it right, and all these really hot days may be harbingers of other bad things to come. Or you’re despairing that governments will work together to solve the problem and think a rich guy might have to save us, in which case this book will give you hope. In either case, it’s a book worth reading.