Supervolcano: Eruption
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3.3 • 50 Ratings
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- $8.99
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- $8.99
Publisher Description
The New York Times bestselling author and "maven of alternate history" (San Diego Union-Tribune) presents a near- future thriller.
A supervolcanic eruption in Yellowstone Park sends lava and mud flowing toward populated areas, and clouds of ash drifting across the country. The fallout destroys crops and livestock, clogs machinery, and makes cities uninhabitable. Those who survive find themselves caught in an apocalyptic catastrophe in which humanity has no choice but to rise from the ashes and recreate the world...
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Better known for his leisurely, lengthy alternate history series (Days of Infamy; The War That Came Early), Turtledove tries his hand at disaster carnography, but a promising premise is disappointingly squandered on a male-centric revenge fantasy with a soap-opera plot. A chance encounter in Yellowstone Park brings divorced cop Colin Ferguson a second chance at love and also the knowledge that the Yellowstone caldera, one of Earth's few supervolcanoes, may be about to erupt. When the inevitable Plinian paroxysm comes, Colin's friends and family are scattered across the U.S., ideally placed for a story of treks and tragedies. Inexplicably, the plot loses momentum at this point. The deaths of millions take place offstage, the foregrounded economic effects are more inconveniences than apocalypses, and Turtledove pays more attention to developing humiliating fates for Colin's promiscuous daughter and faithless ex-wife than to putting a human face on the epic, world-altering disaster.
Customer Reviews
Huh?
I read this book hoping for more than I received. It feels like Turtledove wanted to write a book about an exploding super-volcano and decided to wrap a few poorly fleshed out characters around it. To me, the characters felt like afterthoughts in the story, the volcano was central. Unfortunately Turtledove spends a lot of time with the characters having them do rather mundane things, with problems and issues that never seem to resolve themselves. Indeed, the only character I really emotionally connected to was "Pickles" the cat.
Now, ignoring the characters in a world changing cataclysm like an exploding super-volcano can be forgiven if we have a broader view of what's gong on, perhaps more author narration of the impact on global climate or the sociological impacts of the destruction. Turtledove barely bothers us with this however. We get snippets delivered through the characters from time to time but it's just that, a snippet, a hint of something going on in the wider world but it's rarely explored further than a mere tease.
All in all this was a disappointment. This felt detached, more interested on the nature than the people. Yet the portions concerning the explosion and it's effects felt rushed, if that's what you want to write about, tell us more. I wish I could recommend this but I don't think it will please anyone, whatever angle they approach the topic from.
Skip This One
I have enjoyed many of Harry’s books and bought this one with anticipation of a good ride. I was very dissapointed.
The characters seemed one dimensional and there was little to no (interesting) conflict with them. Much of what went on in the story was how they’re coping with life after the eruption - which in the long run was what we do when we face catastrohpe and that’s just keep plugging away.
I kept waiting for something to happen that was interesting. It just never materialized.