The Deluge
Books | Fiction / Literary
4.3
Stephen Markley
A New York Times Notable Book “This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.” —Stephen King From the bestselling author of Ohio, a masterful American epic charting a near future approaching collapse and a nascent but strengthening solidarity.In the first decades of the 21st century, the world is convulsing, its governments mired in gridlock while a patient but unrelenting ecological crisis looms. America is in upheaval, battered by violent weather and extreme politics. In California in 2013, Tony Pietrus, a scientist studying deposits of undersea methane, receives a death threat. His fate will become bound to a stunning cast of characters—a broken drug addict, a star advertising strategist, a neurodivergent mathematician, a cunning eco-terrorist, an actor turned religious zealot, and a brazen young activist named Kate Morris, who, in the mountains of Wyoming, begins a project that will alter the course of the decades to come. From the Gulf Coast to Los Angeles, the Midwest to Washington, DC, their intertwined odysseys unfold against a stark backdrop of accelerating chaos as they summon courage, galvanize a nation, fall to their own fear, and find wild hope in the face of staggering odds. As their stories hurtle toward a spectacular climax, each faces a reckoning: what will they sacrifice to salvage humanity’s last chance at a future? A singular achievement, The Deluge is a once-in-a-generation novel that meets the moment as few works of art ever have.
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More Details:
Author
Stephen Markley
Pages
880
Publisher
Simon and Schuster
Published Date
2023-01-10
ISBN
1982123095 9781982123093
Community ReviewsSee all
"I absolutely loved this book despite how scary and horrible the subject matter was. It felt like Markley is a time traveler from 2040 who came back in time to publish a book that would give us hope (and a little bit of fear) for the darkness ahead. The book follows 6 main characters closely over a period of 20+ years as they navigate the challenges of the future. As time progresses, the seemingly unrelated people, begin to intersect with one another's lives in subtle and dramatic ways. The in depth look into each of their lives and the different writing styles used for various characters draws you into their lives in intense ways. I found myself not wanting to say goodbye to characters even though I knew my time with them was done. I thought this would be a standard issue cli-fi doomsday book but ended up thinking of this story as a master work of literary fiction with a bunch of science, politics and doom. In the end, the book leaves you with hope. Hope in humanity, the promise of a better future and belief that individuals can make a difference in the world.<br/>Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with the opportunity to read this book early. This book is set to be released on January 10th 2023."
"4.5 stars. I think this book might be brilliant and will probably stand the test of time. It was incredibly well researched and showed an all too probable future for the planet. It is especially accurate about the political system and how nothing will ever get accomplished because everyone in politics thinks of their own self interests instead of the interests of the world. It is a little depressing, and I had to take a break from it right around the 50% mark because I was too invested and freaking myself out a little. It is extremely long (close to 1000 pages), but in the end, I can say it actually ended a little hopeful, so it isn't entirely depressing. I will be thinking about this book for a long time."