|
Updated Sunday 15 May, 2011 12:18 PM |
|
|
Join Writer Development Section Writer Development Member Section
This Day in Alternate History Blog
|
Ill Wind - Kevin J. Anderson and Doug Beason Stories about the breakdown of modern society seem to
becoming popular, ranging from Dies the Fire,
though Age of Misrule/The Dark Age, to the futuristic fantasy of the Council
Wars. Ill Wind is one of
the older books, but still remains a good read.
There are a few plausibility problems, but it is saved by a good cast of
characters and decent villains. The basic plot is simple.
Following a massive oil-spill in the San Francisco Bay, scientists,
hoping to avert an ecological disaster, release an untested virus which feeds on
oil and petroleum based molecules. Unfortunately
for the world, the scientist who invented the virus switches the safe version to
one that spreads out of control. The
virus not only consumes the oil spill, but also manages to survive much longer
than suspected and begins to attack all petroleum-based products along the west
coast. Soon the virus spreads
worldwide. With the US President
out of the country, and the VP killed in a virus related plane crash, panic
consumes the nation. The virus set
the country and the world's technology back several hundred years. Ill Wind
offers a good look at how a government might slowly lose control of its country.
It is more understated than the total disaster of Dies the Fire, but
features a dictatorial general and…unstable President.
That, sadly, is one of the main implausible parts – while the national
government may be weakened, the state governments should be able to remain in
control. American generals do not
attempt to dictate to state governments. The book’s only serious problem
is that it has the virus spreading almost instantly over the world.
Nonsense – it won’t spread that far so fast.
Given its effects, there is a fair chance that it would be restricted to
the Americas only. Creating a
suddenly ultra-weak America would lead to a power vacuum and perhaps some parts
of the world launching a nuclear strike on America.
Other than that, it’s a pretty good read.
|
