Book Review: Sky Seed by Bill McGuire — Climate Engineering Gone Wrong!
My first book of 2021 has made such an impact on me that I’ve decided to talk about it on Medium.
Skyseed by Bill McGuire is a speculative fiction that revolves around the theme of a clandestine geoengineering or climate engineering experiment that goes horribly wrong and sets humanity on the path of almost-certain extinction.
I say “almost-certain” because the author allows us a tiny ray of hope at the end, suggesting that scientists may be able to find a way out of the hole they have dug themselves in.
Apart from the scary plot, what I found most horrifying was that climate engineering is a real thing.
I found articles as recent as 2019 describing small-scale geoengineering experiments that attempt to address the issue of global warming. These experiments either try to soak up carbon from the atmosphere to reduce the greenhouse gas effect or pump sulfur into it, causing the heat to be reflected back into space.
Skyseed is a horror story, more so because there are so many parallels to real life. World leaders denying the fact of climate change and global warming, doing little to nothing to cut back on carbon emissions. It’s just more talk and committees, but very little by way of concrete action.
Skyseed begins in 2028, some years after the coronavirus pandemic has ended, leaving Britain (and other countries) in an economic decline.
Global warming has reached alarming proportions, yet many world leaders, especially the US President, indulge in political whataboutery and deny the existence of climate change.
It is heartbreaking to read about the starvation, war, and total breakdown of civil society in the face of climate breakdown.
Skyseed spans a total of 25–30 years, describes the consequences of meddling with the climate in a precise and clinical manner, and does not indulge in hysterics.
It’s tragic and horrifying–more so because the way our real-life world leaders are behaving, something like Skyseed could very well come to pass.
You’ll find this review and more on my book review blog, Book Reviews by Satabdi.
If you’d like to take a look, here are some links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/55538239-skyseed
Amazon India: https://www.amazon.in/Skyseed-Bill-McGuire/dp/1913208885
Amazon.com: https://www.amazon.com/Skyseed-Bill-McGuire-ebook/dp/B08HM842WD
Bill McGuire’s website: http://billmcguire.co.uk/
