afterlight

AFTERLIGHT


“Afterlight” by Alex Scarrow was a pretty darn good post-apocalypse book. If you define that as being so good you will reread it in a few years time after you’ve forgotten most of the details, plus you don’t want it to end as you are reading it. Even after almost 600 pages, I was disappointed there wasn’t more. Oh, we could nitpick about this or that, but in general this was a very good book for its genre. Some of the subplots might have almost made you grimace just a smidge, but overall it seemed rather realistic. And none of the characters were cardboard cutouts. I’m not going to tell you what happens in detail, not wishing to ruin it for you, so you just get to go with the basic jacket cover description. The wife from his other peak oil book, Last Light, eventually moves to an abandoned oil rig a few miles off the coast and uses it as a castle of sorts. It isn’t depicted as a tree hugging, Gaia worshipping Birkenstock wearing “we all lived happily ever after” fantasy, either. It was exactly as you would expect. Constantly wet and cold, the only protein coming from fish chowder every damn day, every drop of fresh rainwater going to container plants put on every horizontal service ( and even then, the occasional need to sail to shore to get more water ), mucking about in the human and chicken crap for fertilizer, the constant infighting amongst the population ( which, of course, is not at all helped by the pathological fear of all men between the ages of puberty to past middle age the leader has, so mostly it is all female population, in my book the worst nightmare you can envision, akin to having a clucking herd of vindictive back stabbing bored would be plotting short people with Napoleon complexes surrounding you- sorry, gals, but any same gender group left alone too long degenerates into their own worst enemy by their excesses ).

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The oil rig was in a way necessary. Leader Mom didn’t feel like staying around on land and getting repeatedly raped and the crops stolen from any and all passing group of marauders. At first you would think that the simple solution to this would be traditional, having your own big and bad males hanging around to fight them off. However, this illustrates the problem we will all face during the collapse. With pre-collapse weapons still in good supply for the invaders, and your weapons nonexistent ( remember, this takes place in Great Britain, that shining beacon of asshatness where the very few are allowed to prey on the very many so that the privileged few need have no worries of armed insurrection after their failed empire can no longer feed everyone- even without peak oil, England isn’t a very jolly old place one hour after any disaster ever since the Corn Laws were repealed and almost total food importation became the norm ), you must run and hide. I think American survivalists forget how difficult it is for most other groups of civilians to defend themselves.

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Now, while the enemy leader ( all fiction simply must have a protagonist ) isn’t just depicted as a empty evil dude, incapable of feelings and only power hungry, he is given a bit of short shift. I would have liked to have read more on him, but what we do get is satisfying enough. In short, he was the guy that made the tough decisions. Which he was of course vilified for, by everyone. A bit unfair, as he had one amount of resources at hand but was expected to provide far more. A wonderful example, highlighting 99.9% of today’s population. They are totally incapable of recognizing resource scarcity. Even the words have no meaning for them. It is like a foreign phrase. But here is one middle age teacher, one who actually thinks about the history he taught rather than just drones on from a textbook like most teachers do, not unsurprising since teaching is usually government mandated babysitting, the student unmotivated to learn subjects having no application to the real world, the teacher quickly learning that retirement is the only reward out of the whole mess, and he recognizes the harsh truth. You can’t feed people with lies or wishes. He closes the doors to the emergency shelter when it isn’t close to capacity. And he divides the population up into workers, willing or not, and law enforcement. The caste or class system of old. Because it works. When you have a fertile patch of land, and everyone needs to farm to eat, there isn’t some sloppy happy Yeoman Farmer fantasy where everyone is allowed the spoils of there own labor. Instead, 90% become serfs and the other ten percent either build weapons or defense infrastructure or fight. Yes, government is a protection racket. You are jailed or killed if you don’t tithe. But it also protects you against invaders who would steal your food. Of course there is graft and undeserved luxury for the king, but by forcing you to toil for him, he is also protecting you whether you wish it or not. Philosophically it might not be very satisfying, but reality rarely is.

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Anyway, a satisfying read, a recommended book. Much food for thought, even though at times there might be the occasional “hey, didn’t that happen in a zombie film?” moment. Okay, on to another author. Jack Higgins. Another Best Seller List hack. Yes, he has the occasional lively read. But most of his work is pure pandering to the common denominator. Luckily for me, the last three books of his I tried were from the library, so I didn’t lose any money. What utter crap he is churning out. Straight from the mainstream media headlines, the standard claptrap about the just and benevolent government mercilessly harassed and maligned by those big bad evil Muslim terrorist dudes. Listen, I don’t condone killing innocents, but the terrorists aren’t the only ones to do it. How many Iraqi civilians did we kill by bombing water treatment plants? Tens of thousands, at least. More than any terrorist ever did ( and, while we are at it, let’s be frank [ okay, but don’t call me Frank ]- if terrorists are real and not Intelligence Service financed/directed, why don’t they ever hit an unprotected and EFFECTIVE target such as natural gas pipelines? The several pumps supplying water to millions in the parched desert of LA is a nice soft target ). The government is not automatically good and just. Alas, Jack Higgins readers are most likely moving their lips as they struggle along without any illustrations, so you can’t confuse them with thoughts too difficult. My minions, who I insult and badger unmercifully, are expected by myself to use their brains, not turn them off. That is the cardinal sin, not thinking for yourself. If I’m forced to badger you and point out your faults to get your brain jumpstarted, I’ll happily do it. Your flesh is weak, that is understandable. Under constant chemical assault. Your only defense is to exercise your brain to get it in shape and so then it will have a fighting chance to battle against the hormones. Logic isn’t on an on/off switch. You have to work at it. My loyal minions seem to have the ability, all others are directed elsewhere. Happy conflicted mental angst, everyone!

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