Frostlands

Feffer expands the urgent environmental warnings of Splinterlands in a slim, standalone sequel that’s equally dire and sinister but more leisurely paced. The world of 2051 is marked by mass extinctions, crop failures, and melting ice caps. From the Arcadia farming commune in Vermont, 80-year-old Rachel Leopold is fending off drone attacks from CRISPR International, a devious genetic engineering corporation. If her research into regenerating the melting permafrost to slow down global warming is successful, the elites will be less likely to purchase CRISPR’s pricey longevity treatments. Rachel contacts Emmanuel Puig, the biographer of her ex-husband, Julian (narrator of the dystopian Splinterlands). Puig suggests she reach out to her children—jaded Aurora in Brussels and wealthy Gordon in Ningxia—for cryptic clues to infiltrating CRISPR’s headquarters. Rachel’s other son, Benjamin, a former guerilla fighter turned hacker, is deep underground targeting CRISPR. As CRISPR seems to know Rachel’s every move, she suspects a mole within Arcadia. Devotees of near-future science fiction adventures will root for resolute and energetic Rachel on her quest to save Earth. (Nov.)