The 2084 Report

Geologist Powell (Four Revolutions in the Earth Sciences) debuts with an alarming, somber vision of catastrophic climate change over the course of the 21st century in this speculative oral history. In 2084, an unnamed historian collects accounts from people from all over the world about the massive changes to the climate and the geopolitical fallout of scarce resources and rising sea levels. In addition to devastating natural disasters, there’s been a nuclear war between India and Pakistan and the genocidal eradication of Uighurs in China after their sabotage of dams, and other calamities such as athletes dying of heatstroke at the Australian Open in 2028 and the toppling of the Statue of Liberty in a storm that overtook New York City in 2042. Powell also takes a chilling look at xenophobic U.S. politics and the rise of fascism, when, in 2032, a president representing the America First party expels all citizens with Mexican heritage. A decade later, the U.S. invades Canada. While repetitive descriptions of snow melt followed by flooding and drought start to wear on the reader, Powell lays out an intriguing level of detail about the cascading effects of climate change. Fans of climate apocalypse fiction will be chilled by this convincing work. Agent: John Thornton, the Spieler Agency. (Sept.)