As a geologist, as a concerned citizen, as a parent of 2 young
children, I’m horrified by the (lack of) actions of my country regarding global
warming. It’s happening, it’s real – it’s a problem that society needs to deal
with. And as much of an issue as it is, it’s surprising how little it’s been
explored in fiction, particularly near-future science fiction. Arctic Rising by Tobias Buckell (BookDepository, Powell’s Books, Indiebound) does just this in an intelligent, fun
and action-packed fashion. It is near-future science fiction, it is a
techno-thriller where the world has warmed, the seas have risen, the Northwest
Passage is ice-free, and money and power are not far behind.
The thawing of the arctic seas has opened the lands and waters to
economic exploitation. Lands once buried in ice are rich in minerals. The seas
have some of the last remaining oil and gas in a world past peak oil. The
rising power and influence of the ‘Arctic Tiger’ nations has a global shift in
power in an increasing unstable world and new a melting pot of opportunity. And
a ‘green corporation’ has risen as the most powerful corporation on earth with
a goal of reversing the climate trend, a goal at odds with economic boom of
polar waters.
Anika is a young UN pilot patrolling the polar waters. She and her
partner find a positive reading for radiation on a passing ship. Their airship
is shot down with a surface-to-air missile. Anika survives only to find herself
at the center of a conspiracy quickly spiraling out of control.
Thrillers are generally good, fun reading, but not necessarily a
place to expect the best writing. The writing is usually adequate, but it’s the
story and the action that dominate. In Arctic
Rising the story is action-packed with compelling characters and it’s got
quality writing. This is a smart thriller – Buckell has done his research. And
for a book that set in a time reacting to the consequences of global warming,
it’s not the didactic global warming research you may think of. The United
States military has done lots of contingency planning based on what could
happen in the future due to global warming – Buckell takes these studies and
uses them to create a convincing story through the eyes of middling UN pilot of
a new socio-economic order of nations and corporations battling it out in the
arctic. There are spies, there are mercenary soldiers, there is a criminal
underworld. There’s torture, redemption, hopelessness, nano-technologic wonders
and an errant nuclear bomb.
All of this is told from the viewpoint of Anika, an unlikely
character to be at the heart of a thriller. Buckell could have stuck to the
tried and true protagonist – a white American guy from the coast, or even a
nice white American girl from the Midwest. Instead, Buckell looks to his own
mixed routes as an immigrant from the Caribbean and chooses a female
protragonist who is from Nigeria. The perspective of Anika as someone from the
developing world and her interactions with an independent spy, Roo, from the
Caribbean are a fascinating touch. The lingering effects of colonialism are
present, the distrust of the big developed nations and their corporations is
palatable and the repeated jabs to the presentation of international espionage
from James Bond are hilariously sharp.
Equally refreshing is the inevitable love story subplot. As the
story progresses, Anika develops a potential relationship with an underworld
boss. Only as cliché as this could be, Buckell throws expectations a curve ball
with Anika being a lesbian. The story could have easily been told with a
traditional man-woman love story, but instead it’s a same-sex romance. And the
best part – it’s just there. This isn’t some big statement and it doesn’t
control some critical part of the thriller plot. The romance just happens to be
same-sex, and it’s presented as being as normal as apple pie. I look forward to
the day that such a romance is normal enough to not merit mention in a review
like this.
And Anika is wonderfully strong protagonist. She’s tough and
vulnerable. She’s conflicted about her feelings for Vy and what she owes a criminal
boss who has seemingly selflessly helped her so much. She has an interesting
past as a pilot and was even something of a child soldier. She’s a victim and a
survivor. But she doesn’t lay down and take it, and she doesn’t rely on a
rescuer – to the best of her ability she stands up to take as much control of
the situation as possible.
OK, this is my soapbox paragraph, so if you’re not interested in how
I see this sort of novel as important to getting the message out to the public
about the reality of global warming, just move along to the next paragraph and
be thankful that even though Buckell writes about a world changed due to global
warming, he never actually gets on a soapbox (though plenty of interesting statements
populate the novel). Arctic Rising is
just the sort of fun, intelligent fiction that needs to permeate through pop
culture to help educate society on the reality and potential of global warming.
When people see enough of it, they will slowly come to accept it’s real and
something needs to be done. We see the shift in climate, we see the last refuge
of the polar bear and we hear the regret of the loss of a hometown to rising
seas. And I love that ‘the other side’ that Buckell presents is the very real
truth that there will be at least some economic opportunity that results from
global warming (access to new minerals and other natural resources). That and
the big bad environmental corporation and its vision of saving the world. This is
the sort of alternative view that should be shown, rather than climate denialsts,
which to me is like giving equal time to those that believe the earth is flat.
Tobias Buckell has written an intelligent, fun and even poignant
thriller in Arctic Rising. It’s set
around a likely future that should warn us of the consequences of global
warming, yet most of its focus is on the new opportunities that arise and the
Bond-like escapades of Anika as she tries to figure out who shot her out of the
sky and why. This is what a thriller can be and I highly recommend it.
