Official Review: The Plot to Cool the Planet
Posted: 03 Feb 2021, 18:00
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Plot to Cool the Planet" by Samuel Bleicher.]
Climate change is a controversial issue, particularly right now. It’s clear that our planet’s weather is changing, affecting the greater climate as it goes, but there’s a lot of debate as to what to do to stop that. It’s also the subject of a lot of sub-genres of science fiction, resulting in its own category: climate fiction.
Samuel Bleicher’s The Plot to Cool the Planet falls under that umbrella, earning itself 3 out of 4 stars for its detailed plot that centralises the human aspect of this issue.
The novel, ostensibly a murder mystery that belies a larger plot to change the course of global warming, focuses on the actions of a group of countries to protect the earth from rising temperatures and abnormal weather patterns. With the murder of Dr. Ilsa Hartquist, the diplomats of four countries find themselves immersed in subterfuge and clandestine dealings, all in an effort to save the world through geoengineering.
Unfortunately, I can’t be more precise in my summary. This is because much of the book is wrapped up in the precise methods used to combat the current climate crisis. As such, the book is extremely detailed, and you can tell that the author did his research with how exacting his approach to climate control is. I liked this because it made the entire book seem feasible, particularly the bits that took place in the U.N.
I also really liked the human element of the book. While a lot of it was taken up by both scientific and diplomatic procedures and negotiations, it still felt like I was reading about real people. The representative from Singapore, Wang Shu, for example, felt like a real woman with her own desires and needs that had to be met. Her counterparts from Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago, Doyal and Panday, were also of interest to me. Their doubts and misgivings about the entire project lent it a sense of urgency that was otherwise missing from the book.
Speaking of which, that was one of two things I didn’t like. The pacing of the book was quite inconsistent. As I mentioned before, Bleicher included a lot of detail about the scientific and diplomatic procedures involved in the book’s plot, but it had an adverse effect on the pacing. These details tended to slow the book in places where the action was being set up, while the room it left in other areas of the narrative caused it to move too quickly. As such, I was left feeling like I was constantly too far ahead while I read.
In addition to this, I didn’t particularly care for the way the murder mystery was handled. It was too quick and too short of a mystery, rendered subservient to the larger storyline about climate change. While Hartquist’s murder had a large impact on the novel, its solution left little to none on the greater events surrounding it. Instead, it felt like an afterthought, something written to pass the time rather than anything that had any real effect on the story.
It’s for this reason that I can’t give the book a full rating. While I really liked the book and think that science fiction and political thriller lovers will like it as well, these two flaws stood out enough to knock it down by one star. Still, I think it is worth the read, as it gives us all something to think about.
Happy reading, everyone!
******
The Plot to Cool the Planet
View: on Bookshelves
Climate change is a controversial issue, particularly right now. It’s clear that our planet’s weather is changing, affecting the greater climate as it goes, but there’s a lot of debate as to what to do to stop that. It’s also the subject of a lot of sub-genres of science fiction, resulting in its own category: climate fiction.
Samuel Bleicher’s The Plot to Cool the Planet falls under that umbrella, earning itself 3 out of 4 stars for its detailed plot that centralises the human aspect of this issue.
The novel, ostensibly a murder mystery that belies a larger plot to change the course of global warming, focuses on the actions of a group of countries to protect the earth from rising temperatures and abnormal weather patterns. With the murder of Dr. Ilsa Hartquist, the diplomats of four countries find themselves immersed in subterfuge and clandestine dealings, all in an effort to save the world through geoengineering.
Unfortunately, I can’t be more precise in my summary. This is because much of the book is wrapped up in the precise methods used to combat the current climate crisis. As such, the book is extremely detailed, and you can tell that the author did his research with how exacting his approach to climate control is. I liked this because it made the entire book seem feasible, particularly the bits that took place in the U.N.
I also really liked the human element of the book. While a lot of it was taken up by both scientific and diplomatic procedures and negotiations, it still felt like I was reading about real people. The representative from Singapore, Wang Shu, for example, felt like a real woman with her own desires and needs that had to be met. Her counterparts from Mauritius and Trinidad and Tobago, Doyal and Panday, were also of interest to me. Their doubts and misgivings about the entire project lent it a sense of urgency that was otherwise missing from the book.
Speaking of which, that was one of two things I didn’t like. The pacing of the book was quite inconsistent. As I mentioned before, Bleicher included a lot of detail about the scientific and diplomatic procedures involved in the book’s plot, but it had an adverse effect on the pacing. These details tended to slow the book in places where the action was being set up, while the room it left in other areas of the narrative caused it to move too quickly. As such, I was left feeling like I was constantly too far ahead while I read.
In addition to this, I didn’t particularly care for the way the murder mystery was handled. It was too quick and too short of a mystery, rendered subservient to the larger storyline about climate change. While Hartquist’s murder had a large impact on the novel, its solution left little to none on the greater events surrounding it. Instead, it felt like an afterthought, something written to pass the time rather than anything that had any real effect on the story.
It’s for this reason that I can’t give the book a full rating. While I really liked the book and think that science fiction and political thriller lovers will like it as well, these two flaws stood out enough to knock it down by one star. Still, I think it is worth the read, as it gives us all something to think about.
Happy reading, everyone!
******
The Plot to Cool the Planet
View: on Bookshelves
