Review: Flood - Stephen Baxter

Flood - Stephen Baxter
Pages: 488

Four hostages are rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona. After five years of being held captive together, they make a vow to always watch out for one another. But they never expected this. The world they have returned to has been transformed by water and the water is rising. As it continues to flow from the earths mantle, entire countries disappear. High ground becomes a precious commodity. And finally, the dreadful truth is revealed: before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run... -monstersandcritics.com

This book completely fits the apocalyptic theme. It is literally about the end of the world. I saw it in the library one day and thought it sounded interesting, but it was far better than I expected.

The part mentioned above about the four characters being hostages for five years really makes it sound like the book will spend a lot of time with them in captivity, but it really doesn't. They're rescued at the end of chapter one, and their experiences together from the five years imprisoned together slowly come out as the book progresses. I liked how by chapter two one could already tell that something was wrong, and things got more interesting from there.

One of the things I found a bit hard to keep track of was the time jumps. I could read three or four chapters, and all of a sudden the book shifts to two or three years in the future. It was interesting seeing how the oceans gradually covered the planet, and there were transitions, but this book was different from what I'm used to. I did like that it took place over several years, though.

The characters in Flood were very interesting. They are all very distinct, and yet they almost blend together through various relationships. The development of the four hostages and their families is very well done. One really gets to know Lily, Piers, Gary, and Helen through the course of the book, save whomever dies (I won't spoil it for you...). I thought that Stephen Baxter was very blunt when he killed off a character. There was no pointless beating around the bush, he just came straight out and told you that someone was dead.

On a sort of closing note, the points where the flooding is up close and personal is very descriptive. I don't know about you guys, but I love being able to picture it exactly, the water rushing in and forcing it's way into peoples lives. The storms and tsunamis are very vivid, and I enjoyed that.

Overall, this book is about the world coming to an end, ecosystems and governments collapsing as the water rises. It is a very apocalyptic book, and those of you who don't like end-of-the-world scenarios might not enjoy. Stephen Baxter is a new author to me, but so far he's very promising...

Rating: 8.5/10


Until next time,

Harry