Climate of Change

March 15, 2010
Anthony's fifth Geodyssey novel (after 1999's Muse of Art
) covers approximately 100,000 years of human evolution, moving at the speed of the glaciers he frequently describes. In between lectures on the development of human bodies and culture, a small group of archetypes with names like Hero, Haven, and Harbinger act out scenarios that demonstrate Anthony's ideas. The result resembles nothing so much as a middle-school textbook with cheery characters attempting to make learning fun, except that these characters are deadly earnest. Anthony's thesis that much of our evolutionary history was caused by climate change is fascinating, but his fictional mouthpieces do little to improve his heavy-handed narration. Readers familiar with the brilliant nonfiction work in this field will find this “message novel” inferior in both scholarship and prose.

March 1, 2010
Anthony (Jumper Cable, 2009, etc.), best known for his popular Xanth fantasy novels, delivers the final volume in his historical-fiction Geodyssey series.

The author continues to tackle the story of the human race through the centuries—using a common set of characters with similar names and personalities. Here, characters named Hero, Crenelle, Rebel et al. deal with changes driven largely by natural forces, in a series of episodes set in vastly different places and eras. One of the more intriguing stories has a sci-fi bent, as we witness characters in Basque country in the year 2050, and the ways they deal with worldwide overpopulation and climate change. While Anthony's very long view of history remains an intriguing concept, this volume is hampered by many of the same flaws that plagued other Geodyssey books: stilted dialogue, an obsession with sex and didactic historical information-dumping combined with soap-boxing.

For diehard fans only.

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May 15, 2010
Tracing the fortunes of two families as their lines pass through history, Anthony continues his epic "Geodyssey" saga, which began with "Isle of Woman" and includes "Shame of Man, Hope of Earth", and "Muse of Art". Focusing on the theme of global climate change as instrumental in the development of human civilization and migration patterns, Anthony takes his characters through living conditions in the Rift Valley, 100,000 years in the past; the Beringian plateau of 20,000 years ago; the Yucatn in the 11th century C.E.; and many other times. Though graphic in many parts, particularly the descriptions of the sexual mores of various times, this fascinating look at one writer's vision of history should appeal to an audience beyond the author's already large reader base. VERDICT This ambitious undertaking bears Anthony's unmistakable stamp. Together with previous volumes, this is a masterly saga of human endeavor.

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