Fifty Degrees Below

Starred review from September 12, 2005
Earth continues its relentless plunge toward environmental collapse in Robinson's well-done if intensely didactic follow-up to Forty Signs of Rain
(2004). As a result of global warming, the Gulf Stream has stalled, and when winter comes, impossibly frigid temperatures hit the Eastern Seaboard and Western Europe. As people starve, multinational corporations explore ways of making a profit from the disaster. When Antarctica's ice shelves collapse, low-lying island nations quite literally slip beneath the rising waters. In Washington, D.C., clear-sighted scientists must overcome government inertia and stupidity to put into effect policies that may begin to salvage the situation. An enormous fleet of ships is dispatched to the North Atlantic to dump millions of tons of salt into the ocean in the hope of restarting the Gulf Stream. This ecological disaster tale is guaranteed to anger political and economic conservatives of every stripe, but it provides perhaps the most realistic portrayal ever created of the environmental changes that are already occurring on our planet. It should be required reading for anyone concerned about our world's future. Agent, Ralph M. Vicinanza.

October 15, 2005
The second installment in sf writer Robinson's environmental trilogy (after "Forty Signs of Rain") focuses on idealistic Frank Vanderwal, a fortysomething sociobiologist working for the National Science Foundation (NSF) in Washington, DC. The NSF -with global warming provoking extreme weather episodes and abrupt climate changes (the first novel depicted a devastating flood; this one features extreme cold spells) -has become a leading force for ecological change and climate experimentation. And so we follow Vanderwal as he helps determine science funding at his job, lives in a tree in the now mostly ruined National Zoo, develops a romantic relationship with a mysterious woman who works for one of several sinister government surveillance agencies, and interacts with a variety of other people, many of whom appeared in the first novel. While Robinson's subject matter is interesting, the incremental nature of global climate change also accounts for the novel's weaknesses. Much of the well-researched scientific exposition emerges at inherently nondramatic NSF bureaucratic meetings; the plot lacks the dramatic impact of, say, an alien invasion. Still, this book -and the trilogy as a whole -may offer a welcome antidote to Michael Crichton's recent anti -global warming novel, "State of Fear". Recommended for all public libraries and for academic libraries where interest warrants. [See Prepub Alert, "LJ" 7/05.]" -Roger A. Berger, Everett Community Coll., WA"

Copyright 2005 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 1, 2006
Adult/High School -Picking up where "Forty Signs of Rain" (Bantam, 2004) leaves off, this second book in a planned trilogy finds Earth about to experience the most intense winter on record. Governments worldwide blithely go about their routines in spite of the monumental recent flooding in Washington, DC, and other areas around the globe. When the record-setting cold sets in, people begin freezing to death and starving due to crop failures. Large corporations and world governments use the crisis to attempt to rig elections and plan other agendas to tighten their hold on the public. Meanwhile scientists, especially those at the National Science Foundation, frantically search for a way to shift the weather patterns. The answer seems to be to jump-start the Gulf Stream to get it flowing again; the world watches as millions of tons of salt pour from ships into the ocean in this attempt. While the major plot of ecological chaos plays out, the subplots show how the effects of the weather changes, ecological turmoil, and governmental and big business assaults affect the various characters as they try to survive. This well-researched and expertly written novel about a future that might be coming true all too soon will hopefully serve as a wake-up call about Earth -s current serious situation." -Pam Johnson, Fairfax County Public Library, VA"

Copyright 2006 School Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.