A review by athenas99
The Deluge by Stephen Markley

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was great! Really well-researched and it was clear a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into this novel. It was a true climate epic and the way Markley projects the most pressing technological and social trends of our time into the future was truly impressive and a little scary. I mean, by the end of the book, there’s a cult worshipping the AI God. But seriously, he takes on topics like VR, the panopticon / police state, political lobbying by Big Oil, and of course, climate change, and weaves it all together in a mostly seamless way. I do have some gripes about how Kate Morris was written (she’s something of the enlightened man’s edgy Manic Pixie Dream Girl), but those brief pages of her POV completely changed my perspective on her and endeared her to me. I wanted to see more of her voice, instead of seeing her through the eyes of other people (mostly her kind of lame long-term boyfriend). I also loved that Markley incorporated fake news articles and op-eds, in addition to balancing POV chapters that followed 6-ish characters from all walks of life. You’ll be glad you read it. You’ll certainly be a bit smarter. And I hope for all of our sakes that this book doesn’t prove to be prophetic.