by Kim Stanley Robinson, 2017
Book Review by Ray Herrmann
Told is a quite plausible story of life in New York city in the future. The ocean had risen 50 feet in two "pulses". The "First Pulse" came about 30 years from now when glaciers mostly in Antarctica slid into the ocean, raising the level about 10 feet. The world suffers damages equivalent to 50 Katrina's, but copes.
Decades later, a "Second Pulse" occurs when the now higher warmer ocean lifts and melts the glaciers that were caught on the Antarctic coastal mountains around that continent. Costal Cities drowned as the ocean levels rose another 40 feet. This damage was equivalent to 10,000 Katrina's.
The story is about people in New York struggling in this Venice-like city and about the schemes of the upper 1% who live comfortably apart and see this as a money-making venture.
Their story is told through the lives of characters that, by chance, come together to promote a new form of justice.
As are probably all his books, this story is both riveting and informative. It was hard to set down!