Flood is a poignant science fiction novel by Stephen Baker that has been critically acclaimed worldwide. This novel tells us the story of four hostages who have come back to their own homes after being held captive in Barcelona. Stuck together during their captive days, these refugees promised to stick by each other no matter what happens in the real world. But these refugees are shocked when they come back to a world slowly getting submerged in rapid waves.
Stephen Baker paints a terrifying and chilling picture of how much things can change in the blink of an eye with his descriptions in the novel of how easily countries can disappear within no time due to massive flooding. The world that is constantly moving ahead at a fast pace suddenly comes to a shocking stop when people realise that their lives are in grave danger as massive floods are raging all around them.
It is a tale of survival of the human race where people have to keep trying to find higher ground whilst many countries and their inhabitants are wiped out right in front of them.
Baker has brilliantly put together a novel that talks about the consequences of climate change and what a disastrous impact it could have on humankind. He is calling us to make changes now before we also face a similar fate like the people in the novel.
In this day and age where people are becoming too involved in themselves and not looking at the impact on the environment, this kind of novel is needed to make people realise the consequences of their actions. People need to be aware of how environmental change can impact them and others as well.
This novel also shows how humanity can turn on each other in the wake of destruction and thus shows us the ugly side of humanity. This kind of disaster can be averted if people work with each other and create changes rather than fighting against one another to survive.
If you are interested in knowing more about this novel and its theme, you can check out Stephen Baxter’s website. He describes in detail what the novel is all about and its background in an essay on this website that will help you understand his point of view when he was writing the novel.
Baxter also wrote a sequel to this brilliant sci-fi novel which has also been widely praised and renowned like the first one. It is called Ark and describes how the inhabitants of a city worked together to build an ark as the floodwaters rose worldwide at dangerous speeds.
This Ark will take these people into outer space to build a new home for them and create a new reality in space for newer generations. But the Ark also undergoes several challenges and unknown circumstances as it moves ahead in its journey. This is also a good read, and you should buy both the books to enjoy a good spell of science fiction reading.
