This Fragile Earth by Susannah Wise

[gilda_elise]

Not long from now, in a recognizable yet changed London, Signy and Matthew lead a dull, difficult life. They’ve only really stayed together for the sake of their six year old son, Jed. But they’re surviving, just about. Until the day the technology that runs their world stops working. Unable to use their phones, pay for anything, even open the smart door to their flat, Matthew assumes that this is just a momentary glitch in the computers that now run the world.

But then the electricity and gas are cut off. Even the water stops running. And the pollination drones – vital to the world, ever since the bees all died – are behaving oddly. People are going missing. Soldiers are on the streets. London is no longer safe.

A shocking incident sends Signy and Jed on the run, desperate to flee London and escape to the small village where Signy grew up. Determined to protect her son, Signy will do almost anything to survive as the world falls apart around them. But she has no idea what is waiting for them outside the city.


I wish I could have given this book a higher rating, but there was too many times when the plot was disjointed, jumping from one time to another, as if the narrator, Signy, had no real idea as to what was going on. She makes the oddest choices, and doesn’t learn from her mistakes. I mean, how many times can you be surprised by people out to do you harm?

Worse, is the techno-jargon she and her six year old son speak to each other. He’s supposed to be a genius, but often he doesn’t speak at all like a six-year old would. Worse, is that it all turns out to be for nothing. I’m not sure what the writer was trying to get across.

The idea is a good one; I like post-apocalyptic stories. But I think it was handled clumsily here. There were good parts, but far too many bad ones.








Read a Book about Families - This Fragile Earth by Susannah Wise

Comments

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

I'm sorry this turned out to be somewhat disappointing for you :-(

The scary thing is, given the so-called 'smart' world that seems to be taking over all around me (not in my home I hasten to add) I find the premise somewhat scarily easy to believe.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

You're not alone. Lots of people, from Bill Gates to Stephen Hawking fear the rise of AI. Hawking said “The development of full artificial intelligence could spell the end of the human race. It would take off on its own, and re-design itself at an ever-increasing rate” So, yeah, there might be something there to fear. 😟

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

For me, it's not so much AI taking over and spelling the end of the human race. But more a case of the 'smart' world suddenly failing en masse and millions of people around the world ending up living in a house where they can't do anything — partly because everything has failed, but also because they simply don't know how to do anything because they are used to so much being done for them.

I see all these adverts for things like smart doorbells, smart fridges, smart kettles, smart this, smart that 'control everything from your phone' and do wonder what would happen if they all suddenly stopped working. Or even on a more basic level, what happens if your phone gets stolen or destroyed beyond repair? What do many people do then?

That said, Hawking has a point.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Yes, I've wondered about that, too, mainly wondering why people need to have something do things for them that are really simple. Like brushing your teeth. Apparently, there's a toothbrush out there that connects to the internet!

I think it's a mistake to make people so dependent on tech. For both reasons.

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

I would think a lot of us smart-non-smart folk wonder it. Some things I can understand and there are some gadgets that help people in specific ways and allow them to do things they couldn't do otherwise. But yes, why most people want all these smart things (all of which can be hacked or give all kinds of personal information out) in their home.

There's a toothbrush that connects to the internet? Why? I hadn't come across that one.

I agree with totally.

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Yup, here it is (https://oralb.com/en-us/products/electric-toothbrushes/io-series-9-electric-toothbrush/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=Smart+Shopping-High_DTC_3&utm_term=PRODUCT_GROUP&gclid=Cj0KCQiAqbyNBhC2ARIsALDwAsBoHpcdqJPKJIiWu4mvrqF9v31sr9r3OQzuswx1HNCYibI9eth7cE0aAuOFEALw_wcB&gclsrc=aw.ds).

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Thank you.

The mind really boggles!

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

Doesn't it, though? You wonder about people who can't even brush their teeth without help. Not to mention all those things that we just did, like make a grocery list, or look something up on our own, rather than ask a machine.

[nakeisha.livejournal.com]

Well quite *sighs*

I know; it is becoming a very, very scary world *shudders*

[gilda-elise.livejournal.com]

It is, indeed. 😟