Ill Wind

by Doug Beason and Kevin J. Anderson

Book Overview

It is the largest oil spill in history: a supertanker crashes into the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco Bay. Desperate to avert environmental damage (as well as the PR disaster), the multinational... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312857608
• ISBN13: 9780312857608
• Release Date: June 1995
• Publisher: Forge
• Length: 383 Pages
• Weight: 1.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Lighthearted look at the end of civilization.

Ill Wind is a good book that takes a good look at the "civilized" world's dependence on oil by showing what would happen when that oil is taken away. Disasters ensue. But this book is still lighthearted and plenty of fun because it shows how people can overcome seemingly impassable obstacles. It shows life beyond oil.

Sure it's formulaic but a great read anyway

This is eco-thriller, doomsday formulaic fiction at its best and a great escape. It's an interesting premise, fun to think "what if" and made me ponder the types of people who'd be valuable in a post apocalyptic society. While escapist, it doesn't insult your intelligence altho I thought the whole concert thing was dopey and wished they'd picked another activity the characters could rally around, something more useful in a society with extremely limited resources. I don't read much fiction but I have read this one several times. It'd make a great movie.

We expose our insecure spots...

This 1995 novel seemed to be an extremely logical followup to Michael Crichton's book "The Andromeda Strain" (1969). For starters, the story's pacing is up to the expectations of contemporary readers, in contrast to the aforementioned work. While "Dramatis Personae" listings sometimes raise a caution flag for me, the wide slate of characters helps provide a variety of backgrounds and perspectives of many real modern-day North Americans. While "The Andromeda Strain" essentially involves a space probe bringing back mutated bacteria to Earth, "Ill Wind" outlines what might happen if intentionally mutated microbes were released to digest an oil spill near San Francisco, California 4 to 5 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill in Prince William Sound, Alaska in 1989 -- and what happens when the bacteria get out of hand. I was halfway through the book before I read the back cover blurbs, and was quite surprised to find the pithy assertion from drummer Neil Peart of the Canadian rock group Rush that "_Ill Wind_ is compelling reading. A clever, believable, and adventurous epic." Anderson and Beason manage to weave the diverse characters' individual stories into a satisfying whole, with a hopeful ending. Be aware that there is occasional profanity, and both sexual activity and acts of violence are depicted, if you're offended by those things. Aside from that, the characters are real (even though a few aren't exactly likable), and "Ill Wind" gave me reason enough to look up other novels by the Anderson-Beason duo, not to mention their individual works.

Changed my outlook on life as we know it.

This book created a very real sense of how dependent society is on oil and plastic. It paints a plausible scenario of how life as we know it would cease to exist if oil and plastics ceased to exist. Having immersed myself in the book, I gained a deeper appreciation for all the products that we take for granted which all originate from petrochemicals. The book is very descriptive and well written, although I found the use of expletives a bit excessive. All and all, though, a very intense novel

Slow start then POW!!!!!

It has been a while since I read this, but my recommendation to an English teacher brought it to the forefront of my memory. The book starts with the conflict between the wayward sailor and the ship's captain which ultimately results in the oil spill. The story really begins with the spraying of the antipollution microbe which begins to destroy civilization as we know it by "eating" anything and everything that is petroleum based. The characters are believable, as is the setting; although, I had a problem with trout fishing in Arizona. The government plays an interesting role, especially through the General(?) who becomes a hindrance to the satellite solution to the energy generation problem. (Petroleum based products are no more.) I couldn't put it down