Skyseed

by Bill McGuire

Sometimes, when you're in a hole, it's best to stop digging. This applies as much to messing with the climate as anything else, except even more so.

Jane Haliwell put her head in her hands. To tell the truth, she was still in shock. All the samples she had taken from inside and around the lab contained the enigmatic spheres in huge numbers. She had only had a brief time to think about the implications, but she was pretty sure already what was going on.

For the first time in the history of the world, it was literally raining carbon. Long before it stopped, the guilty would pay, but so would the innocent...

Kindle Edition

Published September 6, 2020

About the author

Bill McGuire is an academic, broadcaster, activist and Amazon UK Top 100 popular science and speculative fiction writer. He is currently Professor Emeritus of Geophysical and Climate Hazards at University College London, a co-director of the New Weather Institute, a patron of Scientists for Global Responsibility, a member of the scientific advisory board of Scientists Warning and special scientific advisor to WordForest.org.

His books include: A Guide to the End of the World: Everything you Never Wanted to Know; Surviving Armageddon: Solutions for a Threatened Planet; and Seven Years to Save the Planet. His current non-fiction book is Waking the Giant: How a Changing Climate Triggers Earthquakes, Tsunamis and Volcanoes; ranked at number five in The Guardian's Top 10 'eco' books. His debut novel, Skyseed – an eco-thriller about climate engineering gone wrong – is published by The Book Guild.

Reviews

[Natalie all_books_great_and_small · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a gifted advance reader copy of this book to read in exchange for an honest review for a book tour hosted by Lovebookstours.

Sky Seed is a genre bending book set not too long from now. (2028).This book starts off as a thriller/mystery and ends as a dystopian novel.
This book echos worldwide events happening now such as brexit and covid19. Toss into the mix climate engineering (geoenginering) and this book went off with a bang!
The story in this novel is so utterly believable and these events scared me witless because of how realistic they were.
Skyseed begins in a world of proportionate economic decline after covid19 and global warming has gone haywire due to countries not taking it serious enough and taking action to slow it down or help reverse things.
We then meet Jane, Karl and Ralph. Although Karl is the main protagonist in this story we do read from Jane and Ralph's POV's too.
Jane discovers tiny carbon-shelled microbots coming from the sky after a volcanic eruption. Jane forwards on the paperwork to Karl to get a second opinion. But bigger forces are watching every move made and don't like that their discovery has been unearthed. Jane suffers a near fatal disaster these forces set up for her to silence her. Jane survives and Karl, completely unaware of what happened to Jane, is away on business and pleasure and returns to find her shocking discovery and news of what happened to her.
Ralph then gets brought into the mix and things completely take off from there as the small team prepare to not only expose what is happening around us but to also try and put a stop to it before the world is brought to an end.
This global catastrophic novel is so believable that it has you racing through the pages to fund out what will happen next and how will the future of mankind end.
Praise for Bill McGuire, he's done an utterly amazing job with this totally believable story!

[Satabdi · Rating 5 out of 5]

When a clandestine climate engineering effort to fix global warming goes horribly wrong, can the world unite to save itself from extinction? Prof. Bill McGuire's spine-chilling story, closely mirroring current world events and realistically predicting the near future, shook me up well and hard.

The knowledge that "geoengineering" or "climate engineering" is a real thing and scientists are conducting small-scale outdoor experiments to see if global temperatures can be brought down magnifies the impact of this book. It could really happen, you know!

Skyseed begins in 2028, some years after the coronavirus pandemic has ended, leaving Britain (and other countries) in an economic decline. Global warming has reached alarming proportions, yet many world leaders, especially the US President, indulge in political whataboutery and deny the existence of climate change. The UK, too, is not doing enough to cut back on carbon emissions. Does this sound familiar?

In the aftermath of a volcanic explosion, scientists around the world discover mysterious spherical particles in the ash samples taken from the air. Little do they know that powerful forces are willing to kill to keep the truth about these particles hidden.

What follows is a heart-stopping account of how people find out what those particles are, why they are in the stratosphere, and how big of a mess the planet has been plunged into.

There's no happy ending to this grim story, although the author has allowed us a sliver of hope on the last page.

Skyseed spans a total of 25-30 years, describes the consequences of meddling with the climate in a precise and clinical manner, and does not indulge in hysterics. The author shows rather than tells, and you can feel the impending sense of doom together with a frustrating helplessness over events beyond your control.

It's tragic and horrifying--more so because the way our real-life world leaders are behaving, something like Skyseed could very well come to pass.

(I received an e-ARC from Reedsy Discovery in exchange for an honest review.)

[Maressa Mortimer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Skyseed is a very interesting read about climate change on a grand scale. Sadly, by the time Jane, of one the main characters, warns the prime minister, it was already too late. The prime minister in 2035 was already involved with a technofix. The problem was, it wasn’t a fix. This was such a hard book to review because I want to share so much, this review would be riddled with spoilers!
Bill McGuire has done a brilliant job in showing the devastation caused by the technofix named Skyseed. The book spans several decades and makes for grim reading. Despite the technical side to the book, it has a cast of highly relatable characters. Ralph is probably my favourite, although I did like Karl. As Bill wrote ‘he’d probably still be an 18 year old inside his head’, I liked that! There are some detailed descriptions of skyseed, carbon emission and other chemical stuff that made my head go fuzzy, but it’s not the main part of the book. The book is very much about the people and their reaction.
There is quite a bit of action in Skyseed as well, some undercover work to find out what the technofix is, and why it is going wrong. All three main characters end up in danger, and my favourite bit is definitely the island bit (No spoilers allowed, I know, but it’s a brilliant bit, just saying…), and the way Bill describes personal scenes is great. I love the way the book is divided into parts, each in its own time zone, with the chapters set in different regions or cities. It’s all done in a very clear, organised way, and it combines characters, so you don’t feel you’re character hopping, something I loathe, haha. Bill is very detailed in describing the physical effect it has on the world, and I found that fascinating. The way he describes the effect on the Thames and the consequences were so interesting, I would never have thought of them.
Skyseed is a fast-paced read, and kept me up way past my bedtime because I needed to know what happened! It’s not an uplifting read, I must say, and that is maybe my one sad feeling about the book. I wonder if there will be a sequel, that would be so good… It’s a warning though, as I’m sure there will be scientists and governments out there, tempted to fix the climate change, and as Jane says, it could have devastating consequences. Which it had in Skyseed. I know, I promised no spoilers.

[Lynsey · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a harrowing, devastating and breathtaking look at our attitudes to climate change and the inevitability of nature reacting to our failures. I think since Covid I have started to look at dystopian novels like this differently than before. It all seems far too plausible and that is terrifying.

Jane and Karl are scientists who stumble across some samples that show that the planet is no longer raining carbon. Now, that might have once been a cause for celebration but no longer. What is the reason behind this revelation and it's a force of nature or human intervention? Bill answers all these questions and more. I was afraid that I was going to be overwhelmed with the science but it's all clearly explained and it doesn't feel as if it has been ‘dumbed down’.

There are three parts to this book - the first is action-packed with revelations happening all the way through. The remaining two parts are slower in pace but they are the ones which resonated more for me. The final chapter that features Jane made me cry. It was so eloquent and overwhelming. This is a hard look at climate change and it's a hard read but oh so worth it.

[Miriam Morgans · Rating 4 out of 5]

🌧𝕀𝕥'𝕤 𝕣𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕔𝕒𝕣𝕓𝕠𝕟!🌧

Sky Seed
By Bill Maguire

This cover really caught my eye and I don't normally go for sci-fi themed stories but this one had me interested from the get go!

When scientist Jane discovers carbon eating nanobots in our atmosphere after a volcanic eruption, the stability of the world as we know it is in jepody.

The samples and crucial information is top secret and when those involved start brutally being picked off one by one it's up to Jane, Karl and Ralph to set the record straight!

This novel moved through so many genres, thriller, sci-fi to dystopian.
It was written in such a way that it was very believable, with the mention of covid and the after effects of the pandemic the story is based in the not too distant future (2028) and ending in 2055 I was almost scared to read what the outcome of events were.

Definitely a must for sci-fi/environmental seekers!

🌧Interesting plot
🌧Strong characters
🌧Believable story
🌧Environmental issues
🌧Easy to read

⭐⭐⭐⭐ from me!🤓

[Amy (Amy_justonemorechapter) · Rating 4 out of 5]

There’s a lot of scientific vocabulary used in the book, the plot is linked to geoengineering however, the scientific element was so interesting, it was written really well it was easy to follow without being overwhelming. Added to the scientific element is possibly one of the biggest cover-ups the world has ever seen, anyone who discovered the secret is mysteriously silenced, until one isn’t, and she and a group of scientists go above and beyond to bring those to justice.
I really enjoyed reading this book, from the very beginning it widened my thoughts beyond my expectations. The story revolves around climate change and what could happen in the future, and what lengths people may go to, to prevent or alter these changes to their own and everyone else’s peril. It was as thrilling as it was terrifying.

Thank you to Love Book Tours for this gifted copy in exchange for an honest review.

[nicola mckenna · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fast paced and terrifying but in a good way.
Skyseed is about two scientists called Jane and Karl who have just found out that the world is not what we think it is and we need to do something to stop it changing. Skyseed is a book of two half’s, the first half thriller and fast paced. Second half is much slower passed but this doesn’t stop the plot from being absorbed, the author has done great work with the characters and plot.

[Diane Hallinen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good science storytelling about the dangers of geoengineering

Some interesting science and a good message about the dangers of geoengineering. Could have done without the final Requiem section of the book though.

[Ryan Mizzen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Skyseed is a fast-paced cli-fi eco-thriller about corrupt leaders who turn to geoengineering as a way of tackling the climate crisis, as well as those who risk everything to expose them. Please note that the following review contains spoilers.

The story follows a number of protagonists who get caught up in a US and UK government conspiracy to alter the composition of the climate through geoengineering. Jane Haliwell and Karl Slater are scientists who unwittingly discover that nanobots are being used to alter the climate by feeding on carbon. However, they have no idea who is behind the geoengineering attempt. It’s through the involvement of Captain Ralph Martinez, that they begin to unravel the extent of the plot by the US government and their UK counterparts (who are taking part in the nefarious scheme to try and get a trade deal from the US). The name of the geoengineering scheme gives the book its title.

The climate crisis is the driving force behind the events that transpire in the book. This is the reason why President Gort decides to use geoengineering, which is extremely controversial and highly advised against. If you’re in a hole, you generally need to stop digging in order to get out of it. In the same respect, we’ve altered the climate which is now causing climate disasters across the world. The way to get out of this mess is not to meddle with the climate further. Yet, some see geoengineering as a quick fix to our problems, with very little thought or understanding about the immense risks posed. As such McGuire has written a fantastic cli-fi thriller, which uses the power of storytelling to convey what is a very important message and one the world must desperately heed.

Skyseed is a book that I wish those investing in geoengineering would read in order to better understand the harms they risk bringing upon the world. The book also fills a niche void, with few novels or movies really addressing the topic.

My full review can be read on my blog here: www.ryanmizzen.com/skyseed-by-bill-mc...

[Dawn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I very much enjoyed reading "Skyseed". There's a great story, some shocking moments, plenty of action, and a huge warning for all of us. I liked Bill McGuire's style of writing and his way of threading a plot together. I would have liked to get to know the characters a little better, as it felt like they were a little bit flat. I'm looking forward to reading more of this author's work.

This review was written voluntarily and is entirely my own, unbiased, opinion. My thanks to lovebooksgroup lovebookstours

[Suzanne Sheffield · Rating 3 out of 5]

Don't mess with Mother Nature (Republicans)

A sad, but well-written sci-fi tale, about what happens when a global-warming-denying US Republican President tries to secretly reverse things, ends civilization as we know it, and ends up hanged.

It's basically another take on The Day After Tomorrow, but instead Republicans end the world.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

A terrifying vision of the future following a geo-engineering project to combat global warming that goes spectacularly into overdrive, plunging the earth into a new ice age.

[Tracy Thorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was definitely a book of two halves. The first half had very much the feel of a thriller. The opening chapter was intense and high impact and made you want to read on. It was fast paced and centred around three scientists discovering and trying to find out what some airborne anomalies were and what the implications to the planet would be. I did wonder if it would be too scientific for me but that wasn’t the case at all, the scientific explanations were easy to follow and I really liked the three main characters. Parts two and three had a totally different feel. It describes the possible aftermath of us messing with nature and the environment and was actually quite disturbing. It had quite an impact on me, I got quite emotional reading it and I wonder if that is more so because we’ve been living through a pandemic and realise that some things we can’t control. I found the last section quite hard to read, not because of the writing, it was really well written but because of the hopelessness and despair conveyed. It really made me appreciate and think about what we’ve got now and what could happen if we don’t look after our planet. I don’t think I’ve read such a thought provoking book in a long time and despite the stark message it contains I really enjoyed it.

[Felicity · Rating 3 out of 5]

The premise of the book really drew me in, I love the environment and the reality of a global disaster is real. The thought that governments and corporations could do something like this would be terrifying.

I really liked Jane as a character, although I didn't feel like the ending if the book really fitted her character it felt like an easy way out.

I did like the relationships between all the characters and would liked to have had more background on their relationships together weaved into the story.

Overall I did really enjoy the storyline.

[Marissa Slaven · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this novel! A must read for anyone who is thinking about the future. Scarily believable fiction that I could not put down.