Malcolm J. Wardlaw

"A Vivid Glimpse of a Possible Future: Powerful hurricanes dominate Earth’s weather in 2099 as global temperatures soar. The Hurricane Code follows North American climate refugees seeking escape from storms unimaginable by today’s standards. The old saying, “Everybody talks about the weather, but nobody does anything about it,’ is turned on its head in an age of Quantum computers where Artificial Intelligence runs governments. Will Homo sapiens go extinct, or will our technology eventually save us? This story, a blend of Science and Climate fiction, explores the destiny of humans and all creatures on the planet through the lives of ordinary people and wealthy oligarchs."

"Lazlo Ratesic is 54, a 19-year veteran of the Speculative Service, from a family of law enforcement and in a strange alternate society that values law and truth above all else. This is how Laz must, by law, introduce himself, lest he fail to disclose his true purpose or nature, and by doing so, be guilty of a lie.

Laz is a resident of The Golden State, a nation resembling California, where like-minded Americans retreated after the erosion of truth and the spread of lies made public life, and governance, increasingly impossible. There, surrounded by the high walls of compulsory truth-telling, knowingly contradicting the truth--the Objectively So--is the greatest possible crime. Stopping those crimes, punishing them, is Laz's job. In its service, he is one of the few individuals permitted to harbor untruths--to "speculate" on what might have happened in the commission of a crime.

But the Golden State is far less a paradise than its name might suggest. To monitor, verify, and enforce the Objectively So requires a veritable panopticon of surveillance, recording, and record-keeping. And when those in control of the truth twist it for nefarious means, the Speculators may be the only ones with the power to fight back."

"Centuries in the future, Terrans have established a logging colony & military base named "New Tahiti" on a tree-covered planet whose small, green-furred, big-eyed inhabitants have a culture centered on lucid dreaming. Terran greed spirals around native innocence & wisdom, overturning the ancient society.

Humans have learned interstellar travel from the Hainish (the origin-planet of all humanoid races, including Athsheans). Various planets have been expanding independently, but during the novel it's learned that the League of All Worlds has been formed. News arrives via an ansible, a new discovery. Previously they had been cut off, 27 light years from home.

The story occurs after The Dispossessed, where both the ansible & the League of Worlds are unrealised. Also well before Planet of Exile, where human settlers have learned to coexist. The 24th century has been suggested.

Terran colonists take over the planet locals call Athshe, meaning "forest," rather than "dirt," like their home planet Terra. They follow the 19th century model of colonization: felling trees, planting farms, digging mines & enslaving indigenous peoples. The natives are unequipped to comprehend this. They're a subsistence race who rely on the forests & have no cultural precedent for tyranny, slavery or war. The invaders take their land without resistance until one fatal act sets rebellion in motion & changes the people of both worlds forever. "

"The Chung-Li virus has devastated Asia, wiping out the rice crop and leaving riots and mass starvation in its wake. The rest of the world looks on with concern, though safe in the expectation that a counter-virus will be developed any day. Then Chung-Li mutates and spreads. Wheat, barley, oats, rye: no grass crop is safe, and global famine threatens.

In Britain, where green fields are fast turning brown, the Government lies to its citizens, devising secret plans to preserve the lives of a few at the expense of the many.

Getting wind of what's in store, John Custance and his family decide they must abandon their London home to head for the sanctuary of his brother's farm in a remote northern valley.

And so they begin the long trek across a country fast descending into barbarism, where the law of the gun prevails, and the civilized values they once took for granted become the price they must pay if they are to survive. "

"Since the financial Armageddon, it’s been guns, gold and slaves. And secrets—lots of dirty secrets.

Donald Aldingford lives inside the walled city of London where he survives as a barrister. He does not possess an estate with thousands of slaves. This means he’s not ‘decent’; he’s a commoner. What’s more, he’s a commoner who knows the secrets of powerful people. That makes him a disposable commoner.

On a flight to see a client, he gets shot down and jailed for violating private airspace. This captivity opens his eyes to what happens on private estates. It’s quite a shock to see how ‘decent’ people treat their slaves. He’s outraged to learn his own brother Lawrence has been condemned to eight years of slave labour for crimes he did not commit. Now Donald has a social conscience! After his release, he starts to share this social conscience with an attractive young woman from outside the city walls. She’s a leading revolutionary.

Powerful eyes are watching Donald. They’re going to make him an offer he can’t refuse."