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The authors present a comprehensive and compelling argument for a global catastrophe in the near future. The world history that they promote has little substantiation, but the many thousands of years that they discuss has little or no written record. This is a very interesting book that is written by two very interesting men.
Well without a doubt the collection of reviews here for this rather loose-limbed and pop-ish book makes for some entertaining and often amusing reading. Highly recommended and in some ways better than the book itself.Bell and Strieber are a first-rate carny act (and I mean that in a genuinely complimentary way). and whether they've got their facts straight or not whatever they do is bound to generate interest, controversy, and most importantly, sales. The book is no doctoral thesis (it was surely never meant to be) but it's also no opium dream--sudden changes in systems (catastrophe theory) can occur in very odd and unanticipated ways and the results can often be mind-boggling.
My apologies to my friend Art Bell, but this book is pure poppycock. Entertaining, but poppycock.
I teach earth science, and spend a great deal of time instructing my students on how to critically view the materials they see on tv and in the movies. Most of them have seen the Hollywood sensationalistic movies like Armageddon, The Core, Dante's Peak, and The Day After Tomorrow, but they often have questions about what is fact and what is fiction for the sake of selling a movie. This book does a good job of explaining the science behind the Great Ocean Conveyor Belt, and how it drives modern climate, and along with the description, it interjects the scenes from the movie, The Day After Tomorrow, that are based (sometimes accurately, and sometimes loosely) on those facts. It does digress a bit and talk about ancient civilizations and even postulates a bit about ancient and future life forms, but overall the beginning of the book serves as a good background for anyone interested in the science behind global warming triggering a future ice age due to disruptions in ocean currents.
Just watch the movie "The Day After Tomorrow." I think it was inspired by this book.Lastly, there is a quasi-scientific attempt to explain how a rapid and drastic change in the global climate could occur. There are three different aspects in this book. This would produce a global storm of biblical proportions that could usher in a new Ice Age. Part of it is an argument that a technological human society previously existed and was wiped out something like 15,000 years ago. In this regard, the book borders on the absurd, not much better than the works by the "aliens-built-the-pyramids" crowd.The second aspect is the end-of-the-world fictional narrative. This would happen in a matter of months and not years (or decades).Mildly interesting but, keep in mind: neither of these authors has any real credentials. I don't have much confidence in the science behind the claims but it's not a complete waste of time, if you like end-of-the-world books.
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