POWERFUL SCIENCE AND SCIENCE FICTION

From time to time I like to offer a look at what other people are writing about science and science fiction. So here are my impressions of a couple of books I urge you to read. They’re completely different, and worthwhile for very different reasons, but both offer lots to think about.

The Power  by Naomi Alderman  (5 stars out of 5)

In The Power young women suddenly begin to discover that they have the power to concentrate electrical energy with a new, or previously dormant, organ in their bodies. They can awaken the power in older women too. They can use it as a plaything, or they can use it as a weapon. But it’s here to stay, and the world—religion, politics, relationships—will never be the same. The main characters Allie, Roxy, Margot, and Tunde (a man) are deeply flawed but relatable and real. There aren’t stereotype black hats and white hats here, though another writer might easily have taken this premise in that direction.

I was afraid this book might be anti-men. It isn't. In fact, it's extremely well-balanced. It depicts a shift in the gender power balance of the world, but doesn't portray the new as a shining improvement over the old. That would have made it a shallow book--instead it has real depth.

This novel could have been just a taut thriller or a clever science fiction tale, but Alderman makes the right decisions to make it much more: a modern classic.

18 Miles: The Epic Drama of Our Atmosphere and Its Weather  by Christopher Dewdney  (4 stars out of 5)

 When I had the pleasure of meeting Christopher, I’d just begun to read this book—I hadn’t read enough to talk meaningfully about it to him. But he’s a poet as well as a non-fiction writer, and a former book editor. You can easily see the evidence of both in this book.

Dewdney covers a lot of territory here, from the outer limits of our atmosphere to the Earth's core, from ancient myth to modern battles whose outcome was influenced by weather. And, of course, the challenges of our current climate change situation, though 18 Miles isn't heavily focused on that. Dewdney’s lifelong fascination with storms is easy to relate to, and his personal experience of Hurricane Katrina makes the details even more compelling. There are scientific explanations of clouds, wind patterns, precipitation and more, but served up in palatable portions, and accompanied by tales like the harrowing story of U.S. Marine Corps Lieutenant Colonel William Rankin who bailed out of his crippled fighter jet straight into a colossal thunderstorm.

We Canadians get every kind of weather, and if you'd like to understand where it comes from instead of just complaining about it, this is a great book for you.