"Ultimatum" by
Matthew Glass (Atlantic Monthly Press, ISBN 9780802118882, $24.00)
Why would anyone want to read a 400 page first novel by a pseudonymous
physician living in the UK about the detailed political gyrations of a newly
elected American President and his staff trying to implement a populist "New
Foundation" campaign platform? And why, especially, would I, who am so
disinterested in politics that I don't know a Secretary from a Chief from a
Director... and certainly don't know their names... want to read it?
Well, a review in my favorite news weekly, "The Economist," said that if one
is going to read only one thriller in 2009, Matthew Glass's "Ultimatum" is
the one to read. I followed this advice and spent a nearly non-stop reading
weekend glued to this book...and keep in mind, this is a book with no sex,
no guns, no spies or agents, no technology gimmicks, and really, no
particularly well-developed characters at all.
"Ultimatum" could be called Political Science Fiction for it takes place in
2032 and is meant to tell a tale of global politics when the effects of
climatological change are no longer benign theory but life-threatening,
society-disrupting reality. However, Glass suggests practically nothing
different in our world twenty years from now (E.G., new technology, border
shifts, demographic change, etc.) except his basic premise that "global
warming" has come faster and with more damage than expected. One would do
better just to read the book as if it were taking place today, and that "Ulitmatum's"
fictional President Joe Benton is pretty similar to Barack Obama.
This is one of those novels where a review with too much detail can really
spoil the plot, so I will hold back. In short, Benton has an ambitious
domestic "change" agenda complicated by the need to "relocate" millions of
Americans as coastal cities become uninhabitable due to permanent weather
changes. Everything will cost us a lot of money and sacrifice, but more
importantly, all nations must join the USA and cut back "emissions" to avoid
the destruction of the planet. Not every country agrees, and international
diplomacy (the area of Benton's least experience) dangerously becomes his
highest priority. Trouble escalates. The pages turn faster. Finally, and
here is maybe my one "spoiler," Junction City, Kansas plays a pivotal role
in the fate of the world. Go figure.
Review by
Bruce Jacobs,
July 2, 2009
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