Scott Mackay, Phytosphere

Phytosphere

Scott Mackay

Roc, Jun 2007, $6.99

ISBN 0451461584

Angry as they failed to gain special status including expediting of immigration to Earth, the Tarsalans decide honey does not work; they turn to vinegar to force the recalcitrant Earthlings to agree to their terms. They do this by constructing a phytosphere curtain around the planet that keeps sunlight from reaching Earth.

On the Moon, alcoholic scientist Gerry Thorndike feverishly works on a means to eliminate the phytosphere that is destroying the planet and subsequently his family as his wife Glenda, struggles to put food on the table and protect their children from marauders willing to kill for a meal on a world in which the lack of sunlight is turning Earth into a wasteland.

This is a refreshing alien invasion tale that also provides a warning on a curtain (pollution) blocking the sun. The storyline rotates between two fault lines that are quite different in design. On the one hand, the fascinating debates between the two brothers is quite interesting as the science seems pertinent, but in fairness also takes away from the dying Earth doomsday countdown as time has run out. The other segue focuses on Glenda's survival track as she battles with odious officials demanding handouts or else, now nasty neighbors turned into deadly enemies and the foreboding Tarsalans. PHYTOSPHERE is an innovative, well-written, apocalyptic science fiction thriller.

Harriet Klausner