Paperback, 496 pages
Published May 4, 2010 by Roc.
The "deeply scary"(BBC Focus) new novel from a national bestselling and critically acclaimed author. View our feature on Stephen Baxter’s Flood. Four hostages are rescued from a group of religious extremists in Barcelona. After five years of being held captive together, they make a vow to always watch out for one another. But they never expected this… The world they have returned to has been transformed by water—and the water is rising. As it continues to flow from the earth’s mantle, entire countries disappear. High ground becomes a precious commodity. And finally, the dreadful truth is revealed: before fifty years have passed, there will be nowhere left to run...
I don't remember when I finished reading it.... It's been some time ago, but I recently finished part 2 (Arc). So, book 1, Flood, was a book that was hard to put down. The theme was curious topic, the science seemed very well researched and plausible, as the reactions of the humans portrait facing the crisis. I enjoyed reading the book, but mind it is not a happy book, occasionally it was quite dark.
Interesting story - imagine some source of large amounts of water buried under the crust which, fo reasons no one understands, suddenly bursts through to the surface and floods the Earth under about a kilometer of water. People get together, countries break down, oligarchs build special ships, and other people build rafts.
Some parts were too fantastic to be believable. In London, they only worry about sewage pollution when Greenwich flood barrier is overwhelmed, whereas we in the real UK suffer from sewage pollution after light rain due to lack of investment. I also thought the Middle East would be nuked long before it happens in the book, as each religion fights over Jerusalem.
