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A review by ericpschoon
Clade by James Bradley
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? N/A
Clade offers a cut together, if coddled view of the next 40~ years of human existence. Switching perspectives throughout the book explores how the world will change with global warming and how humans continue to adapt and survive through this apocalypse of their own creation.
I say coddled because while Clade does dip it's toes into the darker side of this, it mostly takes a "everything will be alright" approach to building this world. This is reflected on the parts of the world it chooses to focus on, solely talking place in English-speaking developed nations, and the people it follows, mostly one upper middle class family and their multiple offspring.
While disasters happen around the perspective characters in the book, they rarely strike so close. It gives a strangely distant feel to the stories from their setting, placing a focus on the human stories unfurling instead of the state of the world as much. Which in some ways is more realistic I suppose, we're just living life now as these issues get worse and most people don't have the time or energy to focus on them all the time. As things get even worse and the long forewarned effects of global warming becomes more real, that will only continue.
And the stories are good; what Clade lacks in a cohesive overarching plot are multiple short stories that fit together well enough for this to be called a novel but still get the opportunity to explore new ideas. Both when it comes to the people they explore and the state of the world at that point in time.
But idk, when the book does try to get more reflective and have a hopeful message of human endurance or the beauty of life in hardship it's hard to buy into when the author purposefully chose to focus on characters who would be the least affected by whats happening.
I say coddled because while Clade does dip it's toes into the darker side of this, it mostly takes a "everything will be alright" approach to building this world. This is reflected on the parts of the world it chooses to focus on, solely talking place in English-speaking developed nations, and the people it follows, mostly one upper middle class family and their multiple offspring.
While disasters happen around the perspective characters in the book, they rarely strike so close. It gives a strangely distant feel to the stories from their setting, placing a focus on the human stories unfurling instead of the state of the world as much. Which in some ways is more realistic I suppose, we're just living life now as these issues get worse and most people don't have the time or energy to focus on them all the time. As things get even worse and the long forewarned effects of global warming becomes more real, that will only continue.
And the stories are good; what Clade lacks in a cohesive overarching plot are multiple short stories that fit together well enough for this to be called a novel but still get the opportunity to explore new ideas. Both when it comes to the people they explore and the state of the world at that point in time.
But idk, when the book does try to get more reflective and have a hopeful message of human endurance or the beauty of life in hardship it's hard to buy into when the author purposefully chose to focus on characters who would be the least affected by whats happening.