by John Brunner
First published 2014
Austin Train moves through a world where gas masks are daily necessities and clean water costs more than most people earn. The environmentalist activist has become a fugitive in a society choking on its own pollution. Infant deaths climb while birth defects multiply. Corporations profit from selling breathable air and drinkable water to those who can afford it. The poor drink contaminated water because they have no alternative. A corrupt government fails to address the crisis while violent environmental activists called the Trainites hunt for their reluctant hero. They want Train to lead their radical movement. Government agents want him eliminated. Media outlets want him for entertainment value. Train wants only to stay alive in a civilization poisoned by its own excess. His survival depends on navigating between corporate interests that view environmental destruction as profitable and extremists who see violence as the only solution. The stakes extend beyond Train's personal safety to the question of whether any meaningful response to ecological collapse remains possible.
Genres: fiction, dystopia, adventure, environmental-science, political-thriller, activism
Vibes: dark, emotional, fast-paced, thought-provoking
Tropes: enemies-to-allies, fugitive, reluctant-hero
Setting: Earth
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
Kindle Edition · Open Road Media Sci-Fi & Fantasy
Content warnings: violence