What I'm Reading: The Last Storm by Tim Lebbon

Today I have another review form the current issue of Booklist. This one is going to the the PERFECT Summer Horror-Thriller hybrid read. It has all of the action and suspense people crave with a touching family story at its center. While I personally enjoyed Lebbon's last book, Eden, more, I 100% think this one will be more popular, like really popular. Please don't sleep on this one. Your readers will LOVE it.

The Last Storm

By Tim Lebbon

July 2022. 352p. Titan, paper, $15.95 (9781803360423). 

First published June 1, 2022 (Booklist).

Global warming has turned most of North America into a desert. Twenty years ago, Jesse, a “Rainmaker, brought down a deadly storm containing more than water. Now, living alone, off the grid, Jesse is punishing himself, not only for the harm he caused that day, but also because when he realized that his young daughter, Ash, held even more danger inside of her and tried to halt her training, he may have caused her death. For ten years, Katrina, Jesse’s estranged wife, has been searching for Ash, and when she hears word of a young Rainmaker, Katrina convinces Jesse to join the search and save their daughter. But Jesse and Katrina are not the only ones looking for Ash. Lebbon's [Eden] latest climate change fueled Horror novel uses multiple points of view to allow the characters to develop and the suspense to intensify, racing to a climactic, stormy battle. Thought provoking, disturbing, and family centered, this tale will appeal to readers of tales as varied as fans of the storytelling style of The Violence by Dawson, the family centered, dark fantasy of The Changeling by LaValle, or water crisis fueled cli-fi The Water Knife by Bacigalupi.

YA Statement: Teens will be drawn in by Ash and her compelling and unique coming of age storyline, but they will stay for the intensifying action and honest assessment of a near future climate dystopia. The addition of some terrifying monsters literally falling from the sky is a nice bonus.

Further Appeal: This is a plot driven narrative, but with character development and a strong sense of place. There was so much detail about the most important storylines that frame this story that I had to use up many of my 175 allowed words on that in the draft above. However, I did add words back into my final sentence that do NOT appear in the magazine.

The original frame for Ash and Jesse's powers was fascinating and very well developed. They are genetically derived from a single line of humans with the ability to enter a parallel dimension and bring rain into our world. Descriptions of the process and what each of them–Jesse and Ash– see while there is very cool and I will not spoil it for you. And this world building of their separate spaces collides nicely toward the end. I think those were some of my favorite parts of the book.

Some more notes from when I was reading: High unease, through provoking, family focused, fast paced, multiple povs, cli fi, compelling, disturbing, intensifying!!! With a little cosmic twist. Walks the Horror-Dark Fantasy-SF line in a satisfying way.

The multiple points of view are key. With such a fast-paced, plot heavy story, there is no way we could have gotten the character and place development we needed here without that. This is a book that will satisfy a wide range of readers for that reason.

I also wanted to drop this quote from my book here as it explains the different between climate fiction in Horror versus Science Fiction because it might matter for some [see the YA statement above for a sneak peak at why this is Horror].

"Climate change horror differs from its science fiction fueled cousin (“Cli-Fi”) in that it is not simply the changes in climate which bring the unease. Rather in these horror stories, as the climate itself brings natural disasters, it is also an instigator of the creation of a monster itself, whether born of the climate change or awakened by it."

Three Words That Describe This Book: Climate Horror, high unease, multiple points of view 

Readalikes: The plot is very different here than in The Violence listed above, but the similarities between the two stood out to me as I was reading. Many will want more fast paced, cli-fi and the Bacigalupi is the best place to start there before sending them to this extensive archive of excellent Cli-Fi choices via Book Riot. But I wanted to make sure people understood the very touching parent-child story here. The LaValle rec is to hammer that home as well. Also fans of Christoper Golden [and there are many] will enjoy this and all books by Lebbon.

This book comes out in early July, so if you haven't pre-ordered yet, fix that ASAP.