Customer Reviews

Ill Wind

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

That seems to be true of this book as well. Ill Wind is the story of the chaos that results when a tailored microorganism destroys the world's petrochemical products. I found the descriptions of the collapse of civilization to be interesting, but found the scientific basis not quite believable. The jump from an organism that just destroys octane to an organism that destroys all oil- and plastic-based products is just too great.

Nonetheless, I enjoyed the book. Other reviewers have mentioned that it follows the standard "disaster format" of multiple characters and plotlines, but this works for me. I found each of the characters to be engaging (with the possible exception of Connor Brooks, who was just too whiney for belief).

I admit that I initially picked up this book because I enjoy biotech thrillers, but I'm glad I did.

Sometimes I suspect that reviewers simply say they like it because that's their habit. This is one of the worst things I have ever seen out of either Anderson or Beason, to the point where I literally wonder if it was to fulfill a contractual obligation. Beason's scientific background simply cannot sustain a plot with all the cardboard depth of a 1968 student rally. If you live in Marin or Boston, you'll probably love it. Those with any actual real-life experience with the sorts of people depicted, however, will more likely shudder than admire how the book develops.

But the problem is that a novel isn't simply a neat idea. Ideas are cheap. Worse than a plot so full of logic holes you could put a semi through it are the ridiculous stereotypes that stand in place of actual human characters in the book: they are simply demigods, avatars for attitudes, and the progression of the plot makes the problem worse, rather than better.

It's not *total* garbage. There are moments. But coming from authors of their caliber, the work is deeply disappointing.

Ill Wind is about the grounding of a supertanker and subsequently a petroleum-eating bacterium which gets out of control. A broad story with "a cast of thousands". I found it hard to keep track of all of the characters. The description of the tanker, and of the grounding are accurate. The novel is particularly effective in demonstrating the dependence of modern society on petroleum and petroleum derivatives.

The opening pages, wherein an oil tanker collides with one of the towers of the Golden Gate Bridge and spills tons of crude into the San Francisco Bay, are pure suspense and realistic action. Sadly the multiple stories that follow are standard disaster thriller filler. The novel is far from boring, it's just that it suffers from the same problems with contrivance and characterization that plague other 'cast of thousands' disaster epics. This is strictly for those that can't stop themselves from watching The Poseidon Adventure or The Towering Inferno whenever it pops up on cable.

Imagine a world in which petroleum products suddenly disappeared, along with all the machines and gadgets that use them. This would include gasoline, oil, and all plastics. That's the premise of this imaginative novel. It's just a shame that the authors couldn't quite flesh it out. It's an unusual techno-thriller in that there's virtually nothing military about it, which was refreshing. However, Ill Wind suffers from a typical failing of techno-thrillers, cardboard cut-out characters and painfully stilted dialogue, especially between men and women. It seems as if the authors learned their dramatic skills from watching canned television mini-series rather than reading real literature. The concept is enough to get you about halfway through the book, but then it just gets tedious and you find yourself praying for a nuclear war to just put an end to the whole thing.

I don't read a lot of fiction, but this title caught my eye because of the current situation with oil.

The premise of the story is great - what would the world be like without oil, or even petroleum-based plastics and related products. As others mentioned, the story starts out strong but loses focus through the middle, with a decent ending. I agree except for the part about the decent ending - it was very anticlimactic in my opinion. That, and the "science" aspect was barely enough to qualify this as a science fiction novel. It seemed more like the standard fare disaster movie material.

The characters, several of whom started out interesting, were too numerous to be fully developed. Some were downright unbelievable. Specifically, I don't know that there are too many hot Japanese American female scientists who really reminisce about baby-boomer rock and roll the way Iris does. I think this character was created out of the personal fantasies of one of the authors, both of whom seem insufferably linked to bad music from the seventies, as evidenced by the completely irrelevant and pointless chapter or two dedicated to some kind of post-apocalyptic Woodstock festival. Yawn.

It is a story based on a great premise, and for that reason alone it might interest people not otherwise inclined to read science fiction.

The authors explore our society's dependence on petroleum-based products and the danger of relying on technological fixes for our every crisis. Also, they take a shot at the power mongers who would likely rise to the occasion given the circumstances. Unfortunately, the descriptions and characterizations aren't up to the ideas behind the story. There are too many characters whose motivations were unknown to me; more time should have been spent developing them--instead, I followed the antics of numerous characters with whom I never really got comfortable and, in the end, never really cared about

This is the third collaboration between Anderson and Beason, and if this is any indication of the quality of their work, well, I won't be reading any more. This is flat out a bad book, and I cannot in any good conscious recommend it to anyone.

The premise of the story is interesting. When an oil tanker spill sits cargo in San Francisco Bay, the man tasked with cleaning it up uses a microbe designed by a scientist dying of leukemia to eat up the oil. The problem is that the microbe not only consumes all material made from oil (plastics included), but it can be spread by air. Soon, the world is paralyzed when all fuels and plastics are consumed. This is an interesting concept, but the novel itself is just plain bad writing.

First, the characters are rather one dimensional and flat. They are good or bad with no shades of grey. The "villain" who causes the spill is a malevolent individual with no concept of good or bad. He goes his merry way without any degree of empathy or remorse. The Air Force Brigadier General who somehow takes over the defense of the Southwest is the epitome of the mindless, ruthless military man who has no concept of serving the citizens. His sergeant is equally a mindless automatron without any human qualities.

Second, the coincidences are just too farfetched to accept. For example, in this period when modern transport has basically disappeared, somehow, the person who caused the spill in San Francisco manages to run into the captain of the tanker hundreds of miles away in in the middle of the desert in Arizona. Coincidences are a staple of writing novels, but the coincidences in this book are really too much to believe.

Third, the book is just too full or both factual errors and improbabilities. I could list hundred of examples, but I will deal with only a few here as illustrations. In the book, the shotguns and weapons of non-military personal don't work or even explode because of a lack of lubricant (the military has a special, non-petroleum-based lubricant for their weapons). However, this would not be the case. Even dry, a shotgun would not explode in the shooter's face. At worst, an automatic weapon would seize up. Shotguns and single shot rifles would pretty much fire forever until rust took over.

The book assumes weather patterns would disperse the microbe evenly throughout the world in an extremely short period of time. This would not be the case. There would be uneven spread, and as a biological agent, it would have to reproduce and grow to be able to consume all the petroleum-based products in the world.

Nuclear power would be pretty much unaffected, at least for some time. Overpressure and sealings would keep the microbe out, and ceramics and wires used in the transmission of power would not be affected.

The military characters were a farce. Somehow, the US Air Force becomes SS Storm Troopers, both skilled at ground combat, but ready to break ranks at the slightest degree of resistance. With all due respect to our Air Force, except for some small units, they don' really learn much about ground combat. Their forte is in the air and in space. The general's female admin sergeant becomes some sort of emotionless Rambo, ready to kill at the slightest provocation.

I could go on, but I won't. This just really is a bad, bad book. I don't recommend it to anyone.

Ill Wind was a very entertaining read. Anderson and Beason carefully describes the people, places and events. Though the story is perhaps a bit implausible, that doesn't make it any less entertaining. In fact, much good science fiction depends on a slightly implausible plot. The authors obviously spent a lot of time researching for this book. This one is difficult to put down once you pick it up

Premise: After an enormous oil spill in California an oil eating microbe is released to clean up the mess. The microbe becomes airborn and attacks all oil based materials including gasoline, rubber, plastics and lubricants. This causes a worldwide collapse to transportation, communication, and government.

Character development is limited. 2/3 of the novel are build up to the collapse of civilization, perfect time to create intriguing characters. Instead the reader is introduced briefly to a load of 1 dimensional characters for whom it is difficult to build sympathy for.

The setting is interesting enough to sustain the novel, and the efforts being made to restore civilization are different enough from other post-apoclyptic novels the rate 3 stars. I would read a sequel should one be written.