The Aviator (The Burning World) [Kindle Edition]

Gareth Renowden (Author), Dylan Horrocks (Illustrator)

Book Description

Flying around a world battered by rapid climate change and struggling with economic collapse in his hi-tech airship, Lemmy encounters the remnants of our civilisation – the artificial intelligences searching for the singularity, a rocking bishop in his flying cathedral, the last climate sceptics, the technovegans and deep green terrorists, billionaire libertarians in their bubble, and much, much more. Not to mention the goats, the girlfriend with bots in her head and the elixir of life (which is cheese).

"Part dystopian tome a la ‘Mad Max’ meets ‘Waterworld’, part stinging indictment of the mendacious ongoing campaign to deny the threats of human-caused climate change, The Aviator delivers a winning combination of wit and insight as it depicts the perils we may bestow upon future generations if we choose not to act on the greatest threat human civilization has ever faced."
- Professor Michael E Mann, climate scientist and author of The Hockey Stick & the Climate Wars.

"A brilliant and wickedly satirical romp through a post-climate change world."
- Sonny Whitelaw, author of Stargate SG-1 and Stargate Atlantis novels.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Gareth Renowden is an award-winning writer, photographer and truffle grower based in the Waipara Valley, New Zealand. Gareth's most recent book, The Aviator, the first in a new series set in The Burning World, was published in 2012. His book on climate change, Hot Topic - Global Warming & The Future of New Zealand, was published by AUT Media in 2007, and shortlisted for the Royal Society of NZ's inaugural science book prize. The Truffle Book (Limestone Hills Publishing 2005) won the Special Jury Award at the 2007 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Beijing, and he was the keynote speaker at the 2007 Oregon Truffle Festival. He publishes the influential Hot Topic blog (http://hot-topic.co.nz/), covering climate change science and politics in New Zealand.

Product Details

• File Size: 585 KB
• Print Length: 384 pages
• Simultaneous Device Usage: Unlimited
• Publisher: Limestone Hills Ltd (August 14, 2012)
• Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
• Language: English
• ASIN: B008Y0MFTM
• Text-to-Speech: Enabled
• X-Ray: Not Enabled
• Lending: Enabled
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #502,769 Paid in Kindle Store (See Top 100 Paid in Kindle Store)

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars A great read with some slightly implausible premises September 6, 2012

By Arthur P. Smith

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

"The Aviator" puts us in an imaginatively envisioned near-future, with the world divided into small almost-isolated enclaves of wildly differing philosophies, moralities, technology levels and capabilities. The ostensible cause of the collapse of normal civilization is chaos associated with global warming, but the details of that collapse are for the most part missing here, aside from one soberly-drawn rescue mission to a fire-storm-ravaged Australia. How the world and the various characters portrayed got into the state they are in in this book is largely a mystery, but given those premises Renowden does a splendid job of weaving together an exciting story of exploration and discovery. His protagonist with his airship visits almost every continent from his New Zealand base, finding beacons of hope and enlightenment and at the same time doing battle with radical fringes on all sides, from anti-technologists to frontiersmen to high-tech televangelists to Islamic fundamentalists. At times the novel reminded me of some of the ambience and free-wheeling twists and turns of Neal Stephenson's novels - "Snow Crash" and "Anathem" particularly.

Advocates of the "Heartland Institute" and libertarians of the "Atlas Shrugged" variety will probably not appreciate Renowden's portrayal of their ultimate ends, but he has at least as much fun with radical environmentalists. His sympathies seem more clearly to lie with the Singularitarians - but even there Renowden introduces conflicts and concerns (particularly associated with the behavior of the airship's Artificial Intelligence) which suggest a deep thoughtfulness about what really matters in life and in our future. The novel ends with a number of loose ends (where is the airship's owner? What is going on in Europe?) that anticipate a sequel - I'm eagerly looking forward to it!

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Simply enjoyable September 11, 2012

By Debbie Steel

Format:Kindle Edition

Sci-fi is a departure from my normal reading matter, but I was hooked on The Aviator from chapter one. Rarely have I come across a book that manages to combine so many things: adventure, romance, characterisation and a critical message - ignore climate change at our peril. OK, so perhaps it's a little far-fetched in places (only time will tell), but I can't wait for the next instalment.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful

4.0 out of 5 stars An Enjoyable Read September 6, 2012

By Johnmacmot

Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase

I found The Aviator an enjoyable read and look forward to the next volume. As in all good SF, the underlying issues are serious, but Renowden's writing is fluent and his humour and satirical eye when applied are sharply entertaining. The book certainly spans the globe, and familiar New Zealand settings shifted into a much-changed future state were intriguing. I liked how the relationships between Artificial Intelligences and humans were developed. It's an entertaining piece of fiction, but leads the reader to consider the kind of future we are setting up for ourselves, and in that respect, it contains real heft. Good price too!

More About the Author

Gareth Renowden is a writer, photographer and truffle grower based in the Waipara Valley, New Zealand. His latest book is The Aviator, a story set in a world being battered by climate change and economic collapse - the first in a series dealing with the Burning World. Here's the blurb:

Flying around a world riven by climate change and economic collapse in a hi-tech airship, Lemmy encounters the strange remnants of civilisation - people searching for the singularity, a rocking bishop in his flying cathedral, the last climate sceptics, deep green terrorists, billionaire libertarians in their bubble, and much, much more. Not to mention the goats, the girlfriend with bots in her head and the elixir of life (which is cheese).

Gareth's recent book, Hot Topic - Global Warming & The Future of New Zealand, was published by AUT Media in 2007, and shortlisted for the Royal Society of NZ's inaugural science book prize. The Truffle Book (Limestone Hills Publishing 2005) won the Special Jury Award at the 2007 Gourmand World Cookbook Awards in Beijing, and he was the keynote speaker at the 2007 Oregon Truffle Festival. He publishes the influential Hot Topic blog (http://hot-topic.co.nz/), covering climate change science and politics in New Zealand.