I suppose that in this wide world of publishing that there is room for just about any genre, and mix of genres. Romantic comedies, techno-thrillers, religious mysteries, alternate histories and even mushing-mysteries I am fine with. But I don't quite know how to deal with Zen satire.
THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER follows the life of Buddy Le Blanc in a near-future America. Buddy is a minor miracle-worker that wants to make the world a better place, and in the this near-future, the world has a lot of room for improvement. Corporations have taken over the US Government. Pollution and corporate malfeasance have caused the fundamental laws of physics to break down - gravity doesn't work all the time, time flows erratically, and the weather has gone completely haywire. So, Buddy joins the circus, and the circus joins forces with a political demonstration group, which then decides to stop the war in Antarctica. Along the way, he discovers that his father is the Hope Valley Hubcap King (the title of the book that THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER is the sequel to, I think), and discovers the power of transcendental meditation.
As far as satire goes, THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER is not as biting or insightful as it tries to be. Attacking corporations for being evil and exploitive is not exactly cutting edge. Nor is it particularly subtle - allusions to the government becoming a 1984-esque fascist totalitarian regime probably should stop sometime before billboards with "Big Brother is Watching You." And while meditation can provide deep spiritual insights, it doesn't provide for the most gripping narrative. By the fourth or fifth character's deep spiritual understanding I had obtained a deep understanding of the back of my eyelids.
Which isn't to say that THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER is all bad. In fact, there are moments when it can be quite amusing, and borderline clever. If only the author hadn't been aiming for profound...
THE TIME OF NEW WEATHER IS AT HANDβAND ITβS NOT A PRETTY SIGHT.In this exhilarating adventure of absurdist wit, rollicking revolution and romance, the future isnβt what it used to be and the past wonβt leave us alone. Bringing to mind 1984 and Brave New Worldβbut with his own twist of gleeful humorβaward-winning author Sean Murphy presents a vision of an America gone off the rails: an America where it literally rains cats and dogs, where a hubcap ranch is now a National Preservation Site, where a horde of circus folk and Elvis fans are on the rampageβand where some rather suspicious things are going on with time and gravity. Into this world is born Buddy Le Blanc, a young boy with a special gift: the ability to perform tiny miracles. Nothing big, like raising the dead or curing the sickβmore like an uncanny knack for finding spare change. He longs to find a way to make a difference; but in a world where time and gravity storms can spring up at a momentβs notice (sending your belongings hurtling through the roof, or off to the Renaissance) and big business has gobbled up the U.S. government (now renamed The America Corporation), itβs hard to get your foot in the door. But when Buddy joins up with a cast of fellow seekersβrenegade circus freaks, ragtag revolutionaries, a woman in search of her hat, and a particularly gorgeous journalistβin the hope of waking America up from its dream, the fate of the country may just end up in his not-so-capable hands.β¦
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