How the world ends: Global warming that’s lead to radical carbon rationing for everyone, in Britain, at least
Well, not ended exactly — this book is more apocalyptic than post-apocalyptic, set at a time when environmental changes are sending ever-more-severe weather battering at the planet. Carbon rationing means limits on overall consumption — with cars being almost too expensive to consider using, and heat and AC and food from more than a few miles away also being in limited supply, lest you go over your monthly allowance. Laura, the protagonist, is town between wanting her life back and wanting the world to get better, between loving her band and the protest music they play and not being sure how she feels about real-world protesting and political action.
The story is told as a series of diary entries, and I suspect Laura’s voice and the book’s (at times) slow pacing may not be for everyone, but I quite liked it — especially Laura’s quietly cutting and bitterly funny observations of a world falling apart, which are, as in all the best dystopic fiction, observations about the world we live in right now as well.
I just learned, thanks to eldritchhobbit, that there’ll also be a sequel, The Carbon Diaries 2017, later this year.