By the year 2049 global warming has wrought extensive damage to the environment, and much of the Earth is nearly uninhabitable.
Of course wealthy people suffer less than the general population, and a luxurious manufactured habitat in Boston Harbor, called 'The Floating City', is home to rich citizens.
Working class people are hired to do service jobs in The Floating City, and there's much competition for these positions.
One of the richest people on The Floating City is a man called Damien, who invented a tech device called the 'Flick.'
The Flick is inserted behind every infant's ear at birth, and it's essentially a tiny computer. People can use the Flick to see movies, listen to music, look things up, etc. In addition, the Flick records the wearer's activities, memories, and so on, which can be called up at any time.
The Flick has made Damien VERY RICH, and he plans to build a city in Dominion Lake in northern Canada - which is still relatively balmy. The city will have a university at it's hub, and the whole shebang is under construction right now, for the Americans who'll be moving there.
*****
The story is narrated from three points of view:
⦿ Grant - Twentysomething Grant comes from a billionaire family that made it's fortune drilling oil. Fossil fuels were responsible for destroying Earth's ecology, and Grant wants to get away from his relatives. Thus Grant has accepted a job teaching English at the nascent college in Dominion Lake.
When Grant arrives at his 'job', he learns that his only students are diggers working on the construction site, who aren't the most enthusiastic pupils.
Moreover, Grant's quarters are relatively sparse and the food at the facility, which Grant thought would be fine dining, is more like prison grub. Still, Grant makes the best of his situation while pining for his old girlfriend Jane.
*****
⦿ Rose - Rose is a beautiful woman who has a Korean mother and an American father.
Rose is one of six 'blooms' or prostitutes, who've been named for flowers (Iris, Jasmine, Violet, Fleur, Rose, and Willow). The blooms have been hired to provide company for the executives at Dominion Lake, and - for the most part - each bloom cultivates one client.
Unknown to everyone, the bloom called Rose is 'undercover', having been sent by Damien to spy on an American architect named Meyer. Meyer is in charge of the operations at Dominion Lake, and Rose seduces him with a nice meal to make sure he'll be her client.
The blooms live in an abandoned mall, where they can roam freely, but are restricted in their outside movements. For the most part, the blooms are treated well, as their 'madam', named Judith, doesn't permit any rough stuff from the johns.
*****
⦿ The third narrator is the collective voice of a group of women with varying specialties (botanist, biologist, cartographer, engineer, geographer, meteorologist, programmer, and security specialist). The females are doing climate research at a facility called White Alice, at the northern tip of Canada, a few hours from Dominion Lake.
*****
In the course of the story it becomes clear that there's some hidden agenda at Dominion Lake, but very few people there seem to know what it is. Moreover, White Alice - which relies on periodic shipments of essentials (food, fuel, guns, ammunition, etc.) from the American government - is very vulnerable if things go wrong. It's enlightening to see how the women, who are fearless and clever, deal with this kind of situation.
There are time shifts in the book, that don't come to light until the story is well underway, which is jarring. I also found the action at the end of the book confusing. However, the climate-fiction aspects of the novel are important. People need to open their eyes and acknowledge the ecological crisis we're causing.
Rating: 3 stars
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