First published in June of 2009, Simon Law’s debut novel ‘Bringing Forth The End Of Days’ valiantly attempted to tap into the recent upsurge in popularity for post-apocalyptic fiction. Primarily self-promoted and published through the relatively small publishing outfit - Strategic Book Publishing, the reader automatically gets the impression that this really was a project of love above everything else for this writer.
DLS Synopsis:
Thomas Harvey awakens amongst the debris of a wrecked building, his oxygen tank beeping at him at an alarming rate – indicating that the oxygen inside the attached canister is almost at its end. We quickly learn that the world no longer sustains the oxygen giving ecosystem that kept its atmosphere so oxygen rich. Instead, the air is completely unbreathable, consisting of predominantly carbon dioxide; the photosynthesising plant life having been eradicated by a mysterious man made green gas.
Tom’s existence is a bleak one, with his days spent cooped up in a house he shares with his partner-of-necessity Susan Brown and the young teenagers Steven Norton and Jacob Stevenson. After the world’s oxygen began running low, Jacob’s parents paid out a great amount of money to have him undergo a major surgical operation, whereby his nose and mouth are sewn shut and his oxygen and nutrition supply are both maintained by a machine that is permanently strapped to his body; feeding him the nutrients he requires through a manmade umbilical cord.
Life is slow and monotonous for the small family unit. With no sign of any other survivors, they spend their days pondering the thought that maybe they really are the last ones alive on this lonely planet. That is until Jobe and Karen turn up out of the blue in a broken down car with the oxygen supplying PGOGM machine ingeniously fixed into the internal body of the vehicle.
The family unit has just become that little bit larger. And with the new additions comes a further hope that maybe there might just be other survivors out there. Their minds turn to the manufacturers of the PGOGM machines, who also administered the surgical procedures on those rich enough to afford to have their bodies adapted so drastically to be able to survive in this new carbon dioxide heavy atmosphere. The Tremoline headquarters and principal warehouse is not too far from Tom and his fellow survivors, as long as they can find working transport to get them there. No doubt where the main warehouse for oxygen canisters is located, so too they may well find other survivors.
With a distinct goal in their minds, they begin to prepare for their journey. But there are other survivors out there. Survivors who too have undergone the horrific surgical procedure, known as the ‘Wagna Procedure’, allowing for them to walk outside without the use of oxygen canisters. Survivors who are dedicated to their fanatical religion. For these are Jehovah’s Enforcers. And they will go to any length to ensure that no one else is left alive on the face of this earth...
DLS Review:
Simon Law’s post-apocalyptic tale is an interesting scientifically inspired piece of fiction that toys around with some pretty wild and farfetched ideas with a ‘for-entertainment’s-sake’ inspired attitude. For the sheer joy of willing the suspension of disbelief, you find yourself caught up in the imaginative passion of the author, as numerous farfetched and radically under-examined ideas are thrown about with reckless abandonment.
Without holding too much of a light up to the implausibility of the main fabric of the tale, the storyline flows with an incredibly addictive pace. Admittedly many of the twists and turns in the storyline are somewhat painfully contrived, with plot explaining dialogue and ‘accidental discoveries’ becoming a mainstay during the length of the tale.
All of this is still forgivable against the sheer enthusiasm and determination to entertain the reader. The writing itself is enjoyably down-to-earth in its unpretentious way. Any interesting use of prose or atmospheric use of description is lost to the greater need for setting down a highly elaborate and fast paced storyline.
Law throws in an utterly unforeseeable twist (well I personally didn’t see it coming) within the last quarter of the tale that turns the whole novel upon its head in a clumsy yet smug manner. In itself this is nothing ground-breaking, but once again shows the exciting and mesmerising nature of this thrill seeking tale.
For sheer unadulterated post-apocalyptic entertainment, this is a novel that throws in all it’s got and bucket loads more to boot. Forget all of your narcissistically plot-analysing ways and simply embrace the roller-coaster of a ride that is this mixed up mash of science-cum-apocalypse-cum-environmental-catastrophe. This is one to simply sit back and enjoy with the mindless escapism of it all.
The novel runs for a total of 390 pages.
© DLS Reviews
