The Shockwave Rider

[avevale_intelligencer]

Just re-read it. It was time. Surprised all over again to recognise a clear primary source for our old friend The Pretender (do I do that every time, I wonder?). Also noticed interesting parallels between Brunner's Great Bay Quake and the real-life Katrina disaster...unfortunately probably not extending to the formation of a community like Precipice. Actually, it's frightening how true the book rings, not in its technical details necessarily but in its mood. Everyone notices Stand on Zanzibar and The Sheep Look Up, but this book is no less valid a warning for not being immediately obvious.

Friday will be the twelfth anniversary of his death. I plan to raise a glass of something.