Sunday
My old friend, Andrew Ian Dodge, now residing in the chilly US northeastern state of Maine, has a book out, And Glory, which is set in a near future where the EU superstate is in full power (not that far off, then, Ed). He mashes up a a bit of political speculation, SciFi and good rollocking drama to make an interesting read. (As if my reading list was not long enough, aaagrrrh).
I have been thinking about who else has written books where the EU is treated as a sort of malign feature of a novel. One that springs to mind is Andrew Roberts' novel, written a few years ago, called The Aachen Memorandum. I am a fan of Roberts the historian, so this hopefully would be a good read. Sometimes the EU crops up in the science fiction books of Ken Macleod, as in Cosmonaut Keep. And I recall that Peter Hamilton made some glancing, and unflattering references, to the EU in this recent novel, which was quite enjoyable, albeit with a rather unpleasant central character.
Of course, writing any speculative novel about the European Union carries the risk that reality keeps overtaking the story line. I mean, I wonder if either the two Andrews mentioned here or Ken would have envisaged the idea of a German politician suggesting that Greece flog off some of its islands to pay down its debt?
And as an aside, Henry Porter, the British journalist and scourge of this government over its dreadful civil liberties record, also had a novel out recently that I can recommend for mixing a powerful message and a cracking good storyline.
If commenters can think of other novels where there is an EU angle, let me know.
This book seems to be about a projected EU taken over by Islamists, and gearing up for an assault on the USA. The takeover of the EU having been aided and abetted by the oppression of moderate Muslims brought about by those who appeased the Islamists. The reviews on Amazon suggest the writing is not great, but the topic seems to be relevant to your search: 'Caliphate; by Tom Kratman
Posted by Frank S at March 7, 2010 06:47 PM
The problem about Greek Islands is that they signal the three esses. Not the army one we know (05.30 am in Germany in the 1970s, 10 minutes to shit shave and slosh) but "Sun, Sea, and Sex". They are desirable and therefore worth something, if priced.
They also suffer from the negative of being staffed (as far as German and other tourists are concerned) by dissolute young barmen looking out for naive northern-European women and girls whom they can pretend to want to marry in order to get their bank-details etc. While living and working in London I knew at least five intelligent females, with professional jobs, who fell for this trick.
Yes, the Greek Islands would fetch hundreds of millions of dollars, if not billions, each, as the sex is always lovely there (I don't know, never having been to any, but it's like shagging Elizabeth Taylor when she was young - you did not need to do it in reality as you could picture and feel exactly what it would be like.)
As nobody but Bilderbergers (who probably don't exist) and senior leftist politicians in England could raise anything like these sums today, Lehmann Brothers and RBoS being bust, this would represent a good and capitalistically-neutral recycling of faux-money, that would please everyone including the Bundesbank.
Posted by David Davis_libertarian Alliance at March 7, 2010 06:52 PM
It should be noted that where Mr. Dodge actually lives is in Rainy or Sub-Tropical Maine. Those of us who live in Chilly Maine curl ze lip at those who bask on the shores of Casco Bay.
Posted by PersonFromPorlock at March 7, 2010 06:57 PM
Spare yourself Jon, the AM by Roberts is not up to his usual quality. It is said in the publishing world in the UK, at least according to my UK agent, that with that book he killed off the eurosceptic fiction market.
Thanks for the mention and I look forward to what you think when you finally get a chance to read it. Its certainly meant to read quick and fast. Those in the know suggest it would make a cracking film (uber-cyborg lady bodyguards etc).
Posted by Andrew Ian Dodge at March 7, 2010 07:05 PM
Frank, there are 45 reviews on Amazon, and 40 of those are 4 (12) or 5 (28) star. I don't know that any of those mention bad writing. You've got to go down to the four 2 stars to find an objection to the writing, qua writing.
It could be, of course, that the 40 people who liked it, liked it despite the writing, because of the story. And it could be that the 4 who didn't just loved the story but were really turned off by the writing.
And what do you think the odds of that are?
Posted by Tom Kratman at March 8, 2010 04:37 AM
Tom, I was referring to Amazon's UK site, to which my link goes. There you will, currently, find only 4 comments on your book. And they are not so generous as your American ones overall.
Posted by Frank S at March 8, 2010 10:50 AM
I first read Aachen back when was in 6th form and quite enjoyed it (Though is a bit dated now by some of the tech- pagers are the gizmo of choice! Plus have to wonder how much authour wish fullfillent there is- the hero is a down on his luck Oxford Historian...)
As for Misspent Youth, is not Hamilton's best but is ok. It's best read as a prelude to the excellent Commonwalth saga, which the life extension tech in MS plays a key part.
Posted by Andy Janes at March 8, 2010 07:35 PM
Adam LeBor's The Budapest Protocol links Nazi conspiracies to the rise of the Euro and other current EU events: "a well-paced eurothriller..."
http://www.adamlebor.com/BP.html
Posted by Charles Crawford at March 8, 2010 10:06 PM
Read a book called 'Cauldron', by Larry Bond, about a Europe being lead by a muslim-hating France. a would-be Napoleon tries to turn a French-controlled Europe into a united superpower.
Interesting, but dated by now.
Posted by Nuke Gray at March 8, 2010 11:19 PM
My book set in 2014 predicting the break-up of the E in 2014 can still occasionally be found:
http://www.abebooks.com/products/isbn/9780533132133/Martin+Cole/Millennium+Blitzkrieg/
Posted by Martin Cole at March 9, 2010 02:29 PM
I have just gotten The Caliphate from Amazon. Interestingly enough right after I ordered that I was offered, for review, another book called Caliphate which I should get soon.
Thanks again for the recommendation.
Posted by Andrew Ian Dodge at March 9, 2010 07:07 PM
Ever seen Renaissance, the French anime? It doesn't actually have the EU in it, but it's set in a futuristic Paris. There is one scene where you see someone's ID card and it is clearly a "European Union" thing.
While that is about the sum total of EU references in it, given that it's a dystopian cyberpunk setting it's hardly flattering in it's depiction of our future.
Posted by EUBanana at March 10, 2010 11:36 PM
Yeah Renaissance was quite good. I am glad to see I was not the only one to see it.
Posted by Andrew Ian Dodge at March 11, 2010 04:23 AM
I have read 'Caliphate', and was both amused and shocked at where things might be heading- if Tom Kratman has read the signs right! I don't think it's getting that bad- France seems to want to keep secularism as the main principle of public life, and good luck to them.
Posted by Nuke Gray at March 12, 2010 12:14 AM
