David Millar (1)

This novel is an odd mix of political thriller and climate change explainer for sceptics. The premise is that an island offshore western Canada which depends on its annual salmon run has fallen on hard times because climate change has warmed the ocean and sent the salmon further north (this part is true). The islanders call on the government to help but they are too obsessed with international agreements and carbon tax to do anything (this is probably also true). So the islanders come up with a scheme to attract their salmon back by seeding the ocean with iron filings to create a plankton bloom which the migrating salmon feed off (this part is fiction, but loosely based on science). Their actions finally spur the government into action, threatening to sue them for “interfering with the weather”.

However what made the book so interesting for me are the tensions between the islanders in their attitudes to climate change, some openly deniers, some don’t care but see it as an opportunity to make money, some just passionate to try anything that might save their community. There are also engaging subplots about a mother’s search for her long-lost daughter, a well-meaning eco-warrior couple who are their own worst enemies, and the tensions within the government department – some of whom are genuinely trying to do the right thing and some who see the islanders as a nuisance that they want to sweep under the carpet. Actually a pretty accurate reflection of our society as a whole.

Overall I found this an engaging adventure about whether the community would succeed (lots of pitfalls on the way but eventually they do), a very funny political satire (the govt keeps shooting itself in the foot, but so believably that its laugh-out-loud funny), and a romance about the two main characters, who are mother and daughter but don’t know it until the last chapter. This would be a great gift for any climate-sceptical friends you may have.… (más)

This is the book that has been missing from the Dubai travel literature.

I really enjoyed this book, it was a breath of fresh air after some of the drivel that has been written about Dubai. The author has a wonderful tongue-in-cheek sense of humour and a great eye for the ironies of Dubai.

But it's not just a book about the tallest building in the world and skiing on snow when it's 45 degrees outside. David has made the effort to go behind the scenes and look into the history of the country; not just the Trucial States and British domination of last century, but the evidence of habitation thousands of years ago. He reveals a history that even many of the residents are not aware of.

Under the guise of persuading his girlfriend that The UAE has a history worth noting, he travels around the country and parts of Oman, searching out evidence of life in the past. Burial sites, old cities, settlements and historical remains are visited and briefly explained - enough to whet our appetites for visits of our own.
There is also some interesting discussion about the history of the Gulf itself, which, in its distant past, was once dry land, possibly even the site of The Garden of Eden.

One criticism from our book group was that the humour was very British/Canadian; other nationalities found it somewhat patronising, but humour is always a very personal thing.
Photos would also have been a great addition.

This is a book that I would highly recommend to visitors and residents of Dubai alike. It is informative and readable and well worth reading.… (más)