Waterline

(Paperback)

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Description

Climate change is ever-present in chilling, dystopian novel WATERLINE. Here, in a South Pacific nation, coastal settlements are being inundated and families uprooted; Artificial Intelligence controls most human endeavour; social media has run amok; and many have fled from reality to live online. Losing their uninsurable beachfront home to storm and high seas, wealthy nuclear family the Handsons have little choice but to move to Byte, a bleak, southern city run by computerised bureaucracy BORIS and a gang of religious vigilantes. Separated in the move, Brian ends up on the wrong side of the law and is incarcerated, leaving wife Stella and their two teenage children, Mandy and Luke, to fend for themselves. An offer of help from a group of outsiders, living off the land, promises redemption and hope, but at what cost WATERLINE explores the choices our own and future generations might have to face in our increasingly complex society. It is a dramatic and portentous tale about the decisions we make now and how they might challenge all our values. Darkly humorous, laced with violence and corruption, it also examines the human capacity for change, responsibility, self-determination, and the search for meaning and love.

Author Bio

Chris Else was born in the UK and came to New Zealand at age 13. He attended Auckland Grammar School and Auckland University. He has worked as a teacher, bookseller, publisher rep and computer programmer and has taught both creative and technical writing. He has published six adult novels and two collections of short stories. He has also written plays for stage and radio and scripts for television. Chris has twice been National President of the New Zealand Society of Authors (PEN) and has also been chair of the board of directors of Copyright Licensing Ltd. He and his wife, fellow author Barbara Else, were instrumental in setting up both the New Zealand Association of Literary Agents (NZALA) and the New Zealand Association of Manuscript Assessors (NZAMA). With Barbara, he runs TFS, a small literary agency and manuscript assessment service. WATERLINE is his ninth published work of fiction.