Reviewed by Nicky Taylor
Step into the world of a near-future Aotearoa, where global warming and the climate crisis are reaching a header and the powers that be are stretched to breaking point.
Emergency Weather covers issues around global warming head on, while reaching into a range of diverse cultural experiences. From farmers to politicians, Māori whānau to liberal middle class Pākehā, and scientists to the rainbow community, each group is seen through its own lens and the places they meet are viewed perceptively and delicately.
Each of the main characters has their own cast, a young Māori climate warrior finding his ilk in a new city, a gay environmental advisor who relaxes by seeking nature and a widowed farmer exhausted by the devastation of her farm through extreme weather. These are real people, coping as best they can with what the world is dealing up to them.
I loved reading about places I know and the quirks of some of the characters – Zeke’s sister with her plastic animals, his girlfriend’s exuberant belief that graffiti and activism will change the world. I enjoyed following each of the stories through to the climactic event which brings them all together.
The ending is a reminder that while the climate pot is boiling, it’s not too late to turn down the heat a little.
More about this book:
Emergency Weather is a novel that puts three people in the path of the climate crisis as it hits Wellington head-on. How will they react? Will they choose to deny, delay, or act? This is a novel of a near future that’s rapidly becoming the present.
Available in NZ bookshops and from https://thecubapress.nz/shop/emergency-weather/
Learn more at https://www.timjonesbooks.co.nz/