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WHEN NEIGHBOURS COME TO STAY
250 years in the future, Australia’s small densely populated neighbouring country Bhakaria could cast envious eyes on large and sparsely populated Australia. Martin Knox has written a speculative fiction novel The Grass Is Always Browner.
Immigration is discouraged by Australia’s harsh climate and by strict border controls. Nevertheless, workers enter and a religion Yamism grows, with a majority of Australians becoming followers.
The nation has suffered severe droughts and famines, dispersing city populations for self-sufficiency. Low-lying areas are flooded by rising sea levels.
The story follows the epic rise of the Yabras, an indigenous family who become a dynasty ruling democratically with science.
Will Prime Minister Abajoe be able to limit immigration, end religious conflict, prevent civil war and maintain peaceful relations with Bhakaria? Siti, a feisty Bhakarian woman activist, becomes his partner.
The story continues through 50 years, with dystopian realism and rearrangement of the institutional furniture to accommodate future Australian society, trending now.
Abajoe leads his people to avert conflict, copying strategies that worked for historic statesmen: Chiang Kaishek, Mandela, Ghandi, De Valera and Parnell. Will he be able to create lasting peace?
The book is 462 pages of relevant content, delivered with page turning at a brisk pace.
Available: Amazon. See reviews: martinknox.com
AUSTRALIAN DISTANT FUTURE
ETHNICITY
The Grass is Always Browner is a fiction story by Martin Knox, author. Australia 250 years in the future is governed by an Indigenous dynasty, within a kinder and more scientific version of the current Westminster system of democracy. Youthful Abajoe is renowned for sharing his resources with others and eventually becomes Prime Minister. The story extrapolates trends from the early 21st century.
POPULATION
The protagonist Abajoe and Paula, his friend, experiment with cross-bred rossits, part rabbit and part possum, to discover the dynamics of human reproduction in adjacent territories where food and water supply are variable. The purpose is to identify, from experiments with the rossit model, human population limits in the distant future.
IMMIGRATION
Australia is secular whereas populous Bhakaria is a sectarian state with their religion Yamenism. The neighbours compete for living space and share resources with immigration and trade.
CONFLICT
The religious divide is a source of epic political conflict and civil war. Abajoe walks with his people on a long march of civil disobedience. He survives 15 years of imprisonment and torture, but returns to public life as an Elder, with his wife Siti as Prime Minister bringing peace.
The story balances possible realities of disasters and conflict. The novel extrapolates trends from the early 21st century. It is ecumenical, apolitical and concerned with practical problems. The solutions are relevant today on a continent beset by uncertainties.
Available on Amazon: The Grass Is Always Browner By Martin Knox
Reviews: martinknox.com
PETROLEUM SQUANDERED
Saving of oil resources is required to supply future aviation, road vehicle and maritime fuel demands. The novel Short of Love is set in the international oil supply industry, with dramatic events from the Beatles Era to the Global Financial Crash. When oil is produced by flushing it out with water, about 70% remains in rock pores. Tom Archer is a petroleum engineer concerned about this waste and champions a new technology which could make better use of depleting petroleum resources in Canada, Australia’s Bass Strait and the UK’s North Sea. Tom’s sights are set on becoming CEO of his large oil company. His partner Vicki campaigns for his company to be more responsible. Will they succeed? The story is an epic tale of love conflicted by career aspirations based on true events.
Available Amazon. Reviews martinknox.com
AN AUSTRALIAN FUTURE
The Grass Is Always Browner (2011) is a speculative fiction political thriller by Martin Knox.
Australia is the driest continent, with a population of 25 million. A thought experiment with a biological model predicts population 250 years in the future. The scenario has a secular Aboriginal prime minister, Abajoe, trying to stop sectarian conflict, civil insurrection and conflict with neighbours. He is in love with Siti, an Indonesian. Industry and the economy have collapsed following famine and a previously urban population has dispersed from coastal cities, to live on acreages for self-sufficiency. Cities are deserted and flooded by rising sea levels. The novel extrapolates credible future living conditions with sound science and innovation. This epic tale explores in detail a forecast of an arguably dystopian Australian future.
martinknox.com
