Blog Archives
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
ANIMAL FARM SEQUEL
George Orwell’s 1945 novel Animal Farm satirises the Russian Revolution with corruption of the animals’ takeover of a farm, by the despotic totalitarianism of the pigs.
Animal Farm 2 updates us, with animals on tropical Caruba island under Soviet influence, from superpower confrontation over missiles, through the Cold War, enduring the Soviet collapse and up to modern times. The animals learn climate science and conduct an experiment with results that question the greenhouse gas infrared theory, attributing global warming to emission of spent and waste heat by humans. The farm animals want to resume mining coal, to supply electricity and plan another revolution to oust the pig leaders who are exploiting them.
Martin Knox has worked as a science teacher and energy supply chemical engineer. His story is technically authentic with unconventional, but carefully reasoned, climate science. This is an exciting, relevant and humorous work of fiction with several powerful messages.
Available from Amazon. Reviews and excerpt see martinknox.com
RENEWABLES WARM CLIMATES
Orwell’s novel satire Animal Farm (1945) ridiculed Soviet totalitarianism. Animal Farm 2 updates Cold War and modern Russian developments in a satirical sequel. The Farm is on a tropical island, Caruba, where the animals study climate science and calculate that when the pigs shut down fossil fuel combustion, replacing it with renewable energy, it is inefficient and warms the climate more. They discover renewable energy is largely a totalitarian scam gamed by superpowers. They find global warming is actually caused by emission of spent and waste energy by humans, a new paradigm of climate change. Knox is a chemical engineer and science teacher, explaining carefully, with conclusions that give pause for thought.
The farm animals have learned to discuss climate change philosophies. They oust the tyrannical pigs from control of the farm and revert to democracy, seeking animal liberation. Their solution is to minimize energy use, recycling efficient technologies from the past.
Animal Farm 2 by Martin Knox exposes conventional energy policies lacking logic and reason, pursued by some from self-interest.
On Amazon. For reviews and excerpt see martinknox.com
NOVEL FICTION HAVING PURPOSES
from author Martin Knox.
1. THE GRASS IS ALWAYS BROWNER (2011)
speculates on Australian society in 250 years in the future, in terms of population, sovereign territory, trade with Indonesia, religion, climate, resources, science, government and urban reconstruction. Abajoe is the indigenous prime minister, with a gene for sharing.
2. PRESUMED DEAD (2018)
has novel crime reconstruction analysis and a think tank, applied to corruption in an Australian political, government and corporate setting, with solutions proposed for the problems of partisan politics and hegemony in urban development. Protagonist Jane is a feisty political independent.
3.SHORT OF LOVE (2019)
is a humorous novel satirizing a love relationship in which love is a commodity traded with an expectation of gain. The story explores the relationship of Tom and Vicki, what they want from each other and how they go about getting it. Tom is a corporate CEO and Vicki a psychologist.
4. TIME IS GOLD (2020)
presents a story of novel achievement by ambition, training and love, in elite marathon running and physics. A couple join forces and make a winning breakthrough in psychology and neuroscience. Maxi wants to break the world record in the pole vault.
5. ANIMAL FARM 2 ( 2021)
is an update of Orwell’s Animal Farm (1945), on a tropical island controlled by Russia. Totalitarianism continues during the Cold War and into modern times, with a new paradigm of climate change and superpower geopolitics. The animals learn English and science and oppose rule by the pigs with animal liberation. Dimitri faces another rebellion of the farm animals.
6. TURKEYS NOT BEES (2022)
is speculative fiction satirizing opposition by governments in Australia, to the individualism of Megan, an elite Athlete and her boyfriend Chance, an elite philosopher. Their conflict with the nanny state, sports and Covid industries, reveals the precarious state of individual freedom. Through non-violent disobedience, they depose collectivism and replace it with an individual-friendly regime.
Available from Amazon. Reviews and excerpts see martinknox.com
