Last Light

Kentucky Fried Panda · Post by **Kentucky Fried Panda** » 25 Jul 2007, 17:02

I was going to wait for paperback. I've got a pile of books to work through yet.

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 27 Jul 2007, 07:43

I've just read "Last Light" in one sitting.

Although it's not specifically about Peak Oil I enjoyed it.

It's a thriller - a ripping "end of the world" yarn.

The timescale covered by the book is quite short, so you should read "Death of Grass" or "Earth Abides" if you want a story which covers post-collapse life too.

Will this book educate people about Peak Oil? Probably not.

However it DOES highlight how we are all just 3 meals from famine & anarchy ...

Having read this book at this time of floods, I REALLY do want to build up a major survival store of goodies. Seriously!

One good point the book makes is that it is pointless KNOWING about a coming problems if you fail to make preparations.

If you don't act IN ADVANCE then you simply become a more educated refugee or victim.

Post by **clv101** » 27 Jul 2007, 08:03

Vortex wrote:One good point the book makes is that it is pointless KNOWING about a coming problems if you fail to make preparations.

If you don't act IN ADVANCE then you simply become a more educated refugee or victim.

Indeed - I'm reminded of your "more soup please" post about folks analysing Saudi reserves. Being forewarned is not necessarily being prepared, there's some extra proactively needed in-between.

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 27 Jul 2007, 08:08

Indeed - I'm reminded of your "more soup please" post about folks analysing Saudi reserves.

One of my finer posts!

"Sorry mate, just because you predicted Saudi's oil collapse using fractal theory, it doesn't mean you get an extra spoonful!"

[/quote]

alexscarrow · Post by **alexscarrow** » 29 Jul 2007, 20:08

Hi,

Adam/Vortex, thanks for buying the book. What feedback can you give?

Sadly, being an unknown author, I'm getting zero marketing. All I have is whatever word-of-mouth is generated.

If you two liked the book, could I ask you to post a review on DODGY TAX AVOIDERS?

Vortex · Post by **Vortex** » 30 Jul 2007, 08:52

I think that maybe you could have made it a tiny bit more "Peak Oily" ... there are probably THOUSANDS of Peak Oil doomers out there who would have (and maybe still will!) buy any and every PO novel - and maybe text book - which appears.

You could be the Harry Potter of the PO market ... a series of novels for the PO addicts! "A new PO book? I'll buy it!"

I'm no expert. but I suspect that being #1 or #2 in the PO market would bring a lot more sales than being #24563 in the "general thriller "market.

If your book is being sold in the US I'll do a review on PeakOil.com for you.

If not, perhaps you could do a V2 for the US market, with more guns, bigger writing, simpler words, and a slightly extended ending?

(I have also read the German PO novel "Ausgebrannt" ... it was clear that no way would that translate into English without modification... half of it was Germany/Austria centric. The happy-ever-after ending would also not appeal to doomers who expect blood & guts!)

snow hope · Post by **snow hope** » 07 Aug 2007, 14:40

Hey Alex

For an unknown author your are doing pretty well I would suggest!

Time to admit I have just been on a week's holiday to the Costa del Sol, booked at the very last minute, because I needed some sun and warmth in this (global warming) so-called summer of ours, and the planes were flying with or without me......

I was surprised and very pleased to see the paper-back version in Belfast International Airport - in fact quite prominently displayed (about 10 of them together stacked in a column) so I snapped it up as soon as I saw it.

I read it in the first 3 days of trying to roast my skin on sun-beds on the beach (why do we do this??) and although my wife pointed out that it was a very poor choice for holiday reading, it didn't depress me.

It was a good read, although I am not sure I liked such short chapters - maybe this is the modern trend. It captured the way problems can escalate and the way (some) people can and likely will react. It showed how vulnerable our systems and way of life is/are and it showed how useless I believe government and officialdom will be when the SHTF. It makes you very aware how little Govt. will care for people and their plight!

Overall the book described my worst fears, the worst being that there may be external involvement to escalate the situation in order to achieve population reduction - I have mentioned this fear on this very forum about a year ago.

The book was well put together and a good novel, but ended rather quickly. I hope it is open to a sequel, that may describe our likely future and how society might progress and re-group. As ultimately this is where we need to be thinking and putting our efforts into.

Overall I feel the book has a good chance of making you a well known author Alex!

I was quite surprised at how many things in my mind this book put into words - I really felt that it described and covered most of my thoughts. Well done to you Alex.

I noticed you have one other previous book - can you give us a brief synopsis of it?

alexscarrow · Post by **alexscarrow** » 07 Aug 2007, 18:00

Hi thanks for the feedback.

It came at a good time...apparently it's unlikely to ever go on sale in the US. My UK publisher pitched the book over there and they all turned it down. The most probably reason being that it's not set over there.

And to add to my woes...the book is getting virtually no promotion at all in the UK. So all I can do is try and stoke up word-of-mouth support for it.

Might I ask a favour? Would you put up a review on the DODGY TAX AVOIDERS page:

http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/Last-Light-Alex ... 977&sr=8-1

Anyway...I'm glad you enjoyed it. And I'm glad I wrote this book. There's stuff in there that needed to be said...and needs to be heard.

edit: Snow hope, here's a link to my first book

http://www.DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.co.uk/Thousand-Suns-A ... 977&sr=8-1

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 07 Aug 2007, 22:41

Just ordered it from DODGY TAX AVOIDERS.com - my girlfriend eats books, she will appreciate it.

She's fairly switched on to PO, although not quite as fanatically as me. She might find it food for thought.

alexscarrow · Post by **alexscarrow** » 07 Aug 2007, 23:13

Thanks.

If she doesn't like it, think up a forfeit for me and I'll do it. (now there's bravado).

alexscarrow · Post by **alexscarrow** » 07 Aug 2007, 23:23

BTW, does anybody here have any suggestions on how I can promote this book any further?

Or perhaps any press-attention grabbing stunt I could pull?

My publishers decided in their infintie wisdom to release Last Light in the same fortnight as the last Harry Bleedin' Potter...which has killed the first few weeks of sales. So I've got to work really hard now to get this book to register on people's radar.

Any suggestions/ideas would be extremely welcome.

Andy Hunt · Post by **Andy Hunt** » 07 Aug 2007, 23:45

My GF reviews books for Borders or Waterstones, I forget which. If she likes it she might be able to push it a bit with them.

Will see what we can do.

alexscarrow · Post by **alexscarrow** » 08 Aug 2007, 15:35

well, that of course would be very helpful. THanks

PowerSwitchJames · Post by **PowerSwitchJames** » 14 Aug 2007, 23:23

It got reviewed in the -"London Lite" paper today - or maybe it was thelondonpaper - anyhow, a very favourable review - they liked everything except the last 50 pages - got a 3 out of 5, but it read like a 4 out of 5 review.

Keela · Post by **Keela** » 15 Aug 2007, 15:52

Sally wrote: I will not read Last Light - it sounds all to thriller like for me.

Okay so I succumbed.... and I'm glad I did. This was a mighty good read. Well done Alex (if you're still dropping in here).

I've often wondered how a novel could be written around PO and still manage to make mainstream reading and I think this book has done it.

Bascially to make for fast paced reading (which believe me it is) the time scales must be shortened and some way found for the stakes to be heightened. The book does that.

On the subject of PO, I think it will alert folk to the concept of oil becoming in shorter & shorter supply in the future - and it does so without being overly preachy. Perfect balance IMO.

Of course it is an unsettling novel, but very much worth the read none-the-less.

When I get a mo I'll drop in on DODGY TAX AVOIDERS too.