Stuggled to get through this book. It took me forever as there are way to many characters and way to much going on. I could not follow it at all. Every time I put it down and came back I had to start over.

I finally had to make myself a chart just to keep track of the characters.

Just to much for one book! I really really did not enjoy the book. Thought I would love it based on the synopsis.

Just can not recommend.
Thank you to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for providing me with a copy in return for my honest opinion.

Thanks to Simon & Schuster and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and comment on Stephen Markley's 'The Deluge.'

This is a colossal book in size and scope. It's a challenge to engage with for the first few hundred pages because we're being presented with the cast of characters, seemingly unconnected, with each new character or set of characters having a chunk of the book dedicated to them so by the time the author circles back to that character you may already have forgotten the earlier segment(s) in which they feature. It's a book structure I usually enjoy - Stephen King employs it in some of his novels - and in this case it just took a bit more work to 'get it.' That said, when the elements and characters begin to merge and coalesce it's an intricate thing of beauty and kudos to the author on achieving it.

It's a book about monumental climate, political, and cultural upheaval over the course of about two decades seen through the eyes and actions of a set of characters who become increasingly intertwined as time passes.

At the beginning of the book I was tending towards the view that there's no way this could happen this quickly and then I began to realize that, in every aspect, of course it can. The change in society and politics since 2015 has been profound and terrifying so to think that it couldn't accelerate in the next decade and beyond is probably foolish. When I got to an account of an brutal assault on some key characters in the book it was the same day as the assault on Nancy Pelosi's husband in the real world and the reaction from the 'opposition' was very much in line with the 'extreme' attitudes in the book. The lip service continually paid to climate change reversal/slowdown in the book is reflected in the real world. Carbon level reduction targets set in talks in the real world are laughable in the face of an actual increase. The dominance of the fossil fuel industry and their bought and paid for allies in governments is real. With all that, how can you not imagine that the climate scenarios played out in the book could also be real?

In the end I enjoyed the book but it's not an easy or quick read and I'll admit to skimming parts of it as I got through it but it's a helluva piece of writing.

I am sure this book is a wonderful read for the right audience, unfortunately I couldn’t get into it at all, when I have to keep looking up words because I don’t know what they mean, I lose interest fast. This maybe says more about me than the book of course!

I wish that NetGalley would include total pages in the information section. I had no idea this book would be almost 1000 pages. I’m not afraid of chunky books but I’ve been working on this one for over a week and not making much headway. The information is dense, the vast array of characters are hard to keep track of, etc. I know there is an important message in this book and all the pieces of this story will come together, but I can’t finish. If some of the less plot-driven aspects had been omitted, or had this been done as a series of books, I think the impact of the message would be more easily digested. I have a PhD in history and I struggled so I’m sure the average reader will do the same.

The Deluge by Stephen Markley. I have tried to start this book a couple of times. The prologue sounded interesting. When switched to the main story I just couldn’t comprehend it. There were too many acronyms. This book is not for me. Thank you for allowing me to try to review this book.

I'm writing this review before I complete the book as it's taking me some time (it's quite the epic) to finish. this is a truly remarkable work. Epic in style, beautifully written, poignant, depressing, and powerful. It's a work needed for our time, and a must read.

The ideas behind this book are interesting, but buried in clunky, jargon-filled prose, which makes the length of the book even more daunting. Needs a copy editor with a sharp red pencil. At least in the advance copy, the use of text boxes to demark temporary shifts in chronology or point of view was very confusing, chopping up the narrative in ways that even with careful reading left me lost. The title is a good description of the experience of reading — propelled along by a certain creative energy, but too often caught in turbulent eddies.

2.5/5

It’s full of captivating ideas and but there are too many characters in a too long book. You’d think with the length here I would care more about these people and what happens, but I just didn’t. That was a bummer.

Thank you for the opportunity. I will edit with links once they are all live.

I decided to give this big investment of time (at hundreds of pages more than any book I typically read, and most fiction published) a try because of reviews saying it’s epic, unforgettable. Perhaps a hard copy might help but I found all the scientific jargon off-putting and difficult to understand in the early opening setup. So I stopped reading it. I am interested in global warming and care about climate change so disappointed. If it weren’t so extra long, I might try to give it another chance but I doubt I will. Since I didn’t finish it, I don’t think it’s fair to rate, but believe it’s needed to send feedback. The rating then is based on the above early impression, not the totality of the book.

This book will definitely have split opinions. People will either love it or hate it. It surely requires patience to go through the 900+ pages.

Parts of the story were hard to get into and parts were brilliant. Overall, I have mixed opinions about it.

Wow. Wow. Wow. The phrase that kept going through my head as I read this hefty offering was "magnum opus." A book highly recommended by the master Stephen King was going to catch my attention, and this truly did.

I admit my scientific and political knowledge is limited, so I didn't dwell too much on the intricacies of the massive plot, but the fact was that I was truly entertained. The story made me feel, think and dream. That doesn't happen often.

To read this book is to make a big time commitment -- it's loooooong. But in the end, I'm glad I stayed with it, and I'm glad I read it.

I received a complimentary copy of the book from the publisher and NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Stephen Markley’s The Deluge is the most powerful new novel I have read in several years. Tracing the dire consequences of climate change from the near past to the near future, we see how this crisis affects many groups of people, including scientists, eco-terrorists, non-violent climate organizers, national politicians, Capitol insurrectionists, young lovers, Homeland Security agents, advertising executives, desperately poor people, business leaders, Occupy activists, militia members, and the fanatical followers of a “theocratic fascist.” Each of these groups is portrayed so convincingly that you believe that Markley has had substantial experience with it. The text is occasionally enlivened by allusions to the works of such writers as Mark Twain (“Why not light out for the territories?”), Edward Abbey (“that anarchist rapper Haydukai”), and Bob Dylan (“warriors whose strength was not to fight”). Giving us the full picture requires 900 pages, but it’s well worth the commitment.

I tried to read this book, I really did. But is was so slow and very difficult to follow. I can usually read a book in less than a week but i I can barely get a chapter in a day. I'm not one to give up on a book, so I'll probably find myself coming back to this one at some point but I'm incredibly disappointed.

This was just “ehhh” for me, unfortunately - a bit too meandering and disjointed. Was good enough though that I *had* to finish, so I’d say 3.5 stars would be a sound review.
Thanks for the ARC opportunity!

4-1/2 stars for a phenomenal novel that takes out current circumstances and projects them into a future that's equal parts terrifying and reassuring. It's a bit too long (though I can't identify anything specific that needs to be cut) and it does bog down in spots, but overall, this 896-page novel was an amazing tour through three decades of the twenty-first century (2013-2040) as climate change becomes an increasingly urgent issue and divergent groups press for change. I found it helpful to keep a list of the many characters as they were introduced, and to make notes of their connections to one another, which sometimes changed in surprising ways as the story progressed. I don't pretend to understand all the science described, and have no idea if it's all accurate, but if it is, then the author built a convincing case for comprehensive plans to remediate our present ecological, political, economic, and social crises -- all intertwined and compounding one another. Descriptions of the effects of catastrophic weather events were frighteningly realistic, as were the political machinations of those who sought change as well as those who battled equally hard to preserve the status quo. Dialog and interactions among the various characters showcased the author's ability to "speak" in the voices of many individuals with vastly different backgrounds, values, and belief systems. The Deluge was not an easy read, and the last chapter left me with unanswered questions; if it weren't so awfully long I'd be tempted to go right back to the beginning and read it all again while I still remember most of the story. Just an amazing read!

I received an invitation to read this ARC and I hesitated before accepting because I also started reading the author’s previous book. I really should not have accepted because I do not connect with his writing style and the topic of this book is just very very deep. I know that he is talented but just not for me. I am not posting this review to Goodreads as I did not finish it and that would be unfair to the author.

Deluge takes the issue of climate toward disastrous results. In the not very far future characters struggle for survival Some exert political control, others resort to violence.
The characters are captivating..

The Deluge
By Stephen Markley

This is a huge book in many ways – not just in number of pages, but also in numbers of characters and plot lines. I must confess that I am still struggling to finish it.

While I like the writing style here, I find myself getting confused over what characters and what plot lines the author jumps around to. There is so much information to get through, that I sometime have trouble keeping it all straight. While I find myself getting bogged down at times, the author still manages to pull me in and encourage me to keep going.

I honestly can't say what kind of review I would give this book over all, but I must give the author credit for the prodigiousness of his imagination. I will keep going until I get to the end.

I wanted to like this but the writing felt pretentious and I could not get through the story. I can see why people will love this one, but it was not for me.

I read Stephen King's tweet when he said THE DELUGE is a "modern classic." I completely agree. This is a book you won't forget.