END OCEAN

I was drawn in by the cover and recommendation from io9 as a must read. This book is about what happens when climate change devastates our planet but it doesn't hit you over the head with the premise. It's just as much about a father and daughter who are fighting for their survival and a woman who is on a mission to save the environment. I got sucked into the personal relationships and vivid description of what was happening in the future story line, which seems all too relevant with what's happening in Australia right now.

I read the entire book and can recognize it as a well written protest against human actions which harm the environment. The two converging stories within which this is embedded I did not find that interesting

"Water itself is colorless. It's the world around it that gives it color, reflections from the sky, from the surroundings, water is never just water. Water absorbs and whirls around everything it meets. Water is humus, sand, clay, and plankton. Water is given color by the bed it covers. Water reflects the world."-------------------------------------------------Like all Nordic fiction, The End of the Ocean is starkly written. It is dystopian fiction, so you'd expect it to be harsh but the two storylines are each bleak and hopeless in their own unique ways.The story follows Signe in 2017 as she is flashing back in her life and the life of her small town as big business destroys the natural glacier in the name of improving the local economy. Signe even through her childhood eyes saw the threat to the environment and now 70 years later she is still trying to stop the inevitable collapse. She is fierce and principled and completely emotionally damaged.In 2041, David and Lou are living in a refugee camp trying to survive the severe drought that has left water a severely rationed resource. They have been separated from the rest of their family and hope is wearing thin.I'd be hard pressed to say whether David and Lou had a harder reality than Signe. Each was trying to make the best of their circumstances but it is definitely one of the more bleak dystopian stories I have read. We see the devastation of their own lives in parallel with the destruction of the environment. I love books that use nature as a metaphor because the writing is always beautiful and the sentiment is easy to connect with but this one was more depressing than I had imagined.

This book is a beautiful yet haunting work of prose. It is a tale of loss and the simultaneously fragile yet limitless tenacity of hope. However if you, like me, are prone to anxious thoughts, do NOT lay down to start reading this tale right before bed. If you do, you may not get much sleep as you obsessively spend the night worrying about the inexorable march of man-made climate change.

Well written and thought provoking, but not for the faint of heart. A depressing look at the future with interesting characters who never lose hope.

A dystopian future without water collides with the greed of the past leading to salvation for some (or all?) of the cast. Beautiful story.

Captivating and so relevant to our world as global warming advances. Occasionally a bit confusing, but still manages to make a statement.

Well written, thought provoking. A very believable story of climate change and the impact that will be seen within our lifetimes.