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The Jaws of Turmoil by Neil Clift
The Jaws of Turmoil by Neil Clift
Here's something light years from the usual shark book - a science fiction novel that sets out to present the great white in a better light. It's written by British diver Neil Clift, who has published it himself, as one can do nowadays. And as science fiction goes it is more than competent, its plot driven along at an increasingly furious pace.
OK, there are a few holes in the plot, there's an awful lot of exposition early on (so often the case when creating new worlds on paper) and the dialogue is distinctly stilted, but for fans of the genre this is a book that deserves an audience.
The great whites form part of mankind's Noah's Ark-like evacuation from an environmentally stricken Earth in a project to colonise two distant planets, one a desert and the other a water world. Several centuries down the line, some of the settlers have found a way of communicating with the apex predators, but public attitudes have not moved on far from the days of Jaws - until a more ruthless alien lifeform puts in an appearance.
It seems that the sharks may be able to provide a cure for cancer - or rather, a way of eradicating the sinister 'Carcinomas' that threaten the planet Coleshia. In a way, it is still the great whites' 'killing machine' image that is being sold here, but Clift is a shark enthusiast and generally handles the environmental angles thoughtfully. Give it a try.
Steve Weinman
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The Jaws of Turmoil by Neil Clift (Self-Publishing Network, ISBN 1903493021, neil.clift@btopenworld.com). Softback, 312pp, £6
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