by Edward Rubin

A Cli-Fi Novel

The Heatstroke Line is a novel that shows what climate change will do to the United States. It is intended as a warning. Many Americans are willing to deny the reality of climate change because they think that it will only affect tropical countries and oceanic islands that are far away from us.   The Heatstroke Line depicts a United States that with its coastal cities flooded and its remaining land sweltering under debilitating heat.  It has broken into smaller units that are in conflict with each other and it is dominated by more northerly nations, such as Canada, that now have temperate climates.

There are already a number of “cli-fi” novels that deal with global warming.  But most of these belong within the category of post-apocalyptic science fiction. They use a disaster — nuclear war, epidemic or ecological disaster — to wipe away the complexities or modern civilization and tell an adventure story.  The Heatstroke Line is different.  It shows an imaginable future, not very distant from the present, when there are still modern houses, cars, governments, schools and political conflicts. The purpose is to bring home to Americans the devastating effects that climate change might have on our nation.

The Heatstroke Line is a real story — relatively short, filled with action and written in simple, easy to read prose.  It does not preach and it does not try to advance scientific arguments.  Its goal is to make the consequences of climate change real and immediate.   It is intended to motivate people who believe that climate change is real to take action, and to induce those who deny climate change to re-think their position.