After America

By John Birmingham

Why I Chose This Book

• I chose this book because it interests me to learn about the future of America and about the natural disasters that we can come to face. The book starts with a lot of action, which constantly grows through the entire novel. It is a very suspenseful novel, with many twists and turns, leading to an interesting plot. John Birmingham writes as if he has experienced these dreadful times, and uses very vivid imagery to keep readers enthralled in his words.

Theme• The main message of this book is that humans will naturally

rebel, and there will always be war. Even after times of hardship, when people need to come together to get through it, there is always someone trying to get ahead through violence and plundering. The book revolves around one natural disaster, referred to as the “wave”, which killed almost everyone in the United States. Once the attack was over, pirates started plundering, funded by private agents. This makes a human versus human conflict, which is prevalent through the novel. This conflict is solved through physical ways, mostly war, and the author strongly emphasizes the death tolls of each battle.

Plot

• The plot of this novel is the rebuilding of America, and other countries that fell because of America. It takes place in New York, Kansas City, England, and Texas. Each setting involves a person or group of persons, that are all related in one way. The consequences of one person are displayed in another are, sometimes thousands of miles away.

This is what I think most major cities look like in this novel, based on Birmingham’s vivid imagery.

This is what most of America has been reduced to, farmland, to help the starving population.