The novel “The Solar War” by A.G. Riddle was published for the first time in 2019. It’s the second book in The Long Winter trilogy and follows “Winter World“.
The Long Winter seems to slowly come to an end and the survivors start thinking about repopulating the world. James Sinclair and Emma Matthews have a daughter and for a few years, the situation seems to be improving. Everything changes when asteroids are spotted heading towards Earth.
A fleet of drones is set up with atomic warheads to be launched towards the asteroids, which are intercepted. James is concerned that this might be the obvious threat which distracts attention from other more hidden ones, and his fears are soon confirmed.
“The Solar War” continues The Long Winter trilogy by picking up the story where the first book ended. James Sinclair and Emma Matthews remain the protagonists and the story continues to follow their alternating points of view. It’s one big story that unfolds over a long period of time and you need to read it from the beginning to understand the characters and events.
Humanity achieved a victory against the interstellar civilization that sent a machine to harvest solar energy. The Long Winter was the easiest way to try to eliminate humanity while still proceeding with that harvest.
The underlying principle is that energy is the most precious thing in the universe, therefore stars are exploited as much as possible. Primitive civilizations that could still be dangerous must be eliminated in the most efficient way.
This second book tells of a war between humanity and another machine sent by an interstellar civilization that doesn’t seem to have a specific name, as it’s only referred to as the grid. Much of this novel, however, concerns the clashes between the survivors for the few resources left on Earth with divisions sometimes dictated only by personal hatred.
The clashes between factions of humanity are in some ways the most realistic considering the exasperated tribalisms that have always existed. A global crisis brings out the worst in humanity, and it wouldn’t be surprising that, even at the end of the world, someone would follow their worst instincts and try to grab the few remaining resources.
For the readers interested only in an apocalyptic story where only survival at all costs matters, A.G. Riddle’s choice could be fine. For the readers interested in the clash between humanity and the grid, these digressions risk being uninteresting or even boring.
Compared to the first book, there’s a bit of attention to the problem of the means of producing space vehicles and various equipment, which seem truly extraordinary considering the extreme conditions in which the survivors of humanity find themselves. Maybe A.G. Riddle realized that the possibility of building spacecraft in that situation seemed far-fetched, and in “The Solar War” the use of factories based on very-advanced 3D printers to produce this and more is often explicitly mentioned.
I found the second part of the novel more interesting, with the survivors who must choose radical solutions to hope that humanity has a future. A.G. Riddle starts developing slightly more original ideas by expanding the setting beyond Earth. These are themes that will presumably be important in the final book of the trilogy.
The ending of “The Solar War” is very open and you need to read the third book to know the story’s conclusion. It confirms that it’s a trilogy written in a style reminiscent of classic science fiction that can appeal to readers looking for apocalyptic stories and have sufficient suspension of disbelief. It’s available on Amazon USA, UK, and Canada.
