I'm waiting for the film version of John Birmingham's Without Warning and After America.
Posted on 11/18/2010 7:13:26 AM PST by Travis McGee
Film Synopsis: In the tranquil suburb of Excalibur Estates, ART, his wife GWEN, and their CHILDREN lead contented lives. Art cajoles with his neighbors,MERL and LANCE, then spends another quiet evening with his close-knit and loving family. They don’t notice news reports about an odd cosmic anomaly – an unusually bright star and a series of impending gamma-ray flares. Despite these strange warnings, Art prepares for another day at work.
At the office, the routines of daily life are interrupted when breaking news broadcasts a government press conference. Authorities describe recent cosmic activity from a type of super-dense star that has released a burst of gamma rays. This massive electromagnetic storm is heading toward Earth and will affect every part of the planet – disrupting electricity grids, cell phones, and every other modern convenience. As the government declares martial law in urban areas, requests to remain calm go unheeded as everyone in Art’s office panics and flees to get back home before the gamma rays cripple the planet’s infrastructure.
Art and Gwen struggle to get through the dangerously gridlocked traffic to reunite at home. When the catastrophe hits, there is little outward effect – the skies light up as the electricity and all communications are disabled indefinitely. Art and his family provide emotional support to one another, wondering what it is that is happening – some sort of end times? No one knows, but they are resolved to stick together as a family and a community.
The residents of Excalibur Estates awake to a very different world. As they survey their neighborhood, they learn that they must survive in a simpler lifestyle than they’d previously enjoyed. Merl, a former military man who has been prepared for such an event, is stocked up with supplies. The neighborhood falls into contentious chaos, conflicts arising particularly from the antisocial MORRIS. Art becomes an unexpected peacemaker as he takes a stand and gives an impassioned speech – imploring his peers to take charge of this situation and band together to turn their community into one that thrives despite this adversity. Art’s leadership inspires the residents of Excalibur to brainstorm, discuss how to manage their resources, and create their own list of rules for maintaining law and order in a world where those systems have disappeared.
The development buzzes with activity as they pool their skills and supplies, create stockpiles of food to be rationed, work out hunting and gardening systems, develop a defensive perimeter. Soon, they’re having fun and bonding in ways they never did when they were reliant on mindless entertainment – now they’re enjoying each other’s company in a more pure way than ever before.
Their peace is disrupted when they find that Morris has been stealing food. According to their rules, Morris is imprisoned. When he tries to escape, his sentence is lengthened. Meanwhile, Art, Lance, and Merl see a box of Red Cross supplies dropped a few miles away. They arm themselves and venture out. They are ambushed by THUGS but manage to escape, now aware that other neighborhoods haven’t fared as well. When Morris is released, he tries to attack Art’s family. Restraining his desire to kill Morris, Art banishes him from the community. The maligned Morris wanders to another town, run by THUGS. He negotiates his own survival by telling them about the wealth of supplies within Excalibur. These lowlifes send spies, which alerts Art, Merl, Lance, and the others to the possibility of attack. As Morris deceptively fuels the flames of hatred, the thugs arm themselves with makeshift weapons and launch a brutal invasion of Excalibur. Residents fight back to defend the prosperity they’ve built with their own blood, sweat, and tears. As the two villages clash, many good people are lost in the bloody, intense suburban war.
After that last little go around with Morris, we would have taken a quiet walk in the woods together. He was being way too merciful to someone he knew would betray him.
Excalibur Estates?
Art(hur)?
Gwen(evere)?
Lance(a lot)?
Merl(in)?
Do I detect a Camelot motif here?
In the article, it's Merl who is described as a veteran and as being well-stocked for emergencies. Morris is only described as anti-social.
From the article: "Merl, a former military man who has been prepared for such an event, is stocked up with supplies. The neighborhood falls into contentious chaos, conflicts arising particularly from the antisocial MORRIS."
"One Second After" is a good one.
Chilling not only are they preparing in real life for a similar scenario but it reminds me of what an EMP attack might look like. There was a post about how to join a Militia in your area a couple days ago would be a good idea to know who you can count on in your area whatever the crisis.
Speaking of TEOTWAWKI, after reading through your first three books, I’ve been waiting for your new novel like a junkie for a fix. How’s it coming along?
Whoops, meant for that to go to you, not to myself.
I knew it seemed like something I'd read. Thanx for refreshing my memory.
The suburban survival rather than rural is a differnce.
I'm waiting for the film version of John Birmingham's Without Warning and After America.
Winter 2011
Good thing we are prepared...
Low volumne....please add me!
I’m almost 90% finished. Should be out next spring some time...
The first quarter or so of it is on my website.
Scale that up to interstellar distances and magnitudes, and the plasma front would strike centuries, not days, after the EM pulse (be that visible or gamma).
So that is already a lot of disbelief to have to suspend just to enjoy wasting a couple of hours in front of a movie screen.
That sure does give me a warm fuzzy feeling. Like being eaten by crabs, it does!
Gotta scratch it off my list of potential Christmas presents though, then....
The suburban survival rather than rural is a differnce.
*****************
The nature of the suburb and the city it is near would make all the difference. The size of the city, too.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.