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Fiction Dystopian

The Wintermen III

At the End of the World

by (author) Brit Griffin

Publisher
Latitude 46 Publishing
Initial publish date
Oct 2020
Category
Dystopian
  • Paperback / softback

    ISBN
    9781988989242
    Publish Date
    Oct 2020
    List Price
    $22.95

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Description

Life after climate catastrophe is a dystopian nightmare

Brit Griffin's series The Wintermen wraps up as Johnny Slaught tangles with new Talos strongman Eton Love over who the future belongs to: the people and the land, or the same old capitalist profiteers. With a slim promise of spring on the horizon, megalomaniac Love is gearing up for a cut and run replay of business as usual, and that means grabbing the wealth that lies within the Wintermen's territory. But the forests, deep snows, and wolves, have a different idea about the fate of the northern landscape. Caught between these two powerful forces, Slaught and his community now decide which side they're on. Can they salvage a liveable future from the winter-swept remains of the planet, or is human greed just too powerful?

About the author

Brit Griffin co-authored a non-fiction history (We Lived A Life And Then Some: the life, death and life of a mining town, Between the Lines, 1996 ) that was listed as a must-read on the 2011 CBC Cross-Country Check-up Summer Reading list. For ten years she ran an independent magazine (Highgrader Magazine )on rural and resource-based communities. She was the recipient of two American Catholic press awards for her writing on family life, and has worked as a free-lancer in print, video and radio. Griffin currently works as a researcher for Timiskaming First Nation, an Algonquin community in northern Quebec. She lives in the town of Cobalt and is the mother of three daughters. The Wintermen is her first novel.

Brit Griffin's profile page

Awards

  • Short-listed, Northern Lit Award - Fiction
  • Short-listed, Northern Lit Award - Fiction

Excerpt: The Wintermen III: At the End of the World (by (author) Brit Griffin)

Chapter One

"Think that's the place?"

Jeff brought up a pair of binoculars, said, "Hard to tell fromthe descriptions we've been getting. All the way down, everysource saying something different? I don't know, they haven'tbeen too helpful."

Susun nodded but thought otherwise. They'd been hearing:small shack by a fast-moving creek, cliffs on three sides, row ofbig conifers blocking the trail in. No way to get in without beingseen. It sounded about right. She would have been careful, verycareful, needing a place where she could lie low, stage a decentdefense if need be. And the place Susun was looking at right nowfit that description.

"Feels like we're so far from home," Susun said, "so far fromJohnny."

"We'll find him," Jeff said. "Don't worry."

"I know."

Jeff glanced over, "Talos, as big and bad as they are? Nomatch for us."

Then Susun smiled and said, "Let's keep telling ourselvesthat."

It had been years since the mega-corporation Talos had takenover governing, starting out as a small security firm that had seenthe evolving climate chaos as an opportunity. The fires, floods,crumbling roads and bridges, and finally the endless winter. Civilunrest. The whole ugly shebang. Governments of the day bailed,passing the buck over to the private sector. The business guys,they explained, could get things done. Could be more efficient,flexible. Forward thinking. What the government really meantwas that the private sector was just more ruthless. Now, Talosran everything. Except the Territories. And that was thanks toJohnny Slaught.

When Talos had blown through the north, they meantbusiness. No one was staying in the Territories, it was just tooexpensive, no good for the bottom line. So they rounded folksup, closed towns and highways, shipped everyone down to thesprawling mega-city near the Great Lakes. Contained popula-tions, according to Talos, decreased risk, made for a more ratio-nal use of resources.

But Johnny Slaught decided to stay put, hunker down in anold hotel in the abandoned silver mining town of Cobalt. Taloshad tried to budge him, throwing everything from starvation tooutright assassination at him, but he was still there. Along witha group of people who also wanted to stay in the place that theywere from and that they loved. Talos branded him a terrorist,called him the Winterman. The name stuck and the communitystayed. Most of them wouldn't be there if hadn't been for Johnny.He was the heart of it all.

So when Talos took Johnny, the community knew they weregoing to go get him back. But it wasn't going to be easy. And theywere going to need to find help. Serious help. Jeff said they need-ed to go find themselves some help of the badassery kind. And sohere they were.

Editorial Reviews

"An exciting conclusion ... A crucial reminder of our role in keeping the lands we love safe. "-- Karen McBride, author of Crow Winter.

The Wintermen III is a wonderfully written story filled with memorable characters and nail biting action. It is so well written you don't notice how Griffin manages to infuse it with her plea for change. If you like your fantasy/adventure seasoned with intelligence and compassion this is the story for you.-- Richard Marcus, Blogcritics.org

The Wintermen III: At the End of the World, is a dystopian thriller, a meditation on human resilience, corporate greed, intransigence, and the wisdom of nature that is a triumphant end to the series. Griffin is a writer who in fiction and non-fiction remarkably reflects the lived experience of ordinary people dealing with extraordinary circumstances. I anxiously await her next project. --Bill McBain, Co-host of The Urban Zoo

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