The Swiss Family Robinson, the Ancient Mariner, Robinson Crusoe, and Lord of the Flies can all eat their survivalist hearts out! Gavan Bromilow’s story is a wintry tale of more intelligent ways of staying alive as castaways in an India that has been skewed into the new Arctic as a result of a tectonic shift.
It has to be said that with the fluctuation of the world’s centre of gravity as abruptly as described in The Bird of Time, I believe it extremely unlikely that any member of the human race – or any other living thing for that matter, save life forms deep below the surface – could survive the sloshing of the oceans over landmasses across the globe.
But who am I as a reader to let such geological and cosmological uncertainties get in the way of a fantastic yarn?
I could not put the book down, compelled to follow a fascinating story about a bold and hazardous journey led by an intrepid Australian and his resourceful Indian partner, along with a group of farmworkers and associates. They travel from an icebound farmhouse under attack in India, halfway around the world eventually to reach the warmer climes of an Australia far more receptive to refugees than it is at present. Along the way they encounter a myriad of events not merely chilling (in both senses of the word), but containing a great deal of warmth, human interaction and education at many levels.
This is a thoroughly rip-roaring adventure, easy to read as a result of the author’s use of a Hemingway-like journalistic-style. I thoroughly recommend it as a bible of handyman skills and intelligent resourcefulness for anyone interested in maintaining life and limb, should global warming ever turn out to be a new ice age.
This is a riveting story. A cataclysmic event causes chaotic, life threatening circumstances, described vividly and dramatically, but in simple prose. A scene set in rural India. As the drama unfolds, each new crisis is overcome by the amazing determination and ingenuity of Griff, the Hero. But what is most gripping is the sinister sense of bureaucratic corruption and evil that lurks throughout, portrayed by members of the Family Godse. This is a book you don’t want to put down until it is finished.
If you enjoyed “The Day of the Triffids” you will recognize the theme of a natural disaster with some survivors and how they react to the new situation. The book is set in India in modern times and follows the actions of the hero and his partner as they attempt to resolve their situation.
The author lived in India for many years which prompts the comment that while this book is going to make a terrific basis for a film , it won’t be made by Bollywood. The authors description of some of the characters from the sub-continent are a little acerbic.You can decide whether they are.
You will need to have a dictionary or google handy as some of the references in the book are quite esoteric. I suspect these are deliberate by the author and as well, he appears to have made some other deliberate errors to check that you, as the reader, are not skimming through the book and that you are concentrating.
Covers a big canvas and well worth a read.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, a fine piece of work.This is a real roller-coaster of a tale where the tension rarely lets up, from the first page where the protagonist, Griff, and his partner awake in the middle of the night in their farmhouse in India to become aware that the planet earth has literally shifted on its axis. There is engaging detail in the pragmatic, sometimes brutal steps Griff takes to protect his household — including his farm workers — from the onslaught, not only of arctic weather, but also of other less provident human beings. In spite of his and his partner’s best efforts the angry weather and angrier neighbours force them to confront their morality and even their humanity.
I finished The Bird of Time last weekend and loved it. So bleak to start, I could feel the cold, and a bit hard to get used to so many Indian names – but that put me as reader out of my lounge room into that terrible place with this horror happening. When/if it does, I want to be in author Gavan Bromilow’s club!! The betrayal, the fear, the humanity of the author. The gentle observations of our stupidity when everything is easy. An amazing and very real plot, and real, fascinating characters. Big congrats.
by 
The Swiss Family Robinson, the Ancient Mariner, Robinson Crusoe, and Lord of the Flies can all eat their survivalist hearts out! Gavan Bromilow’s story is a wintry tale of more intelligent ways of staying alive as castaways in an India that has been skewed into the new Arctic as a result of a tectonic shift.
It has to be said that with the fluctuation of the world’s centre of gravity as abruptly as described in The Bird of Time, I believe it extremely unlikely that any member of the human race – or any other living thing for that matter, save life forms deep below the surface – could survive the sloshing of the oceans over landmasses across the globe.
But who am I as a reader to let such geological and cosmological uncertainties get in the way of a fantastic yarn?
I could not put the book down, compelled to follow a fascinating story about a bold and hazardous journey led by an intrepid Australian and his resourceful Indian partner, along with a group of farmworkers and associates. They travel from an icebound farmhouse under attack in India, halfway around the world eventually to reach the warmer climes of an Australia far more receptive to refugees than it is at present. Along the way they encounter a myriad of events not merely chilling (in both senses of the word), but containing a great deal of warmth, human interaction and education at many levels.
This is a thoroughly rip-roaring adventure, easy to read as a result of the author’s use of a Hemingway-like journalistic-style. I thoroughly recommend it as a bible of handyman skills and intelligent resourcefulness for anyone interested in maintaining life and limb, should global warming ever turn out to be a new ice age.
A must read.
This is a riveting story. A cataclysmic event causes chaotic, life threatening circumstances, described vividly and dramatically, but in simple prose. A scene set in rural India. As the drama unfolds, each new crisis is overcome by the amazing determination and ingenuity of Griff, the Hero. But what is most gripping is the sinister sense of bureaucratic corruption and evil that lurks throughout, portrayed by members of the Family Godse. This is a book you don’t want to put down until it is finished.
If you enjoyed “The Day of the Triffids” you will recognize the theme of a natural disaster with some survivors and how they react to the new situation. The book is set in India in modern times and follows the actions of the hero and his partner as they attempt to resolve their situation.
The author lived in India for many years which prompts the comment that while this book is going to make a terrific basis for a film , it won’t be made by Bollywood. The authors description of some of the characters from the sub-continent are a little acerbic.You can decide whether they are.
You will need to have a dictionary or google handy as some of the references in the book are quite esoteric. I suspect these are deliberate by the author and as well, he appears to have made some other deliberate errors to check that you, as the reader, are not skimming through the book and that you are concentrating.
Covers a big canvas and well worth a read.
I thoroughly enjoyed the book, a fine piece of work.This is a real roller-coaster of a tale where the tension rarely lets up, from the first page where the protagonist, Griff, and his partner awake in the middle of the night in their farmhouse in India to become aware that the planet earth has literally shifted on its axis. There is engaging detail in the pragmatic, sometimes brutal steps Griff takes to protect his household — including his farm workers — from the onslaught, not only of arctic weather, but also of other less provident human beings. In spite of his and his partner’s best efforts the angry weather and angrier neighbours force them to confront their morality and even their humanity.
I finished The Bird of Time last weekend and loved it. So bleak to start, I could feel the cold, and a bit hard to get used to so many Indian names – but that put me as reader out of my lounge room into that terrible place with this horror happening. When/if it does, I want to be in author Gavan Bromilow’s club!! The betrayal, the fear, the humanity of the author. The gentle observations of our stupidity when everything is easy. An amazing and very real plot, and real, fascinating characters. Big congrats.
Riveting. And so realistic. Made me think about how refugees are currently treated in Australia and how different it could be.