After the Flood:

A tale of love, loss and lust in a fundamentalist society formed in the aftermath of a giant flood that destroyed most of the earth in 2012.

David Arthurs, born after the Flood, tries to save his Humanitarian city state of Tolemac—located somewhere in the former North America—from sinking into sin and destruction as the forces of Capitalism sweep in from across the waters of neighbouring New Eden. How is he to overcome the forces of evil when his father and founder of Tolemac, Samson, is having an affair with the beautiful New Eden exile Delia Stone, when media-manipulated local elections oust David from political office, and when a drug cartel is poisoning the minds and bodies of the youth in the once peaceful island state? And more importantly, when, for the first time, David finds himself succumbing to temptations of the flesh that were outlawed during the founding of Tolemac but never eradicated from the human genetic code.

After the Flood poses the question: “If mankind was granted a new slate to create Utopia, could it?”

About the Book:

It is the year 2046 and our world has collapsed under the weight of a gigantic flood that occurred in 2012, brought about by ecological changes, natural and man-made. Out of this cataclysm emerged a scattering of city-states, polarized between free-market and socialist values. The Capitalists embrace a form of “winner take all,” lifestyle, while the Humanitarian’s practice the mantra, “from each according to his ability, to each according to his need.”

After the Flood takes place in the Humanitarian city-state of Tolemac, situated somewhere in what was once the northeastern part of North America. It is the story of a post-Flood generation trying to emerge from the tall shadows of its pioneering pre-Flood parents who re-built lives and created a fundamentalist society following the deluge. It tells of narrator David Arthurs, living in awe of his father and leader of Tolemac, Samson, and of David’s quest to assume political leadership, yet dogged by inadequacy, inexperience and temptations of the flesh; of neurotic, sexually repressed Leo Patimkin, desperately trying to earn the respect of his computer-scientist father, Vladimir; of ambitious and amoral Ethan Williams, using the protection of his father, Defense Secretary Burgess, to promote Capitalist-style expansion plans for Tolemac. It is also a story of second chances; that no matter what is thrown one’s way, giving up is never an option.

In the post-Flood Humanitarian world, “Mankind’s sin is washed away,” Samson preaches from the pulpit. Yet has it? In this new world of converged media channels, morality laws, psychic children, genetically modified food, twice-yearly harvests and  backward physical transport systems, the human ability to create havoc through the weakness of desire is still alive and well.

Add an ambitious plan for a controversial helicopter service, a local government election that goes out of control, the arrival in Tolemac of earthy refugee Delia Stone and tormented pilot Sean Gallagher, drug smugglers penetrating the Humanitarian realm, a suspected murder by a member of the city’s Executive Committee, and the inhabitants of peaceful Tolemac are plunged into pre-Flood times once more. Samson ruminates, “Tolemac was a reversal of that medieval kingdom Camelot that went into ruin through man’s greed. But a thousand years later—we still haven’t learned!”

In a tragic climax, the post-Flood generation wrests control of its beloved state from slumping back into chaos, but is left with the sobering thought once buried in the Old World Canadian anthem—“We stand on guard for thee!”—that constant vigilance is the price of freedom and peace!  

A Review:

"After the Flood is a courageous and personal tale of humanity's heroic struggles after a major cataclysm. Shane Joseph follows a post-climate change world largely unrecognizable after a gigantic flood has altered the environment and collapsed the current society. After the Flood is an allegorical tale that poses some deep questions on issues facing us today."

 Nina Munteanu, author of Darwin's Paradox.