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Fire Weather

A True Story from the Frontlines of a Burning World - Winner of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction

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Fire Weather

By: John Vaillant
Narrated by: Alan Carlson
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*WINNER of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2023*

**AN INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER**

A stunning account of this century's most intense urban fire, and a panoramic exploration of the rapidly changing relationship between fire and humankind.

In May 2016, Fort McMurray, Alberta, the hub of Canada's oil industry, was overrun by wildfire. The multi-billion-dollar disaster turned entire neighbourhoods into firebombs and drove 90,000 people from their homes in a single afternoon. Through the story of this apocalyptic conflagration, John Vaillant explores the past and the future of our ever-hotter, more flammable world.

For hundreds of millennia, fire has been a partner in our evolution, shaping culture and civilization. Yet in our age of intensifying climate change, we are seeing its destructive power unleashed in ways never before witnessed by human beings. With masterly prose and cinematic style, Vaillant delves into the intertwined histories of the oil industry and climate science, the unprecedented devastation wrought by modern wildfires, and the lives forever changed by these disasters. Fire Weather is an urgent book for our new century of fire.

'John Vaillant is one of the great poetic chroniclers of the natural world' David Wallace-Wells

'A towering achievement; an immense work of research, reflection and imagination' Robert Macfarlane

(P) 2023 Penguin Audio©2023 John Vaillant Disaster Relief Ecosystems & Habitats Environment Nature & Ecology Outdoors & Nature Science Social Sciences Natural Disaster Ecosystem
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Critic reviews

No book feels timelier than John Vaillant's Fire Weather, a deeply reported narrative of one of Canada's most destructive recent wildfires . . . an adrenaline-soaked nightmare that is impossible to put down . . . The drama of the unfolding action and the righteous anger of the polemic concealed within are engrossing (Cal Flyn)
'All-consuming . . . Vaillant's urgent disaster story [is] meticulous in its detail, both human and geological in its scale, and often shocking in its conclusions (Tim Adams)
Superb and terrifying . . . it reads with pace and flair and a rich, furious clarity (Katherine Rundell)
It reads like a thriller. It's a page turner. I could not put it down . . . This is an important book, serious in its focus but utterly compelling in its narrative pace, and it's beautifully written (Andrea Wulf, author The Invention of Nature)
Riveting, spellbinding, astounding on every page. John Vaillant is one of the great poetic chroniclers of the natural world, and here he captures the majesty and horror of one of its great disasters - and what made it tragically possible (David Wallace-Wells)
Page-turning and pacy (Paul Nuki)
All-too-timely . . . This book is both a real-life thriller and a moment-by-moment account of what happened [in the Fort McMurray fire] - and why, as the climate changes and humans don't, it will continue to happen again and again (*The 10 Best Books of 2023*)
Could not be a more timely work . . . Eloquent . . . his powerful book is a must read for anyone interested in our collective future (Nick Rennison)
What makes Fire Weather so good is its in-depth analysis of the moral, political, environmental and even anthropological background to both the climate crisis and our relationship with fire in all its forms . . . We all need to heed this powerful book (Mark Cocker)
Mesmerizing . . . meticulous and meditative (David Wallace-Wells)
Few books on climate change have so viscerally captured the destruction we've wrought . . . This is all captivating, terrifying stuff, especially through Vaillant's excellent storytelling . . . You almost feel as if the paroxysmal blazes will burn to the last page (John Washington)
Provides a refreshingly clear explanation of this hazy, uncanny moment in the earth's history . . . Vaillant is the type of journalist who picks a single narrative and monomaniacally researches it, plunging himself deeper and deeper into the murky details, and then emerges, many years later, with a small universe cupped in his hands . . . by turns heart-racing and horrifying (Robert Moor)
All stars
Most relevant
Nothing. All amazing. Hats off to John Vaillant. I’ve learnt so much. True thanks and gratitude for all the hard work and heart ache. The Tiger is also incredible. ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️

Meticulous research, crafted in such an amazing way. So informative and inspiring.

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This book expertly tells the story of the 2016 Fort McMurray fires in Canada while painting a very clear picture of the industrial backdrop of the Tar sands bitumen sector. The overriding theme of climate change is weaved in and out of the 2016 Fort McMurray story and closely linked in with the ‘petrocene’ era of human history. The story of combustion I found fascinating and had never thought of humans as ‘fire magicians’ before.

I really liked the narrator and found that I wanted to keep listening to his authentic recounting of the various individual stories and accounts.

Definitely recommend - maybe someone should give this book to Donald Trump !!

The one book worth reading on climate change

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A gripping and scary story of an unexpected and unimagined catastrophe. A city of 100,000 people fled their homes suddenly in just a few hours on the afternoon of May 3rd 2016. John Vaillant is a master storyteller; a meticulous, fact-checking researcher; a diligent analyst; and a brave and eloquent teller of truth, even though it might upset some people. His command of the English language, and his ability to paint graphic pictures, with detailed character sketches and wonderful metaphors, make this book a delight. The underbelly of the story is Vaillant's exposé of the petro-chemical and fossil fuel industry. He desribes their behaviour is that of an addict—denial, lies, obfuscation, and the obsession of just wanting more all the time. To fully understand where climate change is taking us, this book leads the way.

To fully understand climate change, this book leads the way.

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I was incredibly impressed by the level of detail, the research and the contextualisation in terms of environmental change and the consequence of widespread fire. Some of the descriptions of Fire are extraordinary and I particularly liked the storytelling around how the main protagonists interacted and how he followed up on the impact on some of their lives. This book was both moving and unforgettable. 

Fire as you have never even imagined it

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One of the most interesting and frightening books I’ve ever read. Gripping and disturbing formative.

Outstanding

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