Water Memory: a novel

Tom Strelich

Mar 2023 · Owl Canyon Press

About this ebook

And that's the funny thing about the end of the world, they never tell you how long it's going to take. Too bad they couldn't be more specific.

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The earth's magnetic poles have reversed and civilization has just had its clock reset to the great cosmic flashing 12:00am from almost a million years ago, and humanity, and everybody in it, is pretty much forgetting everything it learned since the last time.

Everybody except Hertell Daggett, who remembers pretty much everything because he'd once been shot in the head — the doctors got the bullet out, but missed a few tiny specks of copper that remained, floating inside his brain, connecting him to the things everybody else on earth is slowly forgetting. 

Hertell sees an opportunity to start civilization all over again, and maybe even get it right this time. What could possibly go wrong? 

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Ratings and reviews

A great and hilarious read -- This is a great satirical, dark (and bright) novel in line with Kurt Vonnegut and Christopher Buckley. It is a well written extrapolation of some of the craziest parts of our current world condition, with a dash of future hopefulness and evolvability that is always within reach of our creative species. And by saying well written I mean the words roll through the brain in a smooth and easy manner. Ready for his next book !

Hertell Daggett Jr., an adopted father figure to a community that opted out of our civilization returns to our near-future society and finds a world unwittingly sliding into an off-brand apocalypse. A rather routine magnetic pole reversal is rapidly eroding humans’ long-term memories. Hertell’s state of affairs seem like a natural extension of Hank Devereaux Jr.’s (Straight Man, 1997). Both shine fresh askew daylight on our big picture absurdities, which are often too near to spot.

A long awaited and most satisfying sequel to Dog Logic Tom Strelich does a wonderful job taking you back into the world of Hertell Daggett and Muster Seed. My favorite part of this book, and its predecessor, is the smart, subtle humor and irreverence imbedded in a very thought provoking narrative. The commentary this book offers on humanity and the condition of our society is devastatingly well put: it is sobering and profound and honest, it is brilliant. The audio production most satisfying.