Since the tragic event in NEOM six months earlier, the Renaissance scientific expedition, as initiated by Jeremy and Sylvia, has been sailing the Pacific Ocean and the Sea of Japan. Technological and ecological discoveries, chance encounters, boarding attempts, and a term in prison will punctuate their stopovers in Femina, Australia and Astral.
In Sylvia’s absence, Grandpa Phil is appointed interim Minister of Mother Earth. He will have to face up to matters of a personal and political nature, culminating in the loss of a loved one, and he will be reunited with a person he thought was lost forever as well as coping with an epidemic in Polis.
Astral, born from the merger between Russia and China, is in the middle of an election campaign. The current government, led by Lorenzo, will deploy an unprecedented innovation to avert a potential global catastrophe. It will also face a rebellion from Treebal, the main opposition party. Draconian and repressive measures, surveillance capitalism and technological, energy and ecological options will mark out the fundamental differences between the two parties. A few days before the vote, Mark, the chief astrophysicist on the Renaissance mission, discovers an imminent threat to Mother Earth and her inhabitants. Will the totally unexpected appearance of some new characters help them face this danger and achieve their quest?
Astral, the second volume of the “After Tomorrow” trilogy, explores the alternative solutions that already exist in terms of energy resources, ecology, planetary limits, systems of governance and public policy. It also takes a critical look at the challenges facing our generation and those to come in an epic journey that will also take in Bhutan, Tibet, and Inner Mongolia.