The Quiet Earth
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| Author | Craig Harrison |
|---|---|
| Country | New Zealand |
| Language | English |
| Publisher | |
| Released | 1981 |
| ISBN | 0-340-26507-8 |
The Quiet Earth is a 1981 science fiction novel (ISBN 0-340-26507-8) by New Zealand writer Craig Harrison, about Zac Hobson, a scientist who wakes up one morning to find out that apparently he is the last person left on the planet Earth. He and his fellow scientists have been working on a project to harness interspatial energy, and this seems to be the result.
It was made into a 1985 New Zealand science fiction film directed by Geoff Murphy, featuring Bruno Lawrence as Zac Hobson.
[edit] Synopsis
The main character has been involved in the development of a new "power grid" system (on behalf of the USA). The stated use of this system is that it will allow aircraft to draw energy from a series of generators based on the planets surface. The main character questions the use of this and attempts to commit suicide, only to wake and find that he (and two others) are the only survivors on (his part) of the earth. It becomes apparent that they had all died at the precise moment that the grid was switched on. During the course of the events the main character voices his belief that the project he was working on was not what was advertised "the Americans were always withholding information" Also all the characters had experienced a sensation of traveling down a tunnel (at the moment of death) but had not managed to reach the end. It soon becomes clear that the planet is about to suffer another "effect" and to stop this the main character drives a lorry, laden with explosives into the local power relay station. He dies at the moment that the "effect" is taking place and wakes to find himself on a shoreline, with a ringed planet rising very close and what appears to be mushroom clouds in the sky. Quite what this means is a matter of some speculation, however it appears logical that the "power grid" project was an attempt to create a spacial transfer system of some kind and that the main character completed his trip through the tunnel on the second pulse, arriving on the destination planet.
