This is an example of the type of book that Ben Elton writes really well; an issue which you can sense that he cares passionately about. The satire is there and the wit through the characters (Jurgen Thor; a God in name and a God in almost every nature of his body/demeanor). But it's his passion for the environment which shines through and how big business, not only ignores concerns about the future of the planet, but openly tries to profit from its demise. Excellent stuff.

The three stars really reflects my love of Ben Elton. Honestly the book is worth two stars at best.

Usually with a Ben Elton novel I am drawn in from the beginning, loving the intelligent humour and his unique ability to see society for what it is (I would liken him to Cory Doctorow in many ways).

This book was okay. I suspect it was a very early work. It lacked his humour, it didn't grab me. I was mildly bored and almost considered abandoning it. I am glad I finished it but it wasn't great and Ben Elton has a half dozen much better books.

Zoals alle boeken van Ben Elton: fantastisch.

Fun to read. Good holiday book.

Depressingly amusing. Ben Elton airs his grievances about Hollywood and humanity in general.

Not so good this one. It's certainly no First casualty or Two brothers or Time and time again. I found it very thin on plot and tedious to read.

Ended up liking this even better than I thought I might. Elton is reliably comic. What elevates this above mere fun is just how prescient so much of it is. Claustrospheres seems so . . . 2020, in a way. So back in the mid-90s Ben Elton penned this sharp satire about ecological collapse twinned with a global entertainment / marketing scandal. In the future, the coming global disaster will prompt the wealthy and even the middle class to invest in survival pods called Claustrospheres. These self-sustaining bubbles are meant to be the greenhouse gas equivalent of nuclear bunkers: you jump in, you set the time lock and you alone or with loved ones wait out the environmental apocalypse. We are let into the story by Brit screenwriter Nathan Hoddy, who is pitching a script to advertising / Hollywood mogul Plastic Tolstoy. It's something of a side interest, but one senses that Elton's pent-up fury at the media machine that is Hollywood leads to quite a bit of agita being exorcised. There is nothing particularly original or biting in much of this satire: it's fish in a barrel stuff for someone of his gifts and doesn't directly relate to the main plot. This level of the satire is okay but not where the best of Elton's gifts lie in this outing. It seems likely that Elton has (or perhaps he's written it and I haven't heard of it) a full-on Hollywood, America-bashing satire in him (doesn't every Brit disgusted with Lala land?). This isn't it. Hoddy ends up meeting Max, the impossibly beautiful, vain Hollywood star who will be a part of his big pic, if Tolstoy greenlights it. Hoddy's eventual pitch to Tolstoy accidentally lights on the Big Idea (not that big an idea—the notion of the elites creating the crises that enables their oppressive strategies has been around for a while) for his plot which is actually Tolstoy's biggest secret. Violence ensues. The other portion of the plot has to do with a beautiful Irish green activist named Rosalie who meets cute with Max when she invades Tolstoy's Claustrosphere in a political action. Max learns Hoddy's big secret which is really Tolstoy's big secret and the plot is off and running. Rosalie works for a movement led by a Norse god of an environmental icon named Jurgen Thor, who is necessarily caught up in all of this nonsense as well. Elton's plotting isn't exactly a surprise; he does bring together the moving parts in a reasonable fashion with some yuks along the way. It's just really interesting how so many of the things he talks about twenty years ago are still the things we are talking about now. All that's missing currently is a reliable company like Tolstoy's to market our enviro-bubbles. I suppose one could argue current American and European immigration policy is something like an effort to create safe zones free from the coming waves of ecological refugees. We can't be that far away from our own little Edens, a la Elton's vision here however.

A decent thriller built on a satirical critique of rich folks buying their way out of climate change and environmental destruction. I didn't like the protagonist though, and Elton can be annoying in his writing.

Surprising

One of the best futuristic/"the world is going to end" books I have read. So much humor involved in here. Plastic Tolstoy is pinned against the eco-terrorists who try and save the world. Fabulous. An Absolute must.

Bri-i-lliant! You want excitment, adventure, futuristic view of life and entertainment on a long flight, This is the book.

I didn't enjoy this Ben Elton novel as much as his other work. Storyline wise it was a little similar to Stark but it's plot is weaker and it meanders too much. Some of the main characters are frankly ridiculous and I found it difficult to engage with it. Shame as I like his books in general.