Plague Year Series: Difference between revisions

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Though the nanotech isn't instantaneous (taking several hours to kill a human) it ''is'' airborne, and it spreads rapidly. Mass panic happens all over the world as pretty much the entire population of Earth attempts to flee to higher elevations to escape. Anyone not able to reach high ground fast enough succumbs to the plague. In the space of days, five billion are dead. [[It Gets Worse]] when the survivors who managed to make it to altitude [[No Party Like a Donner Party|find themselves without any food or supplies]]; many more people die of starvation and in-fighting on isolated mountain peaks around the world.

''Plague Year'' primarly follows two character. The first is [[Younger Than They Look|Cam]] [[Badass Spaniard|Najarro]], a young ski rat who happens to be at the local resort when the plague strikes. Cam and the other survivors at the resort quickly find their fortune turn to a bitter struggle for survival as food runs out, with starvation [[I Did What I Had to Do|eventually leading to cannibalism]]. When a man [[Only Known By Their Nickname|named Hollywood]] arrives, [[Almost Dead Guy|half-dead from the plague]] but promising better supplies and food if he's followed back to his peak, Cam jumps at the chance to leave the [[My God What Have I Done|hell of the ski resort]]. [[The Atoner|Along with Sawyer]], a fellow survivor who seems to be [[Mad Scientist|suspiciously knowledgeable]] about the plague, Cam begins a dangerous journey into the nano-infested lower altitudes, with the hope of reaching Hollywood's camp before their insides are liquified by the plague.

''Plague Year'' primarly follows two character. The first is [[Younger Than They Look|Cam]] [[Badass Spaniard|Najarro]], a young ski rat who happens to be at the local resort when the plague strikes. Cam and the other survivors at the resort quickly find their fortune turn to a bitter struggle for survival as food runs out, with starvation [[I Did What I Had to Do|eventually leading to cannibalism]]. When a man [[Only Known By Their Nickname|named Hollywood]] arrives, [[Almost Dead Guy|half-dead from the plague]] but promising better supplies and food if he's followed back to his peak, Cam jumps at the chance to leave the [[My God, What Have I Done?|hell of the ski resort]]. [[The Atoner|Along with Sawyer]], a fellow survivor who seems to be [[Mad Scientist|suspiciously knowledgeable]] about the plague, Cam begins a dangerous journey into the nano-infested lower altitudes, with the hope of reaching Hollywood's camp before their insides are liquified by the plague.

The second main character is a [[Hot Scientist|brilliant nanotech researcher]] named Ruth who was put aboard the International Space Station by the U.S. Government at the first sign of the nanotech plague. Ruth is one of the only remaining scientist with advanced enough knowledge to possibly create a vaccine to the plague, and the ISS is perfect sactuary from the plague. The tattered remains of the government (now set up in Leadville, CO) has [[New World Order|alternate plans]] for how the vaccine [[President Evil|will be used, though...]]

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=== This series provides examples of: ===

* [[After the End]]: The series occurs after the nanotech plague has already killed the majority of the population. In ''Plague Zone'' it is briefly mentioned that the remainder of the human race numbers no more than 500 million.

* [[But What About the Astronauts]]?: Slightly subverted with Ruth, in that she's sent to the ISS specifically to avoid the nanotech plague.

* [[But What About the Astronauts?]]?: Slightly subverted with Ruth, in that she's sent to the ISS specifically to avoid the nanotech plague.

* [[The Deadliest Mushroom]]: After {{spoiler|Leadville}} is nuked in the second book, {{spoiler|along with large chunks of the U.S. as nuclear war breaks out,}} avoiding the clouds of fallout becomes a major concern for the characters. {{spoiler|At least until the [[Healing Factor]] nano effectively makes them immune to low amounts of radiation}}.

* [[Depopulation Bomb]]: The nanotech not only kills off most of humanity, but ''every single warm blooded creature below 10,00 feet''.

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* [[Inferred Holocaust]]: Completely averted with regards to the Earth's ecosystem. The author goes to great pains to describe what the realistic consequences of nearly all warm-blooded animals being wiped out would be.

* [[The Plague]]: Although not a plague in the tradtional biological sense, since simply going above 10,000 feet gets rid of it.

* [[Mike Nelson Destroyer of Worlds]]: The various nanotechs in the series were all created by scientists who were trying to do good things (cure cancer, reverse the nano plague, etc).

* [[Mike Nelson, Destroyer of Worlds]]: The various nanotechs in the series were all created by scientists who were trying to do good things (cure cancer, reverse the nano plague, etc).

* [[Mind Virus]]: Explored in the third novel, with a nano-virus that renders its victims similar to mindless zombies (but still very much alive).

* [[Mohs Scale of Science Fiction Hardness]]: Pretty far toward the "hard" end of the scale, with realistic depictions of ecological collapse and nanotech that isn't simply "magic" but has defined and somewhat realistic limitations.

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* [[The Swarm]]: Insects are largely unaffected by the plague. With the death of all warm-blooded animals below 10,000 feet, the insect population explodes. This leads to countless dramatic moments where our heroes have to avoid, lead enemies into, and/or run away from horrific swarms of ants, yellow jackets, etc.

* [[Twenty Minutes Into the Future]]: The dates are unclear, but the setting is ostensibly "modern day", with the advanced nanotechnology being the only futuristic part of the setting.

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes]]: Since reptiles are one of the only major animal groups to survive (along with insects), they end up having a population explosion. The characters are thus frequently running into "nests" filled with thousands of snakes.

* [[Why Did It Have to Be Snakes?]]: Since reptiles are one of the only major animal groups to survive (along with insects), they end up having a population explosion. The characters are thus frequently running into "nests" filled with thousands of snakes.

* [[World War III]]: Pretty much what happens in the sequels, ''Plague War'' and ''Plague Zone'', as the remaining governments of the world fight over the limited "islands" of safety. {{spoiler|Later the war moves to being a race to see who can develop the nano-vaccine first, as the nation that does this will thus have control over who has ''access'' to the vaccine and can essentially rule the world with it.}}