Review: `Everybody, sooner or later, sits down to a banquet of consequences.' Robert Lewis Stevenson
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 09 27, 2013
Brian Bloom, originally from South Africa but now living in Australia, has a rich background in law, finance and manufacturing which serve him well for this philosophical treatise masquerading as a fascinating novel. His rhythm of writing feels as comfortable as the Australian pub talk his characters Mitch and Luke who open his book and it is with dexterity of form that he introduces the concepts of his thinking within the construct of his second `factional novel' (the first being the popular `Beyond Neanderthal'). His drivers are to stimulate sensible discussion about the future: the launching pad will be to harness universally ubiquitous energy.'As Bloom has said, `The Last Finesse has an entertaining and diverting storyline. Once again, through the medium of a relaxing fictional storyline, ideas are put forward regarding what we might do to dig our way out of the seemingly inescapable quagmire in which humanity now finds itself bogged. The darkness of one phase of human existence is receding. The dazzling brightness of a new chapter is peeping over the horizon. The wheels of evolution continue to turn.' The themes of The Last Finesse are: What caused the Global Financial Crisis?, Muslims, Jews and Christians can get along fine, and End of a financial era is approaching. `. `It is against this background that I now put forward for your consideration the need for all countries to willingly embrace an over-arching Nova Magna Carta - a Great New Charter - in which the principles of ethical behavior with which we should all comply would be outlined and to which all promulgated laws of humankind would become subservient. In relation to nuclear energy in particular, although there might be an argument to support the embracement of this technology as a matter of priority, it should be a non-negotiable condition precedent to its embracement that a Nova Magna Carta is first put in place. Given all the uncertainties and challenges humanity now faces, we should not only make the satisfaction of this condition precedent a priority; we should consider it a matter of urgency.'Bloom's ideas are isolated here, away from his novel story, because they deserve deep thought. Granted his novel is entertaining with a humorous storyline that leads the reader through the maze of disinformation on subjects like nuclear energy and climate change that pervades the commercially self-interested media. And the character in whose mouths and actions he places these nuances are well developed and credible. The novel is a bit long and does steer away from close attention to certain aspects of his storyline, but in the end the meat of his ideas so indeed provide a sense of optimism for our future, and for a `factional thriller' that is a nice turn. For this reader the concepts he probes are more interesting than the thriller line he has, nonetheless, adroitly created. Grady Harp, September 13