andy jennings

Extract from "2032" by Andrew Jennings. Available in all ebook stores now. Cabinet meetings were of a size larger than Jack liked to deal with. Nominally it was 20 people. But with advisors hovering it stretched to something like 100, spread across two or even three rooms. Today was focused on security. The upstart government was surrounded by enemies. He tuned in as an army major stood at the lectern. “Fortunately the geography works in our favour. With a combined satellite and drone surveillance it is a simple matter to keep the northern plains free. North of the dividing range in the agricultural zones there is very little cover.” He brought up a map showing the zone. Between Albury and Shepparton, and north of Bendigo there were great open spaces. The red swathe was broad and like a circle. He thought about asking about sea-born attacks from the south, where there seemed to be no defences, but he was cautious about making an idiot of himself in such a large gathering...

Extract from "2032" by Andrew Jennings. Available in all ebook stores now. "Somewhere between 1 and 2" an eager face responded. Noah struggled to process that. Of course he meant somewhere between 1 and 2 million people. Where on earth do you put them all? Something like one fifth of the entire population of Melbourne. Spread throughout the city. For Ruby’s speech. A very important speech. Marking the new beginning, setting an agenda. Consolidating power. "How do we fit them?" Noah asked the obvious question. Jack turned towards him. "As far out as Brunswick. On the street. Everywhere." "Screens?" Noah asked Those without the augmented reality viewers would gather in parks. But most had the viewers that projected onto glasses. You got the speech overlayed on top of the scene you were looking at. He  hesitated to ask the most obvious question. "Security?" Ruby looked up. Glanced at Jack. “If they fly anything in pas...

Extract from "2032" by Andrew Jennings. Available in all ebook stores now.  “Just like old times.” Noah said “Yes.” Ruby replied. Jack just smiled. In a sense it was. They would meet at the beginning of the day. Somewhere. Perhaps a cafe, or later on in a rented meeting room. Now it was the same schedule, but with quite a different view. Early in the day they could see all the way to Geelong. A few stray clouds drifted above the bay. As the day progressed, the heat would burn them off and the thin line of sand they could see would have many people on it. Below them, the MCG would hold a cricket match. Life went on. While it was possible to get 100,000 people to a sporting event you would struggle to get 10,000 to a political rally. Ruby began. “Employment practices. The sweep. We have separated them into segments. About 60% of employers are ok. A bit of dodging this and that, but they are not really a problem. Then there are about 40% that are seriously out of whack. I...

"Perilous Republic" my novel available in all ebook stores. It is set in Melbourne Australia in the late 2020s. Some time ago I was in hospital for a few days, and I had a copy of Piketty 'Capital in the 21st century'. It is comprehensive both across cultures and through time. The book has some simple but frightening conclusions. That inequality is the result of the naked exercise of power, that throughout history it has followed a pattern of increasing to the point where it is totally irrational. Then at some point it all breaks down, either through war or revolution. My protagonists are proponents of "normal capitalism" or the perhaps unlikely "capitalism with a human face". How might they fix the housing problems? How might they fix very low wages and poor working conditions? You might think of simply seizing all the property and redistributing it, or something like that. But they don't want to do that. They want to somehow get from ...