This is what you might call eco-SF. Mankind has almost destroyed the animals; now the animals get a turn. No doubt the title is a reference to the famous Greenpeace boat that was bombed by the French in New Zealand in 1985.
The author is quite an interesting character. A professional historian, and the author of a famous hoax about how Dickens met Dostoevsky, first apparently revealed in a non-existent letter published in a non-existent journal, but actually referred to and made public in The Dickensian, a journal of Dickens studies, in which Harvey wrote up the letter and the incident to which it referred as a pseudonymous Stephanie Harvey. The editor of the journal later offered to resign (clearly, diligence had not been done).
I don't finish books very often, but I finished this one. It held my attention reliably and even toward the end, I was still wondering how it would end. And it was not a bad ending. In addition to which, I wouldn't normally be attracted to anything called "eco-SF." I try to stay away from professional rabble-rousing. But the first few pages of this one were interesting. And then, oddly enough, the rest of it was too!
Here's an article about the author, one I thought was quite interesting and informative:
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2013/jul/10/man-behind-dickens-dostoevsky-hoax
In the article, the author claims to be creative and inventive, and I think he's right. In fact, so many of the details of history that he does include in the book seem irrelevant or beside the point that I really think he should have been a fiction writer all along, and missed his calling.
I won't be reading it again. But it was a short, sharp introduction into a mostly new world, its main characters were consistently interesting and believable, and it was absolutely worth the time invested.
by tolkienfan2759