Portent
James Herbert
New English Library, Hodder and Stoughton, 1992
ISBN 0 450 58885 8

In Portent, Herbert explores the end of the world and the Gaia theory of Lovelock, with a twist. The twist is a supernatural dimension to the story, from Voodoo-like practitioners to identical twins.

The story works extremely well. It follows the process of discovery (and conversion) of the main character, a meteorologist, through various twists and turns. This is set against a backdrop of escalating natural disasters all around the world. The disasters are well portrayed, as are the characters that get caught up in them. The one exception to this, that I found a bit clumsy, was Herbert’s use of colloquial Australian slang in an early chapter. Apart from that, it is done well.

The book has a decent pace and made me want to keep reading. So this is another Herbert that is definitely worth a read.