Brown Posey Press Show--Tory Gates interviews Matt Ritter

Entering the growing genre of Climate Fiction is "Rainwalkers," a novel set in the near-distant future. With a failing environment, a deconstructed United States and endless war against indistinct enemies, a once-thiriving agricultural region is now "The Valley," a dying land overseen by dictators. A desperate attempt to bring back the rain has made it toxic to all but a handful of children, called Rainwalkers.

A former soldier, Willie Taft is in a race to find his daughter, while staying one step ahead of a law that is discretionary. A scientist with a moral conscience considers what he has done, and others merely fight to stay alive.

Matt Ritter is a professor of biology in San Luis Obispo, California. He writes of the state's natural history, including the award-winning "California Plants."