Eruption

Active volcanoes are a thing this year in Europe, with Etna dominating the fireworks and disturbing flights to Sicily, and Naples being painfully reminded that they literally sit on what could be one of the largest and most devastating outbreaks in terms of damage to human settlement in modern times. The story intertwines well-researched know-how about seismology, volcano science and potential lava-flow management techniques with obscene self-portrayal in times of social media stardom, local politics and military secrecy / cover-up tactics. Two master storytellers worked on this thriller, which was promising a lot - maybe setting expectations too high. There are sections where detailed storytelling is followed by ultra-fast action elements, which can be slightly disturbing. Overall, the story works and wants to be read fast, and the protagonists are mostly imaginable in their behaviour. A small dose of romantic elements have found their way into the story as well. I could imagine the story could work well on screen as a short series of 4-6 episodes. Epic landscapes, a slowly developing catastophe, a second catastrophe that is linked to this first one, some high-tech wizardry, frantic activity to prevent damage, as well as really brave and plain stupid actions by protagonists. Gripping entertainment.