The End and Afterwards is a Science Fiction novel by Andy Cooke.
Tropes:
- 20 Minutes into the Future: Society is a little more advanced. We've invented fusion power and a drive system that makes short-range interstellar travel feasible. Also, Somalia has gone democratic, and is prosperous enough to afford a bioweapons program as a defense against the exiled Warlords.
- Apocalypse How: Class 4.5, Ecosystem Destruction. Within a few years, there will be nothing living on the surface of the Earth. Slightly downgraded by the third book, as the survivors have figured out how to survive the ultraviolet spring. But the planet is still so completely devastated that the plan is still to evacuate everyone to Alpha Centauri.
- Bittersweet Ending: 99.9% of the human race is dead, and the Earth is about to become uninhabitable, but those aboard the Endeavor, and those that the Endurance can rescue, will be able to survive at Alpha Centauri.
- Cool and Unusual Punishment: Pip sentences Mbutu to only eat Brussels sprouts for a year, as penance for creating the Nigerian flu.
- Dangerous Orbital Debris: Enough ejecta are produced to cut Earth off from space for almost a decade. There's a window of a few days before full-on Kessler Syndrome sets in, during which the Endeavor launches a rescue mission to the clearest part of the planet — and still loses a shuttle to a high-altitude collision.
- Death Equals Redemption: Corbin Anders stops Andrew Jackson from shooting down the shuttles.
- The Fundamentalist: Corbin Anders, who opposes the Starship Project on religious grounds. Played with in that many of his arguments are on the liberal side, stating that the project is a waste of resources that could be used to alleviate human suffering on Earth. Andrew Jackson plays this straighter.
- Hope Spot: One of the researchers who helped hack Space Pioneer realizes he can stop it. Despite being sick as a dog, he tries to drive to his office. He gets hit by a car.
- The Plague: Zig-zagged with the Nigerian flu. As designed, it doesn't actually kill directly. It just puts you out of commission for a couple of weeks. The problem is that if everyone is out of commission, society temporarily collapses. It also helps to kill the best shot anyone had at stopping Space Pioneer from impacting the Earth.
