El Niño

A boy appears who seems able to give the world what humanity has always prayed for: an end to conflict poverty disease. Is he an illusion conjured up by mass hysteria or is he the long-awaited messiah? Different narrators in various parts of the world from a Protestant minister in New York to a young Hindu in Sri Lanka to a doctor in central Africa tell their stories of the boy but dont always agree on whether their dreams have come true or whether they have lost something important. How much would we be willing to sacrifice? Reminiscent of Arthur C. Clarkes Childhoods End Buchan carries off a provocative thought-experiment on humanitys genetic and spiritual transformation: challenging readers to consider what we would be willing to give up in order to move our species from disease and conflict to health and contentment. In clear prose he delivers first-person testimonials from around the world capturing the sense of different places and depicting the human condition in this poignant atlas of the soul. --Jeff Stickney co-author of Wittgensteins Education: A Picture Held Us Captive Bryan Buchans El Nino does exactly what a thought-provoking novel is supposed to do: it asks lifes big questions and encourages readers to contemplate what a different better world might look like. Its a novel that is both global in scope yet intimate and personal in its details. A remarkable novel written by a gifted writer. --Alfred Falkenberg Department Head of English Bayview Secondary School Bryan Buchan is a former teacher and author of three earlier novels. He lives in Richmond Hill Ontario.