Bob Bridges: An Apocalyptic Fable

Bob Bridges: An Apocalyptic Fable, Penny Perkins, Chrome Deco Press, 1999

Bob Bridges is a computer programmer in late 20th Century America. His attempts to warn his employer about the coming catastrophe called Y2K get him fired from his consultant job. That night, Bob is visited by a talking cockroach named Cock. A lover of philosophy, Cock gives Bob a stark choice. Y2K is real and will lead to the destruction of humanity within a decade. So Bob can stay and die, or return with Cock to the far future, where cockroaches rule, and help solve a huge mystery about "contemporary" humanity.

Several billion years from now, the first thing Bob sees in waking up after his one-way journey is a 6 foot tall cockroach standing over him. Bob screams, the cockroach does the equivalent, and Bob requires a lot of calming down by Cock after being told that all cockroaches are this size. Thank heavens for the calming properties of chocolate, a constant supply of which helps Bob to function semi-normally. When going outside, Bob must wear a radiation suit at all times. The decimated ozone layer is being rebuilt, slowly but surely, through, shall we say, cockroach digestive processes. After a few days of acclimation to his surroundings, Bob is taken to a temple to explain what seems to show that 20th Century mankind was a sun-worshipping culture, like Ancient Egypt. What Bob sees, causes him, in a fit of despair, to rip off his radiation suit, frying himself instantly.

This is a really good novel. It's nice and apocalyptic, the author does a good job throughout and it rates very high on the Strange Meter. The reader will certainly learn more than they ever wanted to know about cockroaches. Two thumbs up.