Skip to content
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • PodBean
  • Subscribe To My Pal Sammy Newsletter
  • ABOUT
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms

My Summer Lair

My Summer Lair is hosted by Sammy Younan

  • Home
  • Podcast
    • My Summer Lair
    • Space Station Oddity
  • Set The VCR
  • New Book Alert
  • True Sammy Stories
  • Toggle search form

190 | Claire Holroyde (The Effort)

Posted on March 2, 2021June 29, 2022 By Sammy Younan No Comments on 190 | Claire Holroyde (The Effort)

My Summer Lair Chapter #190: What Would You Do If Faced With An Extinction Level Event?

Here’s a striking image that lends itself to easy metaphor: The Effort, a sci-fi novel by Claire Holroyde begins with an 8 kilometer dark comet UD3 emerging from a blind spot hurtling towards Earth.

We never saw it coming…so as the novel unfolds humans have one year left before it hits. As the citizens of Earth grapple with the devastating news a group of scientists and nerds gather together in a Defense Effort (get it?) to avoid doom, disaster and death.

Super compelling; The NY Times listed The Effort in New & Noteworthy and I agree. It offers a number of perspectives as each member in the cast has their own hopes, setbacks and classic existential despair from a polar icebreaker to South America and lots more remarkable locations.

And sure this is a science-fiction novel and yeah it is a near-future novel but doesn’t that image also reflect our tepid responses to the environment? It’s our blind spot…often we fail to operate with a sense of urgency; with maximum effort recognizing it’s a crisis.

At least in this novel they have a clear timeframe: 1 year or else…extinction. Just like the dinosaurs.

Perhaps it’s human nature…we know we shouldn’t smoke or eat at McDonalds; we should sleep more and let friends know we appreciate them and love them and yet for all the common knowledge of all the things we should be doing and the things we’re not doing…we keep rolling on; not aware of our blind spots.

What are we overlooking?

What obvious signs have we ignored?

Like we’ve all watched Deep Impact, Armageddon and similar blockbusters offering up the same flimsy hopeful message: when the pressing issue is at hand we are galvanized.

There’s a lot going on; which is impressive considering The Effort is Clair’s debut novel. So here she is talking and exploring all these themes with me; making her debut on My Summer Lair as I give this sci-fi novel The Effort…the old college try.

Claire Holroyde @ W • T • F

Host & Photography Sammy Younan

Recorded: Wednesday January 26, 2022 at 7pm

Stress free pop culture tastefully harvested for your divine delight. Once a week a carefully curated edition of My Pal Sammy goes directly to your inbox. Sign up for my newsletter so we can have some fun…before a dark comet takes us all out!

My Summer Lair, Podcast Tags:Claire Holroyde, New Book Alert, Science-Fiction, The Effort

Post navigation

Previous Post: 189 | Michael Holley (The Big Three: Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, and the Rebirth of the Boston Celtics)
Next Post: 191 | Simon King (As Good As Or Better Than)

More Related Articles

179 | Zack O’Malley Greenburg (A-List Angels) My Summer Lair
Reading is FUNdamental: Tanking to the Top: The Philadelphia 76ers and the Most Audacious Process in the History of Professional Sports My Summer Lair
174 | Sam Roberts (All of Us) My Summer Lair
171 | Scott Listfield (Quarantine) My Summer Lair
191 | Simon King (As Good As Or Better Than) My Summer Lair
130 | Nicholas Parisi (Rod Serling: His Life, Work & Imagination) My Summer Lair

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

  • #SetTheVCR: August 08-14, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Dreams, Devils, and the Dead: ah yes welcome back to #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: August 01-07, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Taking a Quantum Leap you'll dig this week's #SetTheVCR: it's got Jokes. And if not the Sandman will come to you with dreams. All win!
  • #SetTheVCR: July 25-31, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Pennywise gets a Last Dance. It's that kind of #SetTheVCR week.
  • #SetTheVCR: July 18-24, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    This is The Captain speaking: We got all kinds of Last Dances for this week's #SetTheVCR. From The Gray Man, a Last Dance from assassins, to Don McLean, to O.J. Simpson, there's something for everyone here. Let's face the music and Last Dance, shall we?
  • #SetTheVCR: July 11-17, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Let's have an Uncharted and Unprecedented Hart to Heart about this week's #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: July 4-10, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    It's a Teen-Tastic week at #SetTheVCR: with characters struggling with Trigger Points seeking their Independence Day. Let's reach for the Moon…haven on TV this week…shall we begin?
  • #SetTheVCR: June 27-July 03, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Welcome to #SetTheVCR where this week it is murder most howl! We got a woman's basketball team eliminating the competition, black comics who are killing it, Chris Pratt has gone Terminal, Bond's stylish watch says it's No Time To Die and murders in a building. My "body" of work includes many puns. Let's investigate what's on TV this week.
  • #SetTheVCR: June 20-26, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    This week starts off with revenge and ends with mindfulness and Zen. In between is a multiverse of possibilities. It's what you'd expect from the Man from Toronto who writes #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: June 13-19, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    We got miracles and music, high stakes baseball and basketball...so it's either The Summer I Turned Pretty or the latest #SetTheVCR.
  • #SetTheVCR: June 6-12, 2022
    by Sammy Younan
    Netflix Geeks Hustle for stand up-comedy: it's that type of #SetTheVCR week.
  • MSL Space Station Oddity: Contact Photography Festival 2022 | Culture SnapMay 20, 2022
    Sammy is joined by photographer Henry VanderSpek aka Culture Snap to discuss and recommend a happy handful of Contact Photography Festival exhibitions.
  • MSL Space Station Oddity: 2021 Induction Ceremony | Rock & Roll Hall of FameNovember 26, 2021

    Sammy & Stephanie discuss their happy highlights from the 2021 Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony broadcast on HBO Max on Saturday, November 20 at 8 p.m.

  • MSL Space Station Oddity: Top 5 Favourite ”Monsters”October 30, 2021

    Sammy & Stephanie discuss their Top 5 Favourite Monsters: from vampires to They Live aliens to Hal 9000 to Annie Wilkes and much more!

  • MSL Space Station Oddity: Being James BondOctober 8, 2021

    Recorded Live on Twitter Spaces: Sammy & Stephanie discuss Being James Bond. The 45 minute documentary TV special in anticipation of No Time To Die.

  • MSL Space Station Oddity: ClickbaitOctober 1, 2021

    Sammy & Stephanie discuss Netflix's Clickbait. An 8 episode limited series released on August 25, 2021.


  • New Book Alert: January 10-14, 2022
    by Sammy Younan

    My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.

  • New Book Alert: January 3-7, 2022
    by Sammy Younan

    My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.

  • New Book Alert: November 8-12, 2021
    by Sammy Younan

    My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.

  • New Book Alert: November 1-5, 2021
    by Sammy Younan

    My weekly collection of new and notable books for your pop culture pleasure and edification: #ReadMoreTweetLess.

  • 221 | Kat Rosenfield (No One Will Miss Her)
    by Sammy Younan

    My Summer Lair host Sammy Younan interviews writer Kat Rosenfield whose latest novel is No One Will Miss Her a fantastic murder mystery thriller.

Copyright © 2022 My Summer Lair.

Powered by PressBook Premium theme