put into their cellar. Frank, joining other volunteers in deploying sandbags out in the storm, is amazed to see his mystery woman pass in a boat up the river. Spotting the boat's number, he gets her phone number and calls her; she promises that, after a while, she will call him back. After days, the storm and the floodwaters subside. Charlie, finally arranging a lift home from the office, says to Senator Chase, "Are you going to do something about global warming now?" Themes The need to tackle climate change on both national policy and international relations levels The clash between the scientific opinion on climate change and bureaucratic climate change denial Current sea level rise Human behavioral ecology and evolutionary psychology The prisoner's dilemma and morality The value and limitations of peer review Reception Rick Kleffel began a strong review with a strong statement: Robert K. J. Killheffer in his review for Fantasy & Science Fiction said "Forty Signs of Rain is a fascinating depiction of the workings of science and politics, and an urgent call for us to pull our heads from the sand and confront the threat of climate change. We should listen." The reviewer for SF Site was also interested in the scientific themes, calling the novel "one of the most chilling" and "one of the most important and thought provoking books" she had read that year: "Greed is the key, here, and it's a tragedy. ... This book is a wake up call of sorts, to scientists in the United States especially, to go out and fight for what they believe in." Kirkus Reviews was critical, saying, "As stiff and hard SF as they were, the Mars books succeeded through the sheer chutzpah of their epic insight. This one feels like the ho-hum preview for a run-of-the-mill end-of-the-world story." Publishers Weekly said, "Robinson's tale lacks the drama and excitement of such other novels dealing with global climate change as Bruce Sterling's Heavy Weather and John Barnes' Mother of Storms, but his portrayal of how actual scientists would deal with this disaster-in-the-making is utterly convincing. Robinson clearly cares deeply about our planet's future, and he makes the reader care as well." Lara Apps wrote, "The result is a slow-building, educational and entertaining introduction to what promises to be a provocative and exciting trilogy." Jerry Wright, admitting that Robinson's "politics leave me cold," concluded, "Robinson seems to