In the future, Earth's middle latitudes have turned to desert. Countries have dissolved and disappeared. The people of Earth have come together in six regional alliances.
To keep the surviving populace of Earth engaged and entertained, the Earth Alliance Government have promoted a deadly, futuristic version of baseball — the rules have drastically changed to allow for violent play on the field.
That's the backdrop in Whitefish author Ray Boudreau's new self-published science fiction book, “A Future Pastime.”
The book focuses on four young boys who play baseball together in the minor leagues — youth baseball doesn't have the same violent nature.
But they're all eventually drafted into the majors, and eventually meet in a Major League Alliance World Series final game.
An an off-the-field incident results in the death of one of the boys, Boisie. His brother, Dean, blames Boisie's death on one of the other boys, Ray, and vows to kill him on the baseball field, to avenge his brother’s death.
In an all or nothing final World Series Baseball game, the truth of Boisie’s demise is revealed in the savage way the boys play against each other.
Boudreau said he's a lifelong fan of baseball. He's played since he was a young boy growing up in Sudbury.
“I started playing with the men's teams when I was 16,” he said. “Nobody wanted to be the catcher, so they put this skinny little blonde guy behind the plate, and that was me.”
A miner who worked all over the world for 45 years, Boudreau just retired this past November. He said he's always written short stories, but decided he was going to write a novel as a retirement project.
“A Future Pastime” is just the first book in a series he's calling the “Diamainium Nova Series.”
He's also completed the second book in the series, “An Incandescent Hardness,” but said he's like to market the first book a bit more, as he's only sold about 80 copies since it was released in March.
Boudreau said he first got the idea for a book about a futuristic game of baseball in 2002. He kept making notes and working on the idea in his spare time until he had enough material for a book.
Anyone who's interested in purchasing a copy of Boudreau's book can do so at Chapters Sudbury or at Battistelli's Your Independent Grocer in Lively. They're also available through online retailers such as Amazon.
Boudreau said he encourages anyone who's read the book to give it an online review on Amazon.
@heidi_ulrichsen
