Linda is desperate to be chosen, one of the lucky eight to take part in the world's most pioneering ecological experiment. Who better-equipped than she to survive under the glass dome of Ecosphere Two, which rises like a spaceship from the Arizona desert? Competition is fierce between the hopefuls, among them smooth-talking PR man Ramsay and innocent beauty Dawn, Linda's best friend. All are certain that they would never, ever, break closure before two years are up - unlike their discredited Mission One predecessors.
Inside this humid microcosm, with its medley of ecosystems, the terranauts' labours over crops and livestock, their battles with unexpected creepy crawlies, their sexual dalliances, tensions and hostilities - all can be observed by the stream of tourists who come to gawp, Mission Control's cameras and the watchful eye of the media. As the crewmembers struggle to control nature, and hunger sets in, the snake in this manmade Eden starts to look unmistakably human.
Inspired by real-life events, The Terranauts is an acutely insightful, darkly comic story of human behaviour, animal instincts, idealism and ambition. Putting utopian visions and individual motives under the microscope, this is T. C. Boyle at his acerbic, pitch-perfect best.
