Seventeen Winters by Winter Consul Lance Jones

Thanks to the Nature Conservancy 

Title: Seventeen Winters 

Author: Winter Consul Lance Jones

Publisher: not known 

Source book: Early Riser by Jasper Fforde

Seventeen Winters sounds suspiciously like a book written by a politician to tell the unwashed masses what they already know.

The premise of Early Riser is that nearly everyone hibernates for four months each winter. A few people stay awake, some become Winter Consuls, tasked with ensuring the safety of the sleepers, and this book looks as though it’s telling us that hibernation wasn’t always as safe as it is now. And perhaps Lance Jones has been a Winter Consul for an unthinkable seventeen winters so he knows what he is talking about. It sounds like hard work.

We learn that the Winter Consul Service has been running for barely four centuries and the work they do had originally been the work of night watchmen (think Rembrandt’s Night Watch). Life expectancy for Consuls is not high, but it seems to be suitably well remunerated. We also learn that Winter Consuls are never very comfortable with summer. Not having the whole of Seventeen Winters to read I can’t say why the Consuls should be so enthusiastic about winter. For myself, it’s the lack of buzzing insects and pollen that makes winter so much better than summer. I love winter. So long as the sun shines…

However, as I have struggled with insomnia since I was about 6, I find the concept of going to sleep for months on end very difficult. I still find it difficult to get to sleep, and frequently wake up many times in the night. I don’t mind getting up from a quick pee, but waking what feels like 75 times is exhausting.

There is also A Guide to Winternomics. Described as a Consul Pamphlet. So presumably a leaflet written solely for Winter Consuls. It’s a creepy instruction that you could borrow or lend in the “lawless world of deep winter”. And what happens if your debtee dies before waking up. I really don’t like the idea that a Winter Consul could borrow from a person about to sleep for four months, and who might never wake up. It all sounds a bit dodgy don’t you think?

Also thanks to Reuters
Snowy weather in London often comes with grey overcast skies