Sci-Fi post-apocalyptic drama
On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
Reviewed by me as part of Rosie Amber's Book Review Team
I
LOVED this book! Read it over a period
of 24 hours, hated having to put it down.
The
story takes place in year 2181. 120 years
after various events that devastated the world as we know it, the chosen people
of 'State 11', formerly the UK, reside in 'Citidomes', in which their lives are
easy, comfortable - and controlled.
Residents live not in families or couples but with their selected 'resmates',
and aspire to join the BodyPerfect clan: women who look like anorexic supermodels,
men so metrosexual they are no longer masculine. Televisual entertainment has returned to the
age of baying crowds and gladiators with non-stop reality shows in which those
not conforming to Citidome standards are cruelly mocked. Bodily 'imperfections' are considered a sign
of inferiority, emotion is discouraged; residents have 'connections' rather
than friends. There is no religion, no creativity,
no literature, and sex is outlawed, seen as dirty. Children are created by artificial means
only. Details of the country's history
is available from the 'Knowledge Fountain', but there is little information
available about life before the Citidomes.
However, underneath all this shallow perfection and unquestioning
conformity there is a rumbling of discontent; the 'subversive thinkers' want to
discover the truth, and find out if life on the outside is really as savage as
they are told...
I
suppose this is the modern '1984'! Aside
from being entertaining, it all seemed frighteningly possible, especially when
I found out, later, what really happened to the UK back in 2065. I'm very interested in the way the population
can be controlled by those in power, in ways more underhand and seemingly
innocuous than many imagine (who needs Big Brother when you have the internet?),
and how quickly what once seemed to be a ludicrous idea can very quickly become
accepted as the norm. This book is a
brilliant portrayal of subtle mind control.
Of
course, a great story is only as good as the way it's told, and this is SO well
written, the superficial atmosphere and hidden horror of life in State 11
Citidomes told so artfully. Once the
book moves outside (to what was Derbyshire), I loved reading Ms Mountfort's
vision of a country left to its own devices for over a hundred years, and how
her Citidome residents discovered the old, forgotten ways of their ancestors.
Although
the main character, Caia, is only seventeen, I didn't realise the book came
under the heading 'YA' until I came to write the review; there's certainly
plenty to think about in it that I perhaps wouldn't have seen if I'd read it
when I was sixteen!
A
terrific novel, I'm so glad it came my way and, Katrina Mountfort, this is me
hassling you for the next one in the series NOW!
FORBIDDEN ALLIANCE by Katrina Mountfort reviewed HERE
FORBIDDEN ALLIANCE by Katrina Mountfort reviewed HERE
Lovely review, I think we do need to be concerned about how much the internet controls our lives.
ReplyDeleteIndeed yes! Tho perhaps it's too late now...
DeleteI was gutted to see that part 2 isn't out yet, I'm gagging to read it!