TRASHLANDS by Alison Stine @AlisonStine #TuesdayBookBlog

 5 out of 5 stars 

On Amazon
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I read about it on Kindig Blog HERE (thank you!)

In a Nutshell: Climate change/industrial pollution-orientated dystopian

Some decades from now (anything from 50 to 100 years' time, I believe), the earth has flooded, many flash fires have occurred, and waters are polluted by industrial waste and plastic.  Society as we know it has broken down, and new ones have emerged.  The currency for the poor is plastic - they 'pluck' it from the water and sell it for recycling into house bricks, which affords them a meagre, subsistence-level way of life.

Coral, Trillium and Mr Fall live in Scrappalachia, formerly without the 'Scr', a vast area of junkyard.  Their own corner is dominated by a strip club: Trashlands.  Meanwhile in the cities, the workers are a different sort of poor.  They live a hard life, too: a high rate of crime, queueing for food, and little in the way of comfort.

As often with this genre of book, what I was most interested in was the world-building.  At first there was frustratingly little, just a few snapshots showing how the current situation came to be, but it built up as the story went on with much more detail near the end, by which time it meant so much more than if I'd learned about it from the beginning; the narrative often divulged information in words left unsaid.  I liked how the fashion for names has changed; mostly, people are named for places, plants and animals that I imagine no longer exist: Tahiti, Miami, Foxglove, New Orleans, Mangrove, Golden Toad - and Coral.

There is no big apocalyptic happening but a slow deterioration of the world we know, starting with the floods.  This means, of course, that there is also a gradual deterioration in intellectual possibility and knowledge of the world, as the internet and TV no longer exist and most books have been destroyed; also, the people are more concerned with staying alive than being educated.  It's like a move back to medieval times, but with a polluted world rather than vast areas of lush green and clear water waiting to be utilised.

The story is told in medium length chapters from many points of view - Coral, her man Trillium and her 'father', Mr Fall; also Foxglove and Summer, 'dancers' at Trashlands, Rattlesnake Master who owns it, reporter Miami from the city, and a few others.  Always my favourite structure if done well, and this was.  The story itself centres around an event in Coral's earlier life, but the plot seemed like a backdrop for this detailed picture of our future world, rather than the opposite way round.

There were a couple of areas that I thought could have done with a bit more thinking through, like how the people of the junkyard would have been unable to work or survive on a diet of insects, weeds and the odd rat, and that petrol and diesel deteriorates in about a year at most, but every post-apocalyptic story I've ever watched or read ignores this second point; if it's good enough for The Walking Dead, I'll suspend my belief here too 😉.  To sum up, I was absorbed by this book all the way through, thought about it afterwards and would love to read more.  There: that should be all the recommendation you need!

LINE by Niall Bourke

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: I read a review of it on Mairéad Hearne's blog, HERE

In a Nutshell: Dystopian. Speculative Fiction.  From the blurb - Line pushes the boundaries of speculative, high concept fiction. Deeply moving, it also touches on many of the pressing issues of our turbulent world: migration and the refugee crisis, big data and the erosion of democracy, climate change, colonialism, economic exploitation, social conformity and religious fanaticism

At some unspecified time in the future, Willard lives on the Line - a constantly moving tented community that stretches as far as the eye can see in either direction.  Line dwellers subsist on the bare essentials, their faith that what lies at the end is worthy waiting for, and the fear of consequences should they dare to leave; away from the Line there is nothing.  A failed attempt to escape means a fate worse than death, as is attempting to skip one's place.  It has existed for generations, and children know of the sacrifice made by their parents and their grandparents to afford them their current place.  Nobody knows why it began or where it goes, just that they are heading towards some better unknown.

I loved the first part, with a restless Willard questioning his life.  The writing was great, most absorbing; I was so impressed by the whole concept of the Line and looked forward to finding out how the people had been coerced into living according to its rules, believing in the myth of the end, and how the Line had developed its own code of law and become its own society.

Around half way through, we leave the Line and surrounding nothingness, and are presented with what feels like a different book, detailing the wider truths about the world.  Much of it appears in the form of a printed handbook, about the current economic situation, about technological progress and philosophy.  It's extremely dense and complex, and rather dull; you know when you read a text book because you need to learn about something, but the way in which it is written makes your brain shake its head and say, 'Nuh-uh, not storing all these words'?  That was how this was.  I kept trying to take it in but it didn't want to stay.  I felt as though the ideas had not been developed enough; the whole middle section about the new London seemed disjointed, and I just didn't buy it.

During the last one fifth of the book we come to the whys and hows of the Line: the psychology of how and why people queue and wait, of hope, faith, religion, generational beliefs passed down, of the vision behind the line and the whole truth about it—so up my street I welcomed it in with coffee and cake, and loved it all over again.  Fascinating.  The end was sad and bleak, but right for the story.  I like those sort of endings.

To sum up: a first class idea and I'm glad I read it, but I felt there needed to be more.  More background, more detail, more attention to 'readability', more character-based narrative and fewer pages out of the handbook.   And thanks again to Mairéad for introducing me to it :)

HER MAD SONG by C J Halbard #RBRT

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Amazon.aus

On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In A Nutshell: Sort of fantasy, sort of folklore, sort of pre-climate change apocalypse....

I admit to struggling a bit with this book, although it was well-written in many ways.  A look at Goodreads half way through told me that Her Mad Song is not the first in this series, and I did feel as though I needed to understand more about the world the author has created, to fully 'get' it.  An introduction tells us that Tempest Bay {a remote coastal town in New Zealand where the series is set} exists in novellas, podcasts and interactive experiences.

The story begins with an unnamed man and a twelve-year-old girl, Lucia, arriving at Tempest Bay, and moves on to curious relationships with the people they meet there, including a meteorologist they've sought out.  CJ Halbard certainly has literary talent and has produced some fine atmospheric prose.  The characterisation and dialogue are both fairly good, though the experimental style didn't always work for me; the predominance of the subordinate/dependent clause became irritating after a while.  The subordinate clause in place of a full sentence can have such impact, but it needs to be used sparingly.  Then there's that lack of speech marks thing ... writers such as Cormac McCarthy manage to get away with it by leaving you in no doubt when a passage or line is speech rather than narrative, with minimum use of he-said-she-said, but it's not the easiest of skills to master.   Breaking 'the rules' tends to work better once you've worked within them for a while.

Readers who appreciate poetic writing and like something a bit unreal and outside the box may absolutely love this, but I thought it could do with the hand of a good developmental editor to give it better structure and definition; the story seemed a bit 'all over the place'.  There is much to commend, but I'm just ... not sure. 

I read the information at the back, hoping to get a bit more insight.  Much of it appears to be allegorical; an 'emotional climate change', an 'external imaginative environment that connects us all', in which we could be 'causing permanent lasting damage'.  The concept seemed rather vague, without much substance or explanation, though I took a look at the excerpts from the other stories, at the end, and I liked them well enough.  Could be that I'm just the wrong audience; the website is enticing and well-presented, for anyone who is interested; it's HERE.

TOKYO MAYDAY by Maison Urwin #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member. 

In A Nutshell: Dystopian future, England and Japan

'The human race.  Migrating here and there for centuries, back and forth, whilst objecting to the influx of others.  Like migrating birds.  Like herded sheep.'

I love to read other authors' view of the near future, and Tokyo Mayday is a clever and inventive slant on the subject.  In the 2050s, climate change, political/civil unrest and technological advancement have turned the US and the European states into third world countries, with poverty and lack of jobs.  The world's greatest superpower is now Japan.  Outside the cities, economic migrants are kept in holding camps, hoping for work, but now many of these migrants are white Europeans and Americans.  

Jordan May and his family are offered the chance to live in Tokyo, which means a good job for Jordan at Matsucorp, the top car manufacturer in the world.  When they arrive there from England, however, they discover that all is far from utopian.  They are to live in a shared house, and both Jordan and his son, Alfie, immediately become aware of the opposing factions in the country - the far right who want to keep Japan for the Japanese, headed by the mysterious Yamada, and the movement for better treatment of migrants, more equal wages and fairer treatment for all, which grows in popularity amongst idealistic young people and the low-paid workers from the West.  As a skilled worker, Jordan sits between the two.

Manipulating all players is the mysterious Stepson Struthwin, advisor to the owner of Matsucorp.

It's clear that the author is well-versed in Japanese culture; the detail provided by his insight is an added point of interest while reading this highly original and probably plausible look at the future.  His writing style is spare, which I liked very much, and the characterisation works well, throughout.  The picky might complain about a certain amount of 'telling not showing', but my view is that if it works well, who cares - and in Tokyo Mayday, it does.  

The book held my interest all the way through, with some good twists near the end that I hadn't anticipated.  No complaints; this is a definite 'buy it' recommendation, for anyone who loves this genre as much as I do.

SINGULARITY SYNDROME by Susan Kuchinskas #RBRT

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.  I chose it after enjoying the first in the series, Chimera Catalyst.

In a Nutshell: Dark technological goings-on in a dystopian world, post climate change.  Set in California.

'Finder' is back, complete with dog/bird chimera The Parrott, and human/baboon Altima, as he uncovers a venture capitalist's plan to rule the world by AI, making humans compliant by means of a nutritional energy drink.  The idea that AI could eventually overtake humans is one I've read a fair bit about, also that its integration with humans (Numans, in this book) could be the next stage in our evolution.  I find this hellish in the extreme, and it makes me glad I was born when I was.

We don't know exactly when the book is set, but I imagine it is probably in about a hundred years' time; Finder mentions helicopters being used in the wars of 'the last century'.  The state of the planet (the Big Change) is revealed to be not only down to the slow deterioration of climate change, but another disaster.  I enjoyed the plot, but what I liked reading about most about is Finder himself, a most engaging character, and the world-building elements.  Although the story paints a grim picture of human life in the future, it is not without a certain light touch that I wouldn't exactly call humour; it's more pathos mixed with astute observations, and off-the-wall characters.

In this book we find out a bit more about Finder's life when he was younger, including his real name; I like the way his character is slowly building, and I'd love to read more about what has happened between now and the time in which the book is set - more background.

Having read the notes at the back, I know Ms Kuchinskas is well-informed about her subject matter, and this is evident; it is imaginative, clever and extremely well-written.  I'd definitely recommend it to fans of 'cli-fi', but you should read Chimera Catalyst first.  I liked this more than the first book, and hope there will be more!

THE CITY BELOW THE CLOUD by T S Galindo #RBRT

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

 

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Scifi/dystopian novella

Kalan and her younger sister, Sett, live in a climate-changed world in which every minute of every day is a struggle to survive.  Kalan spends her days scrubbing infected lichen from walls of buildings, trying to earn enough for her and Sett to sleep with a roof over their heads.  Life is cheap...

The premise of this book is original, inventive and interesting, and the writing itself is intelligent and evocative.  Some of the characterisation is great - namely Sett and a band of itinerant scavengers, the 'glow punks' - but at other times I felt it came second in the author's mind to describing the world he has created.  Much of the world-building is delivered via an omniscient narrator, so it read like a newspaper article, or an introduction.   

The dialogue is mostly sharp and convincing, except for sections of inner dialogue; rather than keeping Kalan and Sett's thoughts in the third person and writing them in 'deep point of view', the author has them talking to themselves, expressed in a rather clumsy first person.

To sum up, it's an unusual and most atmospheric story and has a lot going for it, and there is no doubt that the author has talent, but I think he would benefit from studying the craft of fiction writing in order to learn more effective methods of putting his story across.  It is his debut; he clearly has much potential still to be realised. 

 

BY THE FEET OF MEN by Grant Price @MekongLights

4.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie's Book Review Team, of which I am a member.

In a Nutshell: Dystopian, post climate change

I was really impressed by this book, set during an unspecified time in the future when all that has been predicted about our destruction of the planet's ecosystem has come to pass.  Across Europe, meagre supplies of fresh water, medical supplies and other essential cargoes are delivered between settlements by 'Runners' - the drivers of huge trucks.  The stars of this book are two of these Runners, Ghazi and Cassady - who are called on to make a delivery to deep in the Italian desert, where scientists are working on a way of reversing the 'change'.

'Standing in their way are starving nomads, crumbling cities, hostile weather and a rogue state hell-bent on the convoy's destruction'

I read the paperback version of this book, unusual for me as I prefer to read on Kindle, but I'd just like to say how well-presented it is, and I am pleased that I now own it.  

As for the story itself, the world-building is terrific, totally believable, inventive and clearly well-researched, with details building up gradually to present a full picture of this fantasy world that may or may not be a taste of what lies ahead for humanity.  The atmosphere is just as it should be for a story about a dying planet; it's raw, dark, sinister, and there is also a certain strength, cameraderie and resignation of their circumstances between the characters that keeps you rooting for them.  Aside from anything else, they know only the world they now inhabit; they refer to the actions of the ancestors who destroyed the world within which they now have to scratch an existence.

This is only this author's second published novel, and he clearly has a lot of talent.  Definite recommendation for anyone who is interested in this genre, or loves reading about resolute men and women overcoming adverse circumstances in a hostile landscape.



 

THE LONG FALL by Logan Keys and Mike Kraus

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Amazon Browse

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, Climate Change, SciFi

This is part one of a 10 or 12 short novella series, about an unspecified time in the future when a company called Cybercorp have fashioned some sort of thermal shade over the planet to stop global warming.  Whether or not that is a ludicrous idea I don't know, not being a scientist, but I'm prepared to suspend disbelief if the story is great.  At first, I thought it was going to be; it starts off in Antartica when everything begins to go horribly wrong and the temperature plummets super-fast, killing off a bunch of scientists in horrendous ways.  Then the story moves to a girl who works on the NY Times trying to get home in artic temperatures, and the nanny of some kids in Kansas who would have taken them trick or treating if it wasn't for the sudden blizzard and hurricanes.  Okay, so there were some editing 'ouches', but the suspense/drama/extreme weather stuff in all the different scenarios was so good that I could live with them.

Alas, it then went from good to not so good to hmmmm.  Bad punctuation, bad formatting, cheesy dialogue and grammar that was not so much lazy as had decided to take a duvet day.  It seemed like the first half had been written with more care, but the second half was still in first draft.  Such a shame; I was looking forward to finding a good new series and this could have been terrific if it had been redrafted a bit more and worked on by people who know their stuff.  I will, however, try one of Mike Kraus's solo books, as I know he is very popular.  Meanwhile, if anyone can recommend some good (and well edited) books of this genre (EMP, climate change, pandemic, zombie and general dystopian/post apoc), please let me know; I've been disappointed too many times recently. 

THE DARK ROADS by Wayne Lemmons @wayne_lemmons

3.5 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: Amazon browse ('also boughts').

Genre: Post Apocalyptic.

I loved the premise of this book.  It's an alternative reality set in the immediate future, in which climate change began to have a devastating effect on the world as early as 2015/6.  By 2021, it is no longer safe to be above ground during daylight hours, and anyone caught thus is instantly burnt to a crisp.  Most people are dead, water and food are scarce, and the heat has rendered vehicles unusable; the world is dying.  Three young men (Buddy, Richie and Elvis) are travelling on foot from Florida to Alaska, in the hope of finding some relief from the heat.  The story is their journey (I adore post apocalyptic cross-country stories, can't get enough of them!), as on the way they meet a few other survivors, struggle with near death as they almost get caught with no safe place to be before sunrise, cope with their own losses and, of course, are pursued by the evil 'feeders' ~ cannibals.

The book could do with a professional editor, or at least a more experienced pair of eyes; there are instances when a clunky omniscient narrator pops up out of nowhere, and a little head-hopping now and again, most noticeably in the epilogue, which changes from narrator to a first person point of view, out of the blue.  Also, there are times when the story skips over the boundary between fiction and unfeasible; the group find shelter in department stores and service stations, but there never seem to be any houses.  The author has a good handle on the effect of heat on some items, but now and again chooses to ignore his findings for the sake of the plot.  The group has a never ending supply of ammunition whenever needed, but I can't see a) where it comes from or b) how they could possibly have carried it all along with the food and the other utensils, medical supplies, etc.  

However (and it's a big 'however'!), Wayne Lemmons is a good storyteller and I was able to suspend my disbelief, most of the time.  I looked forward to getting back to it with each session.  The basics are all there.


I would have given it 3.5* rounded up to 4 on Amazon (because 4* means 'I like it', and I did!), if it wasn't for the epilogue, which was a big disappointment.  The whole book is about them getting to Alaska, where they hope to find a temperature in which they can sustain life, but there is no evidence to show that life is going to be much easier there, and the epilogue itself is less than two pages long.  I felt as though someone had told the author that he had to finish the book by lunch time, or something, so he just scribbled down anything without giving it much consideration, let alone the painstaking redrafting that all novels need.  It doesn't do the rest of the book justice.  BUT (and it's a big but!), I liked it enough to want to take a look the next book, which I will.   It's good, it's not bad at all - it just could have been terrific, that's all. 

CHIMERA CATALYST by Susan Kuchinskas @susankuchinskas

4 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK
On Amazon.com
On Goodreads

How I discovered this book: it was submitted to Rosie Amber's Review Team, of which I am a member.  I chose it after reading a review of it by another member of the team.

Genre: Post Apocalyptic, SciFi, Dystopian

'The planet is getting drier and drier.  In fifty years, it won't be able to support human life - not as you know it' ...

Chimera Catalyst takes place in an unspecified time in the future ~ from the information given, I am guessing around 150 years on.  The world as we know it now is gone, following the Big Change (some apocalyptic climate disaster, I gathered); water is a luxury, seas are brown and murky, weather is punishingly hot.  The gap between the '1 per cent' (the rich) and the poor is vast.  Children are for the rich only; meanwhile, the manipulation of genes and DNA and advanced cosmetic surgery enables the creation of fantasy creatures and beings.  Religion is a mish-mash of science and hippie spiritualism ~ 'mystical neuroscience crap'.

Most of life is lived virtually; following pandemics, people are scared of human interaction.  Food is scarce, the air inhospitable, and life is maintained via cocktails of chemical supplements.

The novel is written from the point of view of The Finder, who searches through data to fulfil his commitments to those willing to pay him the coin.  He has a pet he has made himself; the Parrot, who is actually part parrot, part dog.  The story centres around his search for the mysterious Miraluna Rose, but I found that the plot took second place to the fascinating and convincing picture of life in this future world.  It's very readable and intelligently written, sometimes amusing, sometimes sad.  The Finder, for instance, knows little about human contact, and is baffled by how comforting he finds the ruffling of the Parrot's feathers, or his warmth lying beside him. 

Although the world functions 'normally', I found this more terrifying than any epic about a pandemic or zombie apocalypse, simply because it's what could happen if the world carries on down its path to destruction; it is far more of a living hell than any return to medieval times with no power, etc.  It's a jolly good book and I enjoyed it ~ I hovered between 4 and 5 stars throughout and my only complaint is that I wanted to know what the Big Change was, how it came about, and what happened immediately afterwards.  This is a series; I very much hope it will include a prequel!

THE UTOPIA EXPERIMENT by Dylan Evans

3 out of 5 stars

On Amazon UK HERE
On Amazon.com HERE
On Goodreads HERE

How I discovered this book: A friend lent me the paperback because she thought it might be relevant to the book I'm currently writing, as research.

Dylan Evans is a highly qualified and specialised scientist who becomes obsessed with how the technological progress of the modern world will affect human life on the planet.  He considers how life on earth might continue after the collapse of civilisation caused by the alleged climate crises and the future scarcity of fuel.  Deciding on an experiment to see if people born of the mechanical age could survive after the apocalypse, he sets up a website to advertise for others to take part.  The plan is to live in a Scottish island community within a fictional scenario, which takes place a few years after civilisation has crashed.

Before going to live in 'Utopia', Evans sells his house and gives up his job.  The book starts in the hospital, after the experiment is over, when he is being treated for a psychological collapse.   The account of the life of Utopia is interspersed with his experiences in the hospital, and the various philosophies of others from which he created the idea of the new community.  

For all his intelligence, Evans seems to have little common sense, and ignores the advice of many.  The two people with whom he chooses to start off the project are an eccentric 'doomer' (someone who is convinced that civilisation is about to crash, and looks forward to it), and an ageing hippie freeloader/nutcase.  Those who join the project seem to have thought it through as little as he has, which is perhaps why it attracted similar idealists, though some gained more from the experience than he did.

The whole scenario is riddled with inconsistencies ~ if the collapse of civilisation is only a few years old, wouldn't a group such as this a choose to live in all those empty houses, where there would be beds, sofas, and many items that would make their life a lot easier?  He worries about what they will wear when their clothes wear out, and sets up a trap to catch a deer so they can skin it ~ but will there not be houses, shops and warehouses still filled with clothes?  On the other hand, if fabric is so scarce that they need to trap animals for their skins just to clothe themselves, where will the canvas for their yurts come from?  They didn't manage self-sufficiency (because, again, the groundwork had not been done properly), but bought food from Tesco.  I could go on...

Evans's research consists of visiting hippie communes who have chosen to live without the conveniences of the modern world, rather than being forced to.  The failure of the project appears to be lack of planning, all the way through; he does not consider how dangerous the fictional world might be, until someone brings up the subject; he has not thought about how he might defend his settlement.  Most disappointing of all, he never commits fully to Utopia, spending several nights a week in his girlfriend's cottage in a nearby village, and nipping off to spend a few days here, a few days there, with friends, whenever the going gets a bit too rough ~ this, to me, negates the authenticity of whole thing.

I felt that, in this book, he was trying to give the project significance by drawing parallels with the Stanford prison experiment (ps, watch the film based on it, it's fascinating), and others, but Utopia did not seem to have any real purpose, other than bringing together a group of idealists who wanted to escape from the 21st century for a while (which is fair enough!).  As for his nervous breakdown, I felt that even that was glamorised (perhaps even to himself); reading between the lines, I thought that the real reasons for his growing sense of isolation were his girlfriend exiting stage left, never to return, the fact that he'd given up his job and sold his house to finance this ill-thought out project that was going nowhere, and that he felt a bit of a twit for making such a cock-up of it all.   Which would be enough to make anyone feel depressed and not like talking to anyone.

The book was interesting, though frustrating, and I would have liked to know more about the project itself, on a day to day basis, and less about Evans's mental state.  I don't think it was the 'experiment' that sent him spiralling into a black hole, I think it was the awareness of his own foolhardiness.  A shame, indeed.  I applaud the amount of honesty that was present in the book, though.

If you're interested, I found an article about it in the Daily Mail, from ten years ago, which does rather reiterate my thoughts ~ it's HERE