Best sci-fi novel that I have read in ages. I will not get into the plot details because it is also part murder mystery. But this novel tackles hard qBest sci-fi novel that I have read in ages. I will not get into the plot details because it is also part murder mystery. But this novel tackles hard questions concerning climate change, social media and political dis-information, as well as the idolatry of science and the morality of artificial intelligence, and what happens when these issues converge. ...more
Complex characters cannot make up for a simplistic slow plot in this climate change dystopian novel. It becomes all about evil men vs. good women; theComplex characters cannot make up for a simplistic slow plot in this climate change dystopian novel. It becomes all about evil men vs. good women; themes such as how race, class, and gender intersect to reinforce systems of power are inadequately explored. ...more
In this book, I have found one of my all time favorite books. It is one that I stumbled upon quite by accident, much the way that the main character oIn this book, I have found one of my all time favorite books. It is one that I stumbled upon quite by accident, much the way that the main character of this book stumbled upon Mr. Penumbra's book shop. For beneath all the technobabble and occasional boob humor is a beautiful story about human potential in all its forms: that is our potential to learn, to appreciate the written word, to find fellowship in one another. In this sense, it is a story that is eternal, even as it speaks of computer codes, operating systems, and yes, of course, books. A quirky, nerdy gem of a book! It won't be to everyone's taste and it surprises me how much I loved it. Perhaps as the last words of the book state, it was the right book at exactly the right moment....more
A cautionary tale set in the near future in Toronto, Canada, this novel draws on contemporary politics to remind us of the fragility of freedom, that A cautionary tale set in the near future in Toronto, Canada, this novel draws on contemporary politics to remind us of the fragility of freedom, that is, how quickly the rhetoric of othering can cross the line into actions of othering. A powerful far-right group in Toronto uses a climate catastrophe as the pretext for establishing work settlements for “The Others,” that is the disabled, people of colour, and members of the LGBTQ2S community, that in reality are extermination camps. The novel is at its best when it is looking back in time to that moment when so many, including those the government will label “Other,” failed to heed the warning signs of a fast encroaching fascist regime, because they are either too wrapped up in the everyday struggle to survive or too committed to denial that they ignored what was happening around them. As Queen Kay, a queer black performer, who first must hide and then learn how to fight back, recalls: “We shrugged our shoulders each time a restaurant refused us service, delightfully held hands and tried our luck elsewhere. We wove through countless protest marches and political demonstrations to catch a movie, only to be told in not so many words that we were no longer allowed in such spaces, so we would shrug our shoulders again, head home, and make love.” Like so many, Queen Kay did not see the danger until it was too late, until she was forced into hiding, until she had to find within herself once again the belief that she deserved to live, because the government with each humiliation stole her hard-won identity and self-esteem. This was not the first time that Queen Kay had experienced devastating humiliation and torture; the first time was at the hands of her mother and the religious community that she had joined: “My mother, my own mother, filled a glass with water from the tap. My own mother did not look at me as the zip-tied my hands behind the chair, poked and prodded me. My own mother shut her face off, shut her body off…” as they threw holy water in his face and screamed at him to repent.” It is a subtle reminder of the ambiguous line that separates perpetrator from bystander from victim. For his mother who once victimized him also belongs to the world of the Others that the provincial government is now systematically exploiting and killing. Similarly, while the race dimension is front and centre in this story of repression and genocide, we see how the categories that separate “Other” from so-called true Canadian is both porous and arbitrary. The reader sees the female “Boot” officer who is in fact of Iranian heritage, who hides behind the uniform while persecuting others of her same heritage. We see how poor whites, although seemingly safe from the government’s campaign of genocide, are in fact just one step away from being othered as well. We see this when we discover Beck’s elderly parents living on a farm where the animals are all dead and there is no fresh water to be had. Their skin colour only gives them a limited amount of protection for this genocidal campaign is also a class war, in which the rich succeed in exploiting the poor whites by championing racism, xenophobia, and homophobia. There were times in this novel when I thought that the author should have made these themes more explicit. But after much thought I realized that the subtlety with which they are presented is what makes this seemingly fantastical dystopian novel so powerful and eerily realistic. If they were more explicit, their ability to lure so many of us into a false sense of security would not be so great.
I would like to thank the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review....more
This book just was not my cup of tea. Unlike Dan Brown in the Robert Langdon series, I did not feel that the author managed to find a successful balanThis book just was not my cup of tea. Unlike Dan Brown in the Robert Langdon series, I did not feel that the author managed to find a successful balance between the fantastical and realistic elements. As a result, I never became engaged with the world the characters inhabited or with the fate of the characters.
I would like to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest balance....more
Sci-fi meets detective story in this new novel by Ariel S. Winter. The story opens on a reservation, aka The Preserve, for humans, who after a plague Sci-fi meets detective story in this new novel by Ariel S. Winter. The story opens on a reservation, aka The Preserve, for humans, who after a plague find themselves drastically outnumbered by their own technological creations, that is, robots. The Preserve is intended as a place, where humans can live their lives free from robot interference and perhaps overcome the decimation of the race through a managed fertility program. But a murder on The Preserve places the continued existence of this experimental community in jeopardy. Chief Laughton (human), along with his former robot partner Kir must navigate the political morass that pits human supremacists against robot supremacists if they are to solve the murder and save the fledgling human community.
The parallels to current racial politics are immediately apparent, and thus some readers may be tempted to write off this dystopian novel as too obvious or too simplistic. But this would be a mistake, as the above description fails to capture the multiple layers of prejudice that inform the plot and the characters’ actions. One of the most interesting of these layers for me was the colonizer/colonized relationship between humans and robots. Laughton sees humans as the indigenous people, who have been displaced by robots. Yet, as Kir points out, although robots now rule the world, they rule a world that is still organized around their former colonizers’ (i.e. humans) needs: “We’re still running your government. Your government in which we were considered things, not individuals. We’re still speaking English, out loud. We’re like colonials after the empire recedes, still living under empire’s rules.”
Smartly the author provides no easy answer to this complicated relationship, nor does the author shy away from showing the mutual suspicions that taint the relationship between humans and robots, including between Kir and Laughton who view each other as friends. For even as many humans want to segregate themselves in a system of preserves, they soon realize that the preserves can become a prison, whether of their own making or of that of the robots. A thought-provoking read.
I would like to thank the publisher, the author, and NetGalley for an advance copy of this book in exchange for a fair and honest review. ...more
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