In this classic dystopian fiction by award-winning author Cormac McCarthy, we follow an unnamed father and son in a destroyed earth, as they travel through a barren wasteland of America, following a road, trying to get to the coast, and the potential promise of a better place.
McCarthy has written an amazing book here. The novel is emotional, raw, and powerful. The relationship between the father and son is fascinating, and we see the love go both ways, even after horrific things occur to both of them during this struggle to survive.
The human race is falling apart around them, yet they cling to being “the good guys” and loving each other as well. Still, the examination that the father can still do awful things to keep them both alive makes for a story that has many shades of grey. T
he novel is a thoughtful tale of what could happen if our society fell apart, and what humanity is capable of. But it also showcases the love we have for others as well.
This examination, plus the fast moving and suspenseful nature of the story, makes it a page turner.
Book Review – The Marrow Thieves – Cherie Dimaline
Facts:
Title: The Marrow Thieves
Author: Cherie Dimaline
Genre: Dystopian Fiction / Young Adult
Year of Release: 2017
Read 234-page paperback edition in May 2022.
Book Description:
In a future world that is plagued with environmental disaster, only Indigenous people are still able to dream while sleeping, which is causing everyone else in society to break apart in terms of their mental health. Therefore, the government has begun rounding up Indigenous people to try and get the dream power out of them.
In this troubled world, Frenchie has escaped from the clutches of the government thanks to his brother who was rounded up, and after he meets up with a small group of other Indigenous survivors, they begin making their way through the bush northward, in search of safety and a home.
Book Review:
This was a fantastic novel by Indigenous author Cherie Dimaline. The author did a great job of taking many elements from the horrors of residential schools in the past, and translating them into a dystopian future. It was a great way to showcase what this could look like in a future world, and given the troubles of our world, it is an important and timely lesson for us to be thinking about.
The plot was fast moving, although the beginning several chapters did feel a little bit slow, and it took awhile to get fully drawn into the book. However, after this point, it began moving nicely, and had a great balance of Indigenous mythology, sharing past stories, action in the present, and character development.
The book is definitely a young adult book, one accessible for older teens and adults alike. Some of the closing things that occured in the plot felt a little too convenient, however that could be partly because of the audience and target market of the book.
Overall, this is a thoughtful and powerful novel that is recommended for all Canadian adults and older teens.
In this collection of four short novellas, dystopian fiction writer Cory Doctorow brings us four near-future tales that look at our current world, and what may be coming our way.
Unauthorized Bread explores income inequality and the poor treatment of refugees and the poor, with characters trying to make a better life for themselves.
Model Minority looks at a superhero who decides to stop just fighting crime with the police, and instead tries to put a stop to racism and police brutality.
Radicalized is an insight into how people rally around an issue, but use violence and shocking methods to try and deal with injustice.
The Masque of the Red Death looks at the beginning of the end, and a small group of doomsday preparers who have been waiting for this day.
Book Review:
This is a fantastic collection of dystopian stories from Canadian-American writer Cory Doctorow. The collection demonstrates the imagination of Doctorow, taking present events related to technology and news issues, and extrapolating them into the near future. Doctorow takes plausible issues and writes shocking narrative of what could come to pass. Some stories are grimmer than others, but all have a sense of feeling legitimate.
Doctorow does a nice job as well of creating fascinating characters who are enjoyable to read about. Doctorow finds a way to develop the characters nicely, even though each story is shorter in length. The balance of character development within stories that have big ideas and subtle lessons, provides great pay off.
The standout story in the collection is the first one, Unauthorized Bread. The main and secondary characters are introduced in a powerful way, with the trauma they have experienced being described very matter-of-factly, as a way to showcase how normalized inequality has become. The themes of inequality, treatment of refugees, and unfairness in the world are written into a great story, and the combination of strong themes, characters, and technological advancement is fantastic. The story builds with suspense and intensity, to a powerful conclusion.
The remaining three stories in the collection are all great reads, although don’t quite have the same punch as the first one. They successfully explore powerful themes like racism, police brutality, health care, all within a dystopian lens. Although the stories are well worth reading, they don’t provide the same depth of character development as the first one.
That being said, this is a fantastic collection, and provides a great combination of entertainment for the fan of dystopian fiction, but also lots of food for thought on serious themes of today.
Book: The Memory Police Author: Yoko Ogawa Genre: Science Fiction / Dystopian Year of Release: 1994 / Year of English Translation: 2019 Read 274-page hardcover edition in May 2020
Book Description:
On an unnamed island, a police-like, mass surveillance state controls things carefully, down to the very memories of its citizens. The mysterious memory police have the ability to enforce the people of the island having their memories taken away from them, by some unknown force or power. Over time, birds, flowers, photographs, all are taken out of the collective memories of citizens.
An unnamed novelist is doing her best to live her life in this dystopian world. Having lost her mom, taken by the memory police for an unknown reason, she often visits an old man, a longtime family friend. One day, when her editor is going to be taken away by the memory police for being one of the few people who does not lose their memories, she decides to work with the old man to hide her editor from the memory police in the floorboards of her house.
Book Review:
This book, by Japanese writer Yoko Ogawa, brings to mind elements and feelings of Kafka, George Orwell (1984), and Black Mirror or The Twilight Zone – but done successfully in a totally different style. It is written in a dream-like, trance-like state, with thoughtful, melodic language. Yoko Ogawa is an exceptional writer, with imagination and unique style, building on old themes and taking them in new directions. It truly is a treat that this book from 1994 has been translated into English for a wider audience to access.
Some key examples of the great language in this novel:
” ‘Aah, I can feel it. I can feel the snow.’
His quiet words were absorbed into the night.”
The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa, Page 112
“I was content now to listen to everything he said – like a child with the hem of her skirt spread, waiting to receive God’s chocolate from heaven.”
The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa, Page 219
On point with the themes of the story, the author makes a great decision not to give her characters names. They are mysteries to us, just like things that happen around the characters are mysteries to them. Furthermore, the author employs a story within a story, allowing us to read some of the novel that the main protagonist is writing. The story is about language and memory and loss, and builds further upon the themes being told in the main story. This is a great structure for the novel, and Yoko Ogawa should be praised for the creativity behind this book.
As the book progresses, it gets progressively bleaker and darker, and also more intimate, as the world feels like it presses against our characters. Yoko Ogawa does a fantastic job of creating tight spaces with these settings, and the main characters house, or the snow falling constantly outside, are written beautifully.
The ending of the book is powerful, imaginative, and poignant. It makes a statement about themes of memory, loss, control, and power. This is definitely a novel worth reading!
In a world destroyed by war, a small doll-like figure named “9” wakes up in a laboratory, unsure where he is or what has happened around him. When he starts exploring the desolate, destroyed streets and buildings around him, he encounters another life-form named “2” who helps explain a few things to him. However, when a robotic beast attacks them, they must jump for cover immediately.
So begins an incredible adventure for 9, who must work with a collection of characters with different personalities, save some who have been captured by the evil machines, and try to understand more about what happened, why they exist, and how to stop the evil machines in this world, once and for all.
Movie Review:
This dystopian fantasy, produced by Tim Burton, truly had a beautiful, unique style and design. Director Shane Acker, who created a short film of the same name in 2005, one which received an Academy Award, works with an amazing cast and crew to bring it to the big screen in a bigger way in 2009. Acker and Burton have a vision which is executed flawlessly in this film, with a beautiful esthetic and a steampunk feel. The incredible adventure is told through rag-doll characters, in settings of gothic abandoned churches, dark industrial sections, and streets and buildings abandoned of all life, with only murky gas and whistling wind all that remains. The film had an eerie tone that was truly captured.
Strong voice performances made for a solid animated film, with actors including Elijah Wood, John C. Reilly, Jennifer Connelly, Martin Landau, Crispin Glover, and Christopher Plummer, among others. Although at times the script felt a little stilted and bare, in some ways perhaps that was just right, given this post-apocalyptic world was a barren wasteland.
The film is very short, at 80 minutes, and although it is visually incredible with some great themes raised, it feels like not all the themes are fully explored or resolved to satisfaction. Additional focus on themes of war, violence, technology, science, environment, and pollution, all of which seem to be raised in the dialogue or picture, could have been explored to a larger degree.
That being said, the astonishing visuals and creative uniqueness of this movie definitely make it an enjoyable film worth watching.
Book: The Testaments Author: Margaret Atwood Genre: Dystopian Fiction Year of Release: 2019 Read 421-page hardcover edition in February 2020
Book Description:
In the sequel to The Handmaid’s Tale, we learn more about the world of Gilead, 15 years after the events of Margaret Atwood’s first novel from 1985.
This novel takes us into the minds of three narrators: Aunt Lydia, who is a powerful figure at the Ardua Hall; a young girl Agnes Jemima, the daughter of Commander Kyle; and Daisy, several years younger than Agnes, who is living in Canada, north of Gilead.
As the novel progresses, we see the storylines of the three central characters begin to weave together, and we also see how all of them may have a strong part to play in the effort to putting the brakes on the cruel, misogynistic systems within Gilead, which have led to much death and suffering.
Book Review:
This novel was long-waited by many fans of The Handmaid’s Tale. With the launch of the television series, the rise of President Trump in 2016 in the United States, and the rise of other far-right groups in Europe that are often misogynistic and anti-immigration, this was a timely release for this sequel. It may have been a long wait, but it was well worth it, as this novel is truly fantastic.
Atwood has done a wonderful job at making some references to her characters from The Handmaid’s Tale, but also introducing new main characters to focus the plot of this story on. The narration of the book is executed flawlessly, with each character getting their voice in rotation as the sections and chapters of the book move forward. The main characters of the book are fascinating, with Aunt Lydia, a young woman from Gilead, and a young woman from Canada, all with very different perspectives to share with the reader.
As the plot unfolds, the intensity and suspense increases, and the last third of the book in particular is a fast-paced read, with the reader wanting to find out what happens next for our three main characters and how it will impact Gilead more widely.
The novel has some great morals and lessons, particularly in this time we are living. That being said, the tone is never preachy. Atwood has built upon her world of Gilead with an incredible follow-up tale, and has expanded the creative canvass with more detail and characters.
Former policeman Deckard is brought back into service by his supervisor to track down four dangerous bio-engineered humans, known as “replicants.” As a former blade runner, Deckard has experience tracking down rogue replicants and “retiring them” or killing them.
In this case, some of the most powerful replicants have been built of all time. It is up to Deckard to stop these replicants, who are at large and fighting – and killing – for their freedom.
Movie Review:
This film, Directed by Ridley Scott (Alien), had a complex and twisted plot, which truly made the viewer think. This dystopian world of 2019 (the film was made in 1982, based on a Philip K. Dick story of 1968) was a troubling world, and Scott created strong doubt for the audience to consider, as to whether the world was a good place or not for creating life through these replicants and then being willing to kill them off so easily when they wanted free will.
Furthermore, lead actor Harrison Ford does a great job of portraying the viewer’s potential discomfort in this world. Ford comes across as a troubled policeman, having left his role, but forced back into service because he is that good. The world is a problematic place in this future, and one is left to wonder how humanity let it get this way.
The story was complex and thoughtful, and the cinematography was similarly well done. The futuristic scenes of what a city may look like in the future, with hovering and flying cars, strange architecture, and more multiculturalism, was fascinating, and well executed. The grittiness, darkness, and rain throughout the film also added to the flavour of the story.
One also has to provide a shout out on the music and score of the film as well, which truly added to the dystopian world around us and the dark story we were following.
On the other hand, there were some flaws as well. The pacing of the film was quite slow, and there were many long scenes that didn’t add much to the story, characters, or world around us. Further, the story also felt disjointed in parts, with some scenes feeling long but other scenes feeling fragmented or confused. Upon the conclusion, there are questions left unanswered, in part simply because the writing wasn’t clear on all the plot points of the film.
Definitely a cult sci-fi film worth watching, albeit not a perfect one.
Book Review – Good Morning, Midnight – Lily Brooks-Dalton
Facts:
Book: Good Morning, Midnight Author: Lily Brooks-Dalton Genre: Fiction Year of Release: 2016 Read 259-page hardcover edition in October 2019
Book Description:
Augustine is a reclusive man and a genius in the astrophysics community. He has treated past relationships poorly, and has few friends and family in his life. When a pending disaster forces the small staff of his arctic outpost to evacuate, he decides to stay behind on his own. He would rather continue his experiments then return to whatever is happening in civilization. But when he finds a small child, Iris, left behind, he begins to question everything about the world, and about himself.
Meanwhile, Sullivan is a communications specialist returning home to Earth on a shuttle mission from Jupiter. But when the ship is still ten months out, and loses contact with Earth entirely, Sullivan and her ship mates must battle the stress and worry while determining what the silence means.
The story slowly brings Sullivan and Augustine together, as we learn more about them and about love, regret, survival, and forgiveness.
Book Review:
In one word, this book was fabulous. This was a magical story, one which grabs the reader right from the first chapter. A lot of novels take awhile to build up into a page-turner. This novel was a page-turner right from the beginning, with likeable main characters, and a focused, fascinating plot.
The alternating chapters between Augustine and Sullivan were well-written, and always kept the reader interested, as we moved across the two storylines. The two stories had similarities and differences that added richness and complexity to the novel. The location and setting couldn’t be more different: the northern arctic versus dark space. However, the feelings of loneliness, fear, regret, and sadness felt by both main characters brought the two stories together. The themes in this plot were well described by the author through two compelling characters.
The novel’s plot was a slow burn as the characters stories drew closer together and we very slowly learned scant detail of what happened on Earth. Yet the novel was truly a page-turner, given the description of the author and how well she wrote the two main characters, and the small number of secondary characters around them.
It was great that this dystopian novel didn’t focus on the usual tropes of the genre, that of the disaster itself and a number of action scenes. Instead, we don’t really learn much about the disaster, and instead we focus on the human emotions and lives of two main characters. Overall, this was a fantastic, thoughtful, and powerful debut novel by Brooks-Dalton, and well worth reading.
In this South Korean / Czech co-production based on a French graphic novel, we find the last remnants of human civilization trapped on a train that travels the globe, after a climate disaster has led to an ice age. This train is long and the track is winding. Inside the train, those of the upper class are near the front, treated to a life of luxury. The lower classes work hard and are kept under lock and key in the back, with barely enough food to survive.
After seeing his people in the back treated poorly too many times, Curtis Everett leads a revolution, as the protestors in the back try to move forward and take control of the oppressive regime that runs things from the front.
Movie Review:
This action-packed science fiction film was truly thoughtful and provocative. Instead of relying on special effects or violent action to create something the crowds would come to, Director Bong Joon-ho has put together a truly thought-provoking film that makes one think about a multitude of themes. It is a rare movie that makes the viewer consider what they have seen, and what the real message is, and the complex themes that have played out before them, long after the credits. This is one such movie.
The movie has an incredible plot, which is dystopian and science fiction in nature. This is obviously some future time, but at times the clothing or actions of the characters brings to mind the past as well. The plot moves quickly, and it is a combination of fast action sequences coupled with more conversational scenes rich in dialogue and substance. This balance is struck perfectly by Bong Joon-ho. The storyline of the film develops in unexpected directions as the film moves with the train, and there are surprises along the way.
The special effects are well done, both inside the train, with some amazing train cars, and also outside the train, with beautiful wintry scenes of cities frozen in time.
The characters in the film are fascinating and multi-layered. We are left to wonder about some of the characters, and whether they are truly good or bad, at various times in the film. The acting is incredible, with great performances by Tilda Swinton, Chris Evans, Song Kang-ho, and Octavia Spencer.
Overall, this is a high intensity film, with a feeling of steampunk science fiction, but also one that has a complex, melodic plot, that makes you think for long after.
Book: Brave New World Author: Aldous Huxley Genre: Dystopian Ficton Year of Release: 1932 Read 235-page paperback edition in January 2019
Book Description:
It is the distant future, and through genetic and social engineering, a perfect society has been created. There is a strict caste system where the alphas are genetically superior to the lower levels of society, and employment and benefits are aligned accordingly. However, through conditioning, the pleasures of open sexuality and entertainment, and the drug sona, everyone is happy with the way of the world.
However, there are some who question. For Bernard Marx, the world is not perfect, and there are things worth considering carefully. When he gets a chance to go to a savage reservation where limited numbers of people still live as humanity once did, he will learn much about differing societies, and what he really wants out of life.
Book Review:
This classic dystopian by Huxley is a fantastic novel that makes one think critically. Even though it was written almost a century ago, the themes are completely relevant to today’s time, perhaps even more relevant. Huxley’s commentary on a group of people controlling the power of a society, and the idea of genetically engineering superior humans, is relevant, thoughtful, and at times disturbing.
The plot of the novel does a great job of exploring these themes. Although at times it does get bogged down slightly, the plot is exciting and makes us wan to turn the pages and find out what happens next. There are a couple of scenes where one wishes Huxley had spent more time with, such as at the Savage Reservation.
The characters Huxley develops are well defined but also complex, and not fully sympathetic. This helps create a novel that is challenging to the reader. It is interesting to see how the main character Marx develops and changes as the novel proceeds, and how the society he questions still has some control and hold over him, both before and after his trip to the Reservation.
The conclusion of this novel is thought provoking and certainly satisfying in that it doesn’t just provide a happy ending to what we think should or may happen. The conclusion makes us challenge what the future of our society may be, and what we want it to be. Huxley was a visionary with this 1932 novel, extremely relevant in 2019.
MatthewSean Reviews 