Edge of Light Series Bk1 New Dawning by A.M. Dixon. Pub. OneTree House 2023.

This highly descriptive dystopian fiction novel about the most drastic results of climate change is a must read.

It is set in what is left of New Zealand, on the Port Hills above Christchurch which has now been completely flooded due to the rise in sea levels after the Poles have melted away. Names like Littleton, Sugarloaf and the Summit Road are all mentioned mainly I think because the author is from Christchurch as am I.

There has been a great flood followed by a Crisis in which millions died and the survivors now live in a very controlled world where food is in short supply and massive covers in the sky shield the planet and people from a fierce hot sun.

The people that live in the small community live in a state of fearmongering which gets in the way of solid science as it did when new Zealand was in lockdown because of Covid. Every decision made by those in control is politicised and to show dissent is dangerous. The children are so brainwashed that they can’t conceive of the idea that giraffes, polar bears and elephants could possibly be true.

Population control is a feature of this society although the people don’t realise this. The old and some who dissent are sent away never to be seen again, but where do they go?. Every 7 years a 10 year old child is chosen to be the Voice of the Child and at their inauguration they are allowed to tell a truth from their history and this story begins with the appointment of a new Voice of the Child.

The story centres around 16 year old Merel her brother Bexley and their scientist parents. Merel observes trees and specialises in birds. She has a pet Corvus or white crow who she communicates with and it follows her everywhere. Into the story come two other main characters – Ren a 17 year old boy who is interested in Merel and she in him. Also a sensitive and inciteful 10 year old Estelle who is elected the new Voice of the Child.

On the appointment of Estelle those in command decide to open the covers that protect the earth for a short time to see what will happen and Estelle at her inauguration tells the community that Merel is the one who will save them all. In a word all hell breaks lose.

If you want to know more read the novel yourself.

A.M. Dixon spends much time describing the world and community that has resulted from ignoring climate change signals by previous world leaders, and is clearly concerned about the difference between historical truth and prophecies which are whispered between people. Not unlike the fake news, conspiracy theories and lies that trouble the world today.

How will Merel, Ren, Bexley, Estelle and Corvus combat this? Well there will be two other parts coming to develop the scenario further. I for one will be reading them. In some ways it reminded me of an old favourite Lois lowry’s The Giver.

The Snow Laundry by Mette Jakobsen. Pub Angus & Robertson, Imprint HarperCollins, 2022

This is the best dystopian fiction novel I have read for some time and it is part one of a series, part 2 will be out in April 2023.

Dystopian fiction always scares the poop out of me because it is so real one thinks can it ever happen here? Certainly there have been civilisations that have occurred already with Nazi Germany being a prime example.

Seventeen year old Ally and her boyfriend Bon were street kids, probably Black, living under the city in the tunnels which have now been locked up. They were persecuted by people and called rats. Then there was a revolution in which a sweet talking woman called Elenor Maslin campaigned with weasel words promising a bright future for everyone including the tunnel rats. Once in power all that changed and the tunnel kids were rounded up crammed into confined lodgings and forced to work serving the rich folk in a complex that once was the Hilton hotel.

Ally works in the laundry along with Bon and her friends Berger, Ollie, Fi and others. They are regularly beaten and starved and treated inhumanely. Most of the book describes their lives and how they got there. Ally who cannot read laments that no-one talks about anything important, they are terrified of the brutal guards and it is very much “us against the world”

Then Bon disappears after being brutally beaten and Ally wants to find him. The leader of the complex in which the kids live is known as ONE. He is genial, well dressed and a sweet talker of weasel words. It is nearing his birthday and celebrations are planned. Ally is drawn into serving the party for ONE but there is an underground resistance movement that hopes to destroy the celebrations.

The last 50 pages are thrilling and set up the next in the series.

A very tense novel because you like and relate to Ally. You will kick yourself if you miss this book. As good as the Hunger games.

The Outlaws Scarlett & Browne by Jonathan Stroud. Pub. Walker Books, 2021

Reading this book through the lockdown has been inspirational. It has made my days interesting and I have savoured every word. In fact I got too involved and fretted for the characters. I didn’t want to finish but all good things come to an end but fortunately this is not going to be the last. There are other adventures to come and I can’t wait.

It is a dystopian fiction novel written in the future about a Britain that has divided back into seven Kingdoms of Mercia, Wessex where this story is set plus 5 others. There has been a Cataclysm, a Great Dieing and Frontier Wars that have caused humans and animals to evolve in a variety of ways very quickly and reduced Britain to a mentality like that of medieval times. Small gated towns exist with faith Houses who control people. The woods are filled with huge bears and wolves and other animals who will eat people as good as look at them. The sea level has risen drastically and the rivers are full of creatures like man eating otters and sharks. The air is infested with birds who will attack and eat humans. There is no safe place.

To make matters worse some humans have evolved into cannabalistic creatures called the Tainted. They are excluded from civilisation and hunt humans who stray, eating them where they stand.

In the first few chapters we meet Scarlett a girl between 16 and 18 years old who can look after herself big time. She has a big knife, a gun and quick wits, she takes no crap, robs banks and in the first chapter disposes easily of four men who are trying to rob her.

While escaping after robbing a bank she finds an overturned bus and meets a boy of similar age to her called Albert Browne who has mental abilities that are astonishing. He can read minds but his behaviour is dominate by what he calls The Fear. He has escaped a mental hospital controlled by a devilish woman called Dr Calloway who has a crocodilian nose for weakness. She wants Albert back and the novel then becomes a chase with Albert and Scarlett joining forces to outrun their enemies.

It is totally thrilling with Jonathan Stroud’s descriptive prose enthralling the reader with its wit and story telling skill. Once you start this you will not put it down. You daren’t. Written in four parts with each part ending in a blaze of action.

Eoin Colfer describes this novel as “a classic in the making” and Rick Riorden describes Stroud as a genius. They are both right.

The best action adventure I have read for years. If you miss this you will kick yourself

Children of the furnace Pt3. Heartsblood by Brin Murray. Pub. C.P. Books, 2020.

Finishing a trilogy as good as this one was always going to be hard. Set in a brutal world of Sekkerland, which is Greenland without it’s icecap, the country is ruled by a ruthless regime called The Revelayshun.

They rule with a brutal hand of a religious fanaticism and the country has been so brutalised that most of the remaining inhabitants are children, mostly males. The regime is led by High Patriarch Sachs, a disgraceful human being who has brainwashed society through fear, to believe that A Great Atrocity was committed by an amorphis group called the Heaters.

The Heaters came from the Southerm Land to the south which has been badly affected by a global catastrophe caused by climate change. Now Sachs and his Revelayshun are going to invade the Southerm land and main characters Wil, his twin sister Mari, a humanist nurse Leah, a survivor of brutality Jace and a tech expert Harper, are going to take on the Revelayshun while it is away. Can they succeed or is it all a trap?

Tensely written with brutality of human against human a major theme. The country of Sekkerland is a character in it’s own right and the action is intense. The final battles make exciting reading which is not for the faint hearted. Be warned not everybody the reader wants to survive will survive but the ending gives hope for the future.

Told in 51 short chapters by two narrators Wil and Leah the language is often written as the words sound but this adds to the reality of the -plot and situation.

One of the best of the year Dystopian fiction that will make you think about the human condition. Are we capable of going this far. Books 1 & 2 are also reviewed on this blog.

Children of the Furnace Bk2 Crosstrees by Brin Murray.

Children of the Furnace Bk2 Crosstrees by Brin Murray. Pub. Lighthouse Press, 2019.

Sequel to Children of the Furnace it is just as thrilling and brutal as the first book which is also reviewed on this blog.

The action is centered on three main characters- Wil  is a Heater with a tattoo between his eyes under which is a chip that holds evidence of the truth about what has happened to Sekkerland and the Revelayshun that has turned the Sekkerlanders into slaves.

Leah is from the Southem a country that has been through a holocaust like situation that the Revalayshun has blamed on the Heaters. Leah is on the run from the Revouts who lead the Revelayshun and leads a group of children and medical staff away from the interment camp of Ferule where most of the first book was set.

Jace is a former henchman of the Revelayshun who has seen  the light after inflicting much cruel punishment on the Sekkerlanders but now has joined their fight against the Revouts. He is traveling with Leah.

Wil is searching for the Midwife who lives in the eastern part of Sekkerland known as Terra Nullius. The Midwife knows of the existence of Wil’s sister who also has a chip inside her facial tattoo and the two parts have proof of who is responsible for the atrocitiy that has changed the World.

Can Wil find the Midwife and his sister and join with leah to overthrow the revelayshun? read it and find out.

Great action writing in this Dystopian fiction classic but be warned the cruelty is agonisingly painful. The positive side is that the underdog is going to get through and the treat of it all is the description  of Sekkerland. It is stunning like a warmed up Greenland.

I loved it. It is like understanding what ISIS are doing in the Middle East. The tactics of the Revouts are identical to ISIS.

For senior students and Young adults. You won’t put this down once you start. Part 3 Heartsblood is due later this year

Eve of Man by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher

Eve of Man by Giovanna & Tom Fletcher. Pub. Penguin Random House, 2018.

This  dystopian fiction young adult novel will blow your mind. Few novels will promote more discussion about life, survival and the human condition than this one.

It is superbly written by two writers who are in total harmony. One narrates through Eve around whom the novel is based with the other taking Bram an 18 year old boy who plays a female character called Holly who is the game breaker in this novel.

No female baby has been born on Earth for more than 50 years. Then comes Eve whose mother allegedly dies in birth and whose father is condemned as mad and hidden away.

Eve grows up in an ivory tower on top of a mountain surrounded by aging mothers, worshiped by the populace who live beneath her and befriended by Holly her constant companion. Those in power see Eve as the saviour of humankind and they are searching for a suitable male companion for her to breed with.

Holly is sixteen, inquisitive and starting to get the stirrings. Holly alias Bram is falling for Eve as a man and when suitor after suitor proves disasterous for Eve, Bram’s feelings for Holly begin to overwhelm him. When Eve finds out that Holly really is Bram she too becomes smitten. Can their love ever be?

The absence of women has turned the male population into heartless beasts. Without women to soften their animal instincts they are lost. Is there hope for humankind. Read it and find out. It is a stunning read and the first of three parts.

Children of the Furnace by Brin Murray.

Children of the Furnace by Brin Murray. Pub. Copy Press Books Nelson, 2018.

This is dystopian fiction at it’s very best. I wasn’t ready for it because much of the book leaves you in despair for Wil the 15 year old main character who is brutally treated for most of the book but rises above it all to leave the reader with hope at the end.

Set in a country called Sekkerland that looks remarkably like Greenland without the icecap. The lands to the south are called the Furnace Lands so there has been a great heat that has caused the land to change and this is called the Great Atrocity. This Atrocity is blamed on people known as Heaters.

Wil  Shirwud is a Heater, he has a tattoo between his eyes, never knew his father, lost his mother early and was brought up wise in the ways of nature  by a good man called Ty. He cannot read or write but his upbringing has made him strong and resilient and believe me he has to be because he encounters some of the cruelest inhuman characters I have ever read about.

A group called The Strong have taken over Sekkerland in a Revalayshun and one of their leaders Revout Sachs kills Ty and takes Wil to a camp of about 1000 boys, called Ferule a redukayshun centre where fear and cruelty rule. Sachs seems to know that there is something deep and threatening to The Strong about Wil and they are determined to break him.

Wil knows nothing about his destiny or his past except that when his father Ty is killed he calls to Wil to look for the Midwife, but first Wil must withstand severe punishment and learn what he has to do. His skills and notions of fairness ring true with the other boys in the camp and lead to a satisfying climax. The last 100 pages are totally heart stopping.

Written in phonically spelled words because of Wil’s illiteracy, the chapters are short and totally rivetting. Once you start you will not want to stop reading.

Oh and one other thing Wil has never seen a girl, most of the boys in the camp are in the same boat. Wil narrates most of the novel but there is another voice a 15 year old girl called Leah who is sent from the south lands to work as a nurse. She becomes part of the new way of thinking.

A momentous read that you will never forget. Check out the authors web page at http://www.brinmurray.com  and to purchase http://shop.realnzbooks.co.nz/shopn/spi/books_15602

Part 2 Crosstrees will be available soon.

Thunder Head by Neal Shusterman.

Thunder Head by Neal Shusterman. Pub. Walker Books, 2018.

This is part 2 of the Arc of the Scythe series the first being Scythe which is also reviewed on this blog. It is brilliant.

There are two powers in this dystopian world, Thunder Head the creator and the Scythes who rule death, and never the twain shall meet. Each has it’s role but there is division in the Scythe world that Thunder Head is deeply concerned about. That conflict is what this novel is all about as population control is essential in a world where nobody needs to die.

Thunder Head rules this idyllic world because it has solved all humankind’s problems. Global warming, the gap between rich and poor, crime, you name it Thunder Head has solved it. Nobody dies unless they want to or the Scythes deem that they are to be gleaned permanently from the planet. Those prone to crime have been treated genetically, sociopaths have been given a conscience and psychopaths have been given sanity. The age of mortality and suffering are over.

So why is there division among the Scythes? Who can be unhappy in paradise? Has the human ego, ambition and capacity for greed been eliminated?

There is much philosophy in this book told in short chapters amid the action, narrated by a humanised Thunder Head that gets to the soul of Humankind. The other chapters advance the plot and there  is action and intrigue aplenty.

Citra has become Scythe Anastasia and works with master Scythe Marie Curie. Yes all the scythes have names famous from the old world of mortality and they will give you a smile as you read. Jim Morrison, Golda Meir and Nelson Mandela are others.

Rowan has taken a secret role trying to remove corrupt scythes from the world and this has precipitated a lot of action but it is Citra who has caused the most ripples. In the background Scythe Michael Faraday is working on a different tact that is hopefully going to be the salvation of the world.

Brilliantly conceived and written by Neal Shusterman, the action at times is breath taking and the philosophical argument thought provoking. One of the best novels this year or any other year for that matter. I await book 3 with bated breath.

Senior fiction and young adult but good intermediate readers will devour it too as they did with the latter novels in the Harry Potter series which dealt with equally complex topics. There is even a Voldemort like resurrection.

Moneyland by Michael Botur

Moneyland by Michael Botur. Pub. 2017. 

This book for high school students and young adults will give you a bit of a jolt. The language is choice in places and it is about some of the most loathsome teenagers I have ever read about.

The scenario is a good one though. Take a group of teenagers, give them a million dollars each and put them under a glass dome world for a year to fend for themselves. Can they do it without imploding?

The novel starts with the words being spat out like the author was in a fit of pique and it keeps up a torrid pace. Eden is a teenager who wants to lose her virginity and get the million bucks and have a cushy life. She may very well get the first option but the cushy life is way off the mark.

All the characters are shockers. They bully, talk badly to each other, have no sense of direction, have no clues of how to organise themselves, have no loyalty and basically deserve what is coming to them. Did they have a choice? Well it is set in 2037 in a World dominated by robots and mechanical Artificial Intelligence beings. Most humans have no work and no future and divided into two camps – Mech lovers or luddites. Perhaps this is a dystopian future.

Ideas in this novel seem to be drawn from Stephen kings TV series The Dome and William Goldings Lord of the Flies with the language spoken by the characters much like Anthony Burgess’s A Clockwork Orange.

I did like the novel but English teachers are probably going to throw their arms in the air in horror. Check it out some will love it. It is totally irreverent.

http://www.michaelboturwriter.com.

Arc of the Scythe Book 1. Scythe by Neal Shusterman.

Arc of the Scythe Book 1. Scythe by Neal Shusterman. Pub. Walker books, 2018

This first novel in a new series for readers who enjoyed the Hunger Games will mesmerise you. You will have to keep reading long after your eyes are telling you to go to sleep.

The Age of Mortality is over. Humankind has defeated death, all economic inequalities have been levelled and government is by an entity known as Thunderhead. The population still expands by the usual process and so the level needs to be controlled by putting people at random to death. The process is called Gleaning.

The selection process and the gleaning is done by specially selected humans called Scythes whose first commandment is Thou Shalt kill. The Scythes are both feared and revered in society and a visit from one means usually someone in your family has to die. To resist or to hurt a Scythe is punishable by death to your whole family. While Thunderhead controls and sees everything, Scythes are outside this control

People accept that this must be the way and between chapters of the book are excerpts from the Gleaning Journal by H.S. Curie and other Scythes who make comments about the process and philosophical arguments, for and against, are made throughout the novel.

The action revolves around a decent man Scythe Faraday, who takes no pleasure in the selection and gleaning of people. As a result of two gleanings Scythe Faraday selects two 16 year olds to be his apprentices, Citra and Rowan. The two like each other but such relationships are banned.

At the end of a years apprenticeship only one of them is to become a scythe. Which one? But there are rumblings and growing corruption within the Scythes. A decision at the first Conclave of Scythes is to increase the tensions between Scythe Faraday’s two apprentices.

Brilliantly conceived idea from Neal Shusterman and superbly written in short chapters with the background to the Scythe and their roles between chapters. I believe the film rights have already been picked up so get in early before the film ruins the books.

Compulsive reading.