As someone who loves to talk and write and read, Vox by Christina Dalcher was a nightmare read for me. In a near-future U.S. the alt-right has risen to power and put women in their place – in the home, serving men. Women and girls are fitted with counter bracelets trained to the wearer’s voice. […]
dystopia
Review: Daughter of Bad Times, by Rohan Wilson
Daughter of Bad Times reads less like dystopian fiction and more like future history. The writing style makes it feel like a slightly dramatised reenactment of entirely plausible events. The only kicker is that these particular events haven’t happened – yet. In 2075 the seas have risen and swallowed up tiny island-based nations like the […]
Review: The Secret Runners of New York, by Matthew Reilly
The Secret Runners of New York is a future dystopian fiction story that’s plain good fun. Well, if you can call the prospect of 99.5% of life on earth being wiped out by a gamma cloud “fun”. This is the very first Matthew Reilly book I’ve ever read. It’s also the very first post-apocalyptic novel […]
Review: The Wall, by John Lanchester
In The Wall, John Lanchester has channelled modern society’s xenophobia and failure to act on climate change into a massive concrete structure surrounding a very different England. In the United Kingdom of the future, Brexit is the least of their worries. To keep out the rest of the world – ‘the Others’ – and the […]
Review: Psychotopia, by R.N. Morris
Psychotopia is a modern literary journey down through the seven circles of Hell which left me feeling utterly drained. R.N. Morris has plucked out two of society’s current anxieties (the rise of psychopaths, especially in positions of power, and the influence of online gaming on the shape of our society), combined them with new scientific […]
Review: North, by Frank Owen
I was intrigued by the cover claim on North – that it’s a post-apocalyptic game changer. That’s a pretty big call in this genre. Not a lot changes, really. There’s an apocalypse, and then people have to survive afterwards. Normally there are the ‘good’ people who try to survive while keeping their humanity intact. Then […]