Weekly Reader: Hades Forest by Simon Elson; Dystopian Science Fiction Marries 1984 and Lord of the Flies and Creates A Very Dark Weird Baby

 

Weekly Reader: Hades Forest by Simon Elson; Dystopian Science Fiction Marries 1984 and Lord of the Flies and Creates A Very Dark Weird Baby

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: The usual trajectory of dystopian science fiction is when the protagonist leaves their oppressive regime and joins the Resistance Movement, the Resistance consists of better characters that intend to speak and fight against the dictators and create a newer and better society. It's rare that the protagonist discovers that the rebels are just as bad or worse than the people that they left behind. Sometimes if the rebels don't have a decent society and structure planned, they can turn the dystopia into further chaos.

Simon Elson's Hades Forest is just such a science fiction novel. It begins as a dystopia describing a world right out of 1984, Fahrenheit 451, Brave New World, or The Handmaid's Tale. Then halfway through the novel, the book seems to get lost on its way to Lord of the Flies, featuring characters struggling to survive within various tribes that attack and kill each other.

The style of the book is similar to Reality Testing by Grant Price in that the book is separated in two distinct sections: the one set in the dystopia and the other with the resistance. However, unlike Reality Testing which shows better characterization and a distinct goal from the rebels on how to improve their society, neither side looks particularly good and both have their share of problems

Perry Benson lives in futuristic Tambamba, in the country formerly known as South Africa, now called the Holy States of Borea. In the future, governments and countries have collapsed. Perry lives in a society where he has a voice recorder on his neck and a tracking device on his foot. Everyone gives thanks to Borea as part of a greeting and parting much to Perry's chagrin. 

Borea's government controls every aspect of its citizens' lives including that they are assigned a partner after thirty and are only permitted one child. Eradicts like Perry are ordered to destroy any item that is considered evil i.e. things of the past: things like tinsel, rugby balls, DVD players, and a copy of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (the last from my cold dead hand!). Citizens like Perry and his wife, Mabel are required to attend public events which talk about Borea's history and how "wonderful" their society is. 

Perry and Mabel's marriage is similar to that of Guy and Mildred Montag in Fahrenheit 451. Mabel is the loyal card carrying member of Borean society. There is nothing that she does or says that isn't approved of by Borean's Codes and Society. She even schedules her and Perry's copulations when Borea says that they need to procreate. Mabel is practically a robot created only to please the state.

Perry on the other hand has to play the role on the outside while challenging the standards on the inside. The way that Borea is structured makes someone who questions it believe that there is something wrong with them and not the society. In fact they have a term for that (similar to how psychiatrists in Soviet society actually created mental disorders for people who denounced Soviet politics.)

People with physical and mental disorders are considered Crolax and are exiled. Anyone who denounces the state is considered Crolax. Perry discovers for himself what being a Crolax is like when he denounces Borea in public and ends up in prison.

Borea is terrible no doubt about it but when you think Perry is going to become a hero, things take an even more disturbing turn.

Perry breaks out of prison with the help of a man named Dolphin who leads him to Hades Forest. If Borea represents too much order and control in which every move and every aspect is micromanaged and planned, then the world of Hades Forest represents too much chaos. The only laws involve survival of the fittest. People are separated into five tribes which use cutthroat means to attack the others.

 Left alone in the forest, Perry encounters The Leagros, a tribe of survivalists who steal from other tribes to survive. The Leagros battle against other tribes that specialize in rape, slavery, murder, and torture. Each tribe feels that it is their right to strike back at those who oppose them in any means possible with no laws, no ethics, and no compassion. The tribes use the methods that they learned from the Boreans who hurt them.  However, they fight amongst themselves rather than against Borea which puts them in this mess in the first place.

Perry and the other tribe members stand out as interesting characters despite the bleak circumstances. There's the excitable Kirito who constantly talks in third person and once he befriends Perry, becomes a loyal staunch friend. Chintu is a hard edged veteran of the Tribal Wars and has no time for Perry's ethical arguments. Crank is the shifty leader of Leagros who has cunning means of stealing from other tribes and a grudging respect for those in his tribe. Then there's Miist, an enigmatic member of another tribe who mysteriously saves Perry and the others on occasion.

Some plot twists get introduced towards the end that are genuinely surprising and cause Readers to question the characters' behavior. One revelation caused this Reader to go back and reread some passages to follow the leads to this revelation. Upon second reading it made sense and added a bit more to the Boreans and the Hades Forest residents than originally perceived.

There have been many dystopian fiction novels written in the past year. Sometimes a writer can still add a new twist to what could be a tired subgenre. Luckily, Elson is that writer.