Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper; Involved Relevant AU Science Fiction Where Britain Still Rules The Waves

 Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper; Involved and Relevant AU Science Fiction Where Britain Still Rules The Waves

By Julie Sara Porter 

Bookworm Reviews 

Spoilers: I did not plan this but I suppose that it is most appropriate to review Britannia Rises by Russell Dumper for Independence Day weekend. This Alternate Universe Science Fiction novel has an involved and sweeping plot that is surprisingly relevant in modern United States where this once Democratic Republic is transforming into something else entirely.

In this timeline, The British Empire never ended. The United States lost the Revolutionary War and many other countries like India, Hong Kong, and South Africa are still under their leadership. In fact, they are interested in expanding by seizing more countries such as Venezuela and Nepal. They are faced with challenges from other superpowers like China, USSR (yes they are still around and intact), and The European Union, but are also feeling the pangs of rebellion from within. There are rebellious factions like the Dayak, a resistance group with which the Nepalese branch is highly active in this volume.

With a plot this wide reaching and complex, there are going to be various characters who are affected and this book covers such diverse characters and perspectives. Jamie Bayston is a university student who ends up in the wrong place at the wrong time and is forced to go into hiding. Edward McLaughlin is an American operative who crosses paths with young Bayston and ends up becoming his protector. Trevor Layttle is a German K6 agent whose security investigation takes him to higher and more conspiratorial levels. King Alfred is showing signs of mental decline and is preoccupied with potential foreign invasions, so his avaricious manipulative older son, Prince Leopold and his weak willed apathetic younger son, Prince Christian acquire the regency for the good of the kingdom and their father, so they say. Letitia Pearl leaves her native Canada for Nepal to enlist in the Dayak and is involved in key battles. Bob Royce is a career soldier whose assignment in Nepal allegiances with more violent soldiers cause him to question his own loyalty and humanity.

This is one of those books that scarily lines up with real life. I don’t know if Dumper was intentionally thinking of the current situation in the United States but it’s definitely suggestive of these times. Ironically as I am reading a book about a fictional British Empire strengthening their hold so other countries don’t gain their freedom, the United States may be in the process of losing theirs but not by outside forces but from our own government taking on a more Authoritarian Fascistic rule. 

This book shows what happens when the people surrender their will to a dictatorial society. It’s in the grand tradition of many Science Fiction works like 1984, Handmaid’s Tale, Idiocracy, CSA: Confederate States of America, Brave New World, Fahrenheit 451 and the various books that I reviewed in the past eight years. They take a far off future or alternate history to comment on the situations that are happening now. 

The parallels can be seen. King Alfred, an Authoritarian despot who is clearly showing signs of mental instability has a lot in common with Donald Trump (with a lot of King Charles thrown in). The actions by his inner circle notably Prince Leopold are similar to oligarchs like Elon Musk and the Heritage Foundation who use the current Administration, narcissistic President, and his gullible followers to feed their own ambition. 

The experiences from Jamie Bayston, Letitia Pearl, Bob Royce and Trevor Layttle can be clearly seen today by people who are suffering from these actions in one way or another. All anyone has to do is read or watch the news and find out what’s happening to various groups like immigrants. LGBT+ people, Liberals, academics, investigative reporters, and voters, even those who once followed the current regime and have grown to regret it. Of course the organized protests such as No Kings certainly causes one to think along certain terms. 

We can all see the similarities especially when we are living inside them. The actions of the characters might be how we would act in some ways. We might be Bayston just a naive part of things until it hits us personally. We might be people like MacLaughlin or Pearl, people whose grief transformed into anger and then action against the system that caused it. We might be Layttle who learn too much and become targets because we shared that knowledge with others. We might be Royce those who followed the system until our conscience got in the way. 

We might be many of the unnamed unknown characters on the outside, average ordinary people, immigrants and citizens that find our lives irrevocably changed by people who take sadistic unconscionable delight in the suffering of others. Even those who once voted for it and actively campaigned for this regime will soon suffer under it. We all will just some of us will realize it quicker than others. 

While this is a relevant novel, it’s not a political tract. It is filled with depth in characters and situations that tell a suspenseful thrilling story. There are plenty of moments that will make the Reader nod in sympathy, rage in anger, or applaud wildly. Royce’s transition from loyal soldier to potential rebel is very real as he mentally shows unease during other soldiers’s boastful dark humor over what they will do to their victims. It then multiplies as those words and jokes become depraved actions and he has to rationalize what they did with what he allowed to happen. 

MacLaughlin and Bayston’s relationship is also a highlight. MacLaughlin gives the younger man pointers on how to survive on the run so this naive sheltered middle class kid shows the potential to become a street smart gun toting fighter. The moment where Bayston learns that he lost everything that he once held dear is predicted but no less heart wrenching as the boy realizes that he is unable to go home. It will be a tough road with plenty of sacrifices, more violence, and may only result in mere pin pricks against those in charge. Bayston has to decide if he is ready for it. 

Britannia Rises is not only a great example of Alternate Universe Science Fiction. It is very relatable to this universe’s current events. 

Weekly Reader: Root of All Evil: The Deluxe Edition by Ayura Ayira; Dictator’s Wife Fights For Love, Freedom, and Her Own Identity

 

Weekly Reader: Root of All Evil: The Deluxe Edition by Ayura Ayira; Dictator’s Wife Fights For Love, Freedom, and Her Own Identity 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Ayura Ayira’s previous book, The Protectress, was an erotic power play between two rival warriors who tried to dominate each other but ended up fighting on the same side. Though there were large stakes, the emphasis was on the personal, the two enemies turned lovers. Ayira’s latest novel, Root of All Evil: Deluxe Edition, combines the personal with the political, showing the internal struggles between characters and the external struggles in which they live. As a result she created a better story that is just as erotic but also widely encompassing and incredibly involving.

Zayani Ada is the wife of dictator Changa Ada and not by choice. A former child soldier, she was taken during an ethnic cleansing raid and forced into marriage for political reasons. Her husband's grip on his country and his wife is tight as she sees him for the monster that he really is.  Surrounding Zayani are plots of rebellion and assassination, including from some of her own people. A handsome aid worker, Stefan Du Mal, then appeals to her to become an active participant in the resistance.

Zayani is a memorable protagonist in a very tough situation. She is part of the Ijuns who are considered a lower class and looked unfavorably by the Kcohomi, of whom Changa is a part. His goal in marrying Zayani is to make it appear that the Ijun and Kcohomi are working together when nothing could be further from the truth. He is controlling towards his people and his wife. He is like most tyrants: suspicious, paranoid, and corrupt. He can only lead by fear and intimidation because that's all he has. No new ideas, no ways of helping the people, no aid or comfort. Just shouting, belittling, arresting, and executing. Changa is physically, verbally, and sometimes sexually abusive towards his wife and tries to dominate her the way that he does everyone else.

While Zayani hates and sometimes fears her husband, she does not allow that to interfere with her goals of helping people. She secretly funds and volunteers for humanitarian projects to help the Ijun advance in society. While she does not take an active part in rebelling against her husband, she knows many that do and keep them secret from him. She considers these rebels to be family and doesn't want to turn in any of them. In one heartbreaking moment, she is forced to name one of the rebels and it's clear that this action will haunt her forever. 

It takes Stefan to guide Zayani into becoming a more active participant though not just for himself. When he tells her that some school kids are missing, Zayani realizes that she has passed a point of no return. She is now actively involved in the fight against Changa and that if caught could mean arrest, exile, or more than likely death. All of the times when she silently planned for her husband's death and a regime change now has to come true and she has to lead it.

Erotica plays a part in this book but isn't as evident as it is in the Protectress. There are some sexual moments between her and Changa that are uncomfortable and unpleasant but they are meant to be. Zayani is in a submissive position practically owned and sold into marriage. There is no love in their moments of togetherness. There is just his power over her and her subversive nature in debating and arguing against him.

 When Zayani is with Stefan, it's not only truly sensual. It's a breath of fresh air that she is with someone who is an equal match. He shares her ideals and sees her as an individual, not just the First Lady of her country. Zayani meets someone who is on her level and this love allows her to become more open to joining the fight.

There are certain twists that happen halfway through the book that change Zayani’s perspective. She emerges more active and takes a leadership position. She does things that the Zayani of the earlier chapters would never do but demonstrates a strength of character and the tough decisions that she has to make so that her country and people don't fall to another dictator.

New Book Alert: Enemy by Kimberly Amato; Yet Another Dark, Disturbing, and All Too Real Dystopian Science Fiction

 

New Book Alert: Enemy by Kimberly Amato; Yet Another Dark, Disturbing, and All Too Real Dystopian Science Fiction 

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers (BIG HEAVY SPOILERS IMPLIED!!!) Here we go again.

Here we have yet another dystopian science fiction novel that might as well be (to borrow the old Law and Order ad catchphrase) "ripped from the headlines." 

I can't imagine why, but that has become quite a popular genre of late. (End sarcasm). I mean it's not like we are in an environmental catastrophe, been through a worldwide pandemic, have businesses who would rather work with a small workforce than kick in a few bucks so their employees can survive, student loan and housing crisis, inflation and no living wage to counter it, supply chain issues, international crisis with China, and had a former President with tyrannical ambitions encourage his own followers to attack the Capitol building or anything.

(Really, end sarcasm.)

Most people read and write for escapism. This genre is like the Universe saying "Not today, Bookworm! You're going to read it, write it, think about it, and you're going to like it!" 

Not only that but is it just me or do these dystopians get darker and darker? Just when you think you have read the final one, the bleakest one yet that squashes any hope for humanity, along comes another one which tops that. What, do these authors challenge each other to see who can be the most depressing?

Case in point, Kimberly Amato's Enemy which seems to have taken its inspiration from the Jim Henson series, Dinosaurs' final episode "Changing Nature" which seemed to have as its motto "If you want to get viewers talking and watching, then leave them dying and the audience crying."

I thought that Ark of the Apocalypse finally caused me to hit the bottom. Enemy reminded me that there is no bottom, just the big gaping abyss that Nietzsche spoke about. 

Ark of the Apocalypse had a plan of traveling to other worlds. The plan showed that while the characters who conceived it were unlikeable, at least something was salvageable. 

With Enemy, there is no plan. There is no space travel. There is just survival and a slow countdown to extinction. 

There are various subplots in this book which takes place in the near future. The United States is taken over because of an alliance between a former American and Russian President. Obviously, it's part futuristic story and as of right now part alternate universe, because it practically stems from many of the fears over what would happen if a certain someone had won a second term. Though he's barely referred to by name, it's clear that many of the tyrannical 

legislation and requirements on the dystopian government's agenda are based on policies by a certain previous Presidential administration and its cult of followers.

Anyway in Enemy, the President of the United States, James Laskin is a puppet ruler under the true master,  King Valkov, "the one true ruler" of the world. Women, LGBT, and minorities are deprived of their rights. The dying environment has caused many to live underground. Prison employees are permitted to use brainwashing and torture and many are imprisoned for so-called "heinous" crimes like criticizing the government, being disabled, or emigrating into the country. There is no illegal immigration, because immigration is forbidden or rather I should say, that everyone who enters the country is considered an illegal immigrant. Of course the news is nothing more than propaganda and children are educated to fit the world government's definition of "God and Country."

Despite this tight stranglehold on truth and freedom, there are small cells of resistors that communicate with each other virally. 

Most of the protagonists of this story are part of one such cell. One of those members is Agent Ellie Goldman, a former Multinational Security Council Operative, who is now one of the heads of the Resistance. Besides helping people enter the country, she has one other goal in mind: to kill President Laskin.

However, there is dissension within the ranks as many male former military operatives turned rebels don't like being ordered about by a woman. 

Osaka, a Rebel, is undercover working for Laskin but she can't disguise her growing affection for the President's young son, Maxim. Osaka's lover and fellow rebel, Anton, is determined to rescue his captive sister, Nadja.

Riker's Island, a New York prison, is now a central hub or torture and brainwashing. It's run by the militant Col. Macalov and much of the nastiest work is headed by the sadistic Mr. Flannery, who would love to replace Macalov. Also, working at Riker's Island is low level Officer Tim Flynt who takes care of his mentally ill mother and younger brother, Sam, who may be interested in joining the rebels.

Meanwhile, President Laskin has a long list of enemies that he wouldn't mind doing away with and using the Resistance to do so.

The main emotion that runs throughout this book is a certain world weariness, perhaps from the Reader being bombarded with similar scenarios in fiction and probable ones in real life. The world weariness also exists within the framework of the book itself and within the characters. 

The rebels overall plans are to kill Laskin and infiltrate and destroy Riker's Island. They plan this while other cells around the world are destroyed and other rebels are killed, arrested, or converted. Because this dictatorship is worldwide, the odds of Ellie's cell doing any permanent damage is unlikely. There are other Rikers and many people to replace Laskin. The thing is they know it too. Their actions such as they are, are mere pinpricks towards the dictatorship. Ellie can only hope that what they do will inspire others to act.

These are people who have lived their whole lives under this regime and have either grown accustomed or apathetic to it. The ones that fight, have replaced ideals with survival. They have no plans on what to replace the dictatorship with, just live with it, fight against it, and be alive long enough to see it end.

After all with as much damage that has been done to the world, there may not be anything salvageable left to recover.

While weariness is the main emotion, there are some genuine heartfelt moments, particularly by characters who cling to friends and family members because that's all they have. Ellie definitely has tunnel vision in her desire to kill Laskin and is very militant and authoritarian towards her fellow rebels. However, she is grieving over the death of her wife, a woman who was the love of her life. She also connects with an immigrant family consisting of a single mother and her young children. 

Speaking of children, Osaka's bond with Maxim is moving as she sees not an enemy but a small child who is not at fault for what his father does. She becomes more of a parental figure 

to him than his actual parents.

There are some heartbreaking passages which reveal the real price of the war between the oppressors and the oppressed. When Anton learns of his sister's fate, his grief is real and believable showing that there is great loss on all sides. It's like a cry of pain that travels from the words to the Reader's souls.

Tim is an eyewitness to the torture of a rebel and is left traumatized by the experience especially by her calm acquiescence to death. While he remains working at Riker's for some time afterwards, it's clear this experience changed him and is part of why he is reluctant to discover where Sam's allegiances lay. He doesn't want his kid brother to go through that experience of torture with Tim having to helplessly watch and do nothing. Suddenly, these faceless rebels have names and identities to Tim and one of those is the person that he loves the most.

That care for character is also given to many of the antagonistic characters. Some like Flannery delight in cruelty while other like Valkov are far off and remote from the overall action, others are dissected more closely. Laskin is charming, crafty and is distant but concerned for his family. Macalov shows compassion in some of the strangest times such as when he refuses to torture a small child (True, that the child benefits him in his overall plans is a factor, but the fact that he stopped it at all is particularly notable.) They are portrayed as men who might have once been reasonable even idealistic, but like everyone else, made the choice to survive. They just chose to go with the regime rather than fight against it.

 Instead of a straight line between the Evil Empire vs. The Good Rebels, the line is faint and more jagged. Everybody exists in a shade of gray, suggesting there are no direct enemies because the real enemy is inside.

Which leads us to the ending. Because of the previous weariness and emotions of the characters, there is no thought that this book will end in victory for either side. There is some good tension as plans are made and sides attack and counterattack. However, any type of happy victory would ring hollow because of the somber tone that preceded it. Pessimism reigns throughout this book and is definitely present in the final pages.

Because of humanity's self destructive nature, no one comes out a winner. It gets worse in the final pages as at the very end, no one learns anything. This countdown to violence and destruction may continue and once again, we will head for extinction.

It's as though Enemy, literally is the final word on humanity's probable chances for existence. Let's listen to it

But for now, let it be the final word on the dystopian science fiction genre.

New Book Alert: Alejandro's Lie by Bob Van Laerhove; An Honest and Absorbing Look At Imprisonment and PTSD In A Latin American Dictatorship

 New Book Alert: Alejandro's Lie by Bob Van Laerhove; An Honest and  Absorbing Look At Imprisonment and PTSD In A Latin American Dictatorship

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: M.G. Claybrook's satirical children's book for adults The Voyages of Gethsarade has the biting but very true line, "All revolutions begin the same way by not being paid."

Gethsarade, Claybrook's furry squirrel musician-turned-folk-hero protagonist, would find a revolutionary partner in Alejandro Juron, who would share that same sentiment. Alejandro is the (human in this case, not squirrel) protagonist of Alejandro's Lie, Bob Van Laerhoven political thriller about revolution in a Latin American country. It shows what happens when the marching, protests, and rebellions stop and the rebel is left older and alone with their thoughts.

It is 1983 in Valtaigo, Terreno, a fictional Latin American country. Alejandro has just been released from a prison that is so notorious that it is nicknamed The Last Supper, because "supper was the only meal that they gave you on your execution." Alejandro was the guitarist in the folk band, Aconcagua, led by the fiery and charismatic Victor Perez. 

Alejandro struggles to adjust to life on the outside, refamiliarizing himself with places like the 'pigsty', Vaitago's slums and living under the military junta that has strict control over Terreno (with funding from the United States). He reunites with old friends, like Cristobal Vial, a former firebrand playing it safe as a university librarian and makes new friends, like Beatriz Candalti, a feminist who is separated and planning to divorce her abusive husband.

Alejandro's imprisonment has given him PTSD and a bitter cynical outlook. He also feels guilty about his own motives for becoming a musician/revolutionary and his actions that led to Vincent's arrest, imprisonment, and death.

Alejandro's Lie is an absorbing look at how a dictatorship affects the people and places surrounding it. Terreno is a fictional location but the impact of living under a tyranny can be clearly felt in the real world. This impact has been experienced by people from real Central and South American countries that have been ruined by dictators who have used various political leanings from Capitalism to Communism and backing from more powerful countries as means for control. 

One character describes the situation in Terreno as "The wealthy are dancing the rumba in luxurious nightclubs, the poor grab leftovers in the garbage dumps….Terreno is a country of contradictions a d teeming with underground parties and resistance groups…rebel groups are smuggling in arms from Cuba...the middle class hesitates; the oligarchy has resolutely sided with the junta." It's a world that has been teetering on an abyss for a long time and barely needs a slight push before it falls off.

Alejandro's Lie is the type of book in which the author avoids making the setting beautiful to focus on the ugliness surrounding the characters. There are some detailed descriptions of nature, particularly when Beatriz flies a plane to a mountain location. However, they are very few. Most of the action is in Valtaigo, possibly a deliberate move by Van Laerhoven. The focus is on the dictatorship, so much so that everything in the country is centered around it. Even nature's beauty is tainted by the corrupt people in charge who want to destroy it. Terreno is a country filled with loss, regret, guilt, and forced complacency.

Those feelings overwhelm Alejandro as soon as he leaves The Last Supper and exacerbates his already growing PTSD. He suffers through the nightmarish memories of his imprisonment including starvation, torture, and manipulation. After leaving prison however, his experiences get worse. 

Alejandro left a country that was devastated by a dictator. What he finds is a ruthless government still in power. The people's rights have only diminished further. Unfortunately, it has been so long that most people have lost the will to fight. There are some resistors, as Beatriz is involved in just such a cell. But they are the minority. Most people such as Beatriz's father and at times Cristobal have traded rebellion for conformity and are less concerned with ideologies and more worried about survival. It makes one wonder what the point of rebellion is if the people aren't going to follow through on it.

The complacency of the people and his own dark memories drive Alejandro. He questions everything, even his own motives for joining Ancocagaua. His motives for becoming a folk musician and betrayal of Victor eat away at his soul. He believes that his own motivations to join a political folk band had more to do with fame, money, and sleeping with willing women than it did with singing against the system. This puts a more cynical and world weary outlook at the  rebellious idealistic image that others saw in him. Alejandro also has to contend with his mental anguish over Victor's imprisonment and his blame in turning Victor in not for political reasons but because he had an affair with Victor's wife.

Alejandro recognizes the lie within himself and can't do anything to ease that remorse. He turns to music, drink, old friends, even a stint as a professional barrio wrestler to earn money. But these things only make the void in his life worse. The only emotion that he has left is rage for an old enemy. This rage causes him to engage in a pretty reckless plan to seek vengeance and retribution.

Alejandro's Lie is a book that explores the long term impact that a dictatorship and imprisonment has on the soul and how they lose everything: their home, families, lovers, strength, and fighting spirit. Truth be told, Alejandro's Lie is a somber but still intriguing and completely honest book.

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.

Weekly Reader: Bound by P.L. Sullivan; Brilliant Concept and Strong Female Lead (or Leads) Make Up For The At Times Confusing Plot

Weekly Reader: Bound by P.L. Sullivan; Brilliant Concept and Strong Female Lead (or Leads) Make Up For The At Times Confusing Plot

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: One thing that I will say about Bound by P.L. Sullivan is that its concept is incredibly intriguing and original. It involves a woman from a seemingly violent race who has another personality surgically attached to her and she is required to commit violence in the name of another world. It's a strange concept but science fiction allows us to imagine the impossible and Bound excels at that.

In a world of Polis, Adin Rayne is a Keld. That basically means in her home world with it's rigidity, laws, and preference for nonviolent conflict, Adin is well an outlier to say the least. The Keld are held under suspicion because they appear to have violent and sociopathic tendencies. In fact, Adin, as a nursery school child, was responsible for the death of one of her caregivers. The authorities have the bright idea to channel those violent tendencies and have her serve in their military peacekeeper organization. Her violent tendencies are even further curbed by her being mentally  bound to another girl at the point of death named Shennan. Shennan is supposed to calm Adin's more violent nature into something more diplomatic. 

Decades later, Adin and Shennan are sent to investigate a strange disorder called The Mad or Rills. Rills spread from planet to planet afflicting people with insanity. Insanity becomes a contagion and anyone could be affected. It's a tough assignment, one that causes a lot of problems for Adin/Shennan and their colleagues, friends, and family. It is a very painful disorder in which glyphs appear on the victim's face and they act in a violent thoughtless manner.

This is one of those science fiction novels with an incredibly confusing plot. Sometimes it's hard to tell who is fighting who, who all the players are, and what side they are on. It's one of those books were you expect a traitor because everyone is pretty much suspect. Unfortunately, unlike Centricity which is well written enough to make the Reader go back and decipher what they missed, the density of Bound's plot doesn't leave enough interest to do that. The revelation of the Rills' origin is someone hard to follow as well whether they are organic or man made and act according to their own survival instincts or someone else's orders.

However what the plot lacks in coherence, it makes up for a very baffling and intriguing concept, particularly within the characters of Adin and Shennan. The bound is sort of like having Dissociative Identity Disorder except the other personality is surgically inserted inside the body. However, the bound goes one step further. When one woman sleeps or is shut down, the other takes over. They are able to communicate telepathically even when one is asleep and the other awake. They share each other's thoughts, memories, and know one another's associates, friends, and lovers. What is particularly impressive is that when one personality is ascendant, the body changes appearance to reflect which one is in charge. So they can go from short androgynous dark haired Adin to tall sexy blond Shennan within a conversation.

What is most fascinating with this concept of binding is that we see how this affects  both Adin and Shennan. The bound brings out their most positive and negative attributes. Adin is the more action gung ho fighter. When it comes time to investigate trouble on a planet, guns ablazing, she's your woman. She has a strategic military thought process and doesn't mind using it by leaving a few bodies in her wake. 

Shennan is the diplomat. She is the one called on to negotiate with planetary leaders and speak to superior officers in the calm rational manner that Adin lacks. Shennan is the talker and Adin is the doer.

There are times when their morals and values flip flop. Shennan's cold nature and determination to meet an assignment to the finish sometimes clashes with Adin's concerns about the living element and what the cost is to all involved.

Shennan and Adin's dichotomy is expertly explores in terms of their relationships. Adin is more reserved and had an on again/off again lover. Shennan however is more sexually adventurous and has had male and female lovers. Some of the more moving chapters occur between Adin and Shennan and Shennan's former lovers, including Cale, a man with whom she broke his heart when they were in the Academy, and Lyssa, a woman who Shennan considers her greatest love.

With the Bound, Sullivan raises some interesting themes and questions about the nature of violence. In some ways, the book is similar to A Clockwork Orange in that if someone is brutally forced to give up their violent nature then does that make it right? Adin and Shennan are not a whole person. They are two halves of one person unable to function without each other. In their insistence in using Shennan to end Adin's violence, the Polis prove to care very little about the cost on these two women or their emotional and psychological states. They also seem to have little regard for what their orders mean to the other planets and their citizens. Their authoritarian nature ends up being colder, more violent, and more sociopathic than anything that Adin would have thought of on her own.

Bound is sometimes hard to follow but its concept and characterization are incredible. Anyone who reads to it will be Bound to have an intriguing thoughtful suspenseful time.

New Book Alert: Orange City by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Terrifying Science Fiction Dystopia Will Scare The Colors Out Of You

 

New Book Alert: Orange City by Lee Matthew Goldberg; Terrifying Science Fiction Dystopia Will Scare The Colors Out Of You

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: Lee Matthew Goldberg's previous novel, Slow Down was an ironic title of a book. It was a fast paced almost hallucinatory drug trip of a novel in which Noah, a young ambitious screenwriter gets involved with a creepy director's film project which involves several actresses becoming addicted to a drug called Fast which turns them homicidally violent.

So in this, his fifth novel, Orange City has Goldberg taken the predecessor title's advice and slowed down? Well, no. Instead he just has a wider more imaginative arena in which to explore these strange, bizarre, terrifying worlds.

Orange City is set in the future in a dystopian city called, original name, The City. The City is ruled by an omnipresent figure who is literally called The Man. (Thankfully, the common nouns used as proper names device ends there. So we don't run into other characters called The Woman, The Boy, The Girl, The Dog and don't encounter The Bar or The Restaurant.)

The Man is a creepy figure. He wears the same black suit and is fed a strange orange liquid intravenously, so he doesn't eat. His legs are distorted because of surgeries to make him taller. He has several arms connected to his body that are thin and branch-like giving him a spidery appearance. His red eyes are able to cyberoptically view the entire city. He has spies, technology, and a psychic seeming intuition that allows him to keep everyone and everything in the city under his watch and control. Anyone who disobeys can lose their appendages and end up in The Zone, the homeless district, or The Man's Scouts can send them to The Outside World, the area outside The City. The Man's appearance and demeanor are sort of like what would happen if 1984's Big Brother decided to retire and give control of Oceania over to Slenderman.

Underneath The Man's control are the Finances, districts with CEO's that control the banking, business, and advertising. In one way or another everybody works under The Man's ultimate direction, so yes they are in fact slaves to The Man. 

One of those workers is Graham Weathered, a meek little man who works for the advertising firm of Warton, Mind, and Donovan. Graham has been living in The City since he was 19, a scared abused former foster kid from The Outside World. He was given the option, as all convicted criminals are, to remain in the desolate war torn Outside World or start a new life with a job that promises benefits and constant surveillance in The City. Naturally, the naive Graham chooses Option B.

Years later, Graham is given his first real assignment. Warton, Mind, and Donovan are promoting a multi-flavored soda called Pow! His boss, E, wants him to test the various flavors and let them know what the results are. Graham needs some recognition from his employers,  would like to get ahead and does not want to be sent to the Zone. Plus, Graham has the spine of an amoeba and the nerves of a terrified toy dog, so he agrees. The only problem is that Pow! is addictive, really addictive, and it produces some strange side effects. It alters a person's emotions depending on the flavor.

Orange City is a brilliant novel that is a tribute to the Science Fiction Dystopia genre and a satire on advertising, greed, and corporate control. As Graham drinks the Pow! flavors, he takes on various facets of his personality. The orange flavor makes him passionate and sexual. Lime green makes him jealous and ambitious. Blueberry makes him depressed and thoughtful. Cherry Red makes him aggressive and homicidal. All of the emotions that a lifetime of abuse and constant surveillance and control have repressed have finally broken through and overwhelms him.

This book is a wonder to imagine and is one of the few that I would like to see become a movie or limited series because of how impressive it would look. One of the more visually captivating images are the constant changing colors around Graham. Each time he drinks a specific flavor, his eyes zero in and focus on that color on the walls, neon signs, and on people's clothing. Each time he is attracted to women wearing those specific colors or is invited to a club or a bar with that color name (The Citrus Club, Lime Lounge, Blue Moon, and Red Rum.) It would be neat to see any potential filmmaker engage in some interesting details like the walls in Graham's apartment changing color or the neon lights blazing in the background, unavoidable like stars. Goldberg clearly had a lot of fun writing the process of Graham and his mood swings and the shifting environment around him.

Besides setting, Goldberg also creates a memorable protagonist in Graham. Similar to characters like Winston Smith, Guy Montag, Offred/June, or Bernard Marx, Graham just accepts the System at first. He thinks that if he plays along and doesn't cause trouble, then he will live another day, without realizing that it doesn't matter how much he plays along. If that System sees those under them as less than human, they are expendable and completely disposable. They will be killed or exiled anyway, because they have no value as a human being or an individual. 

Graham follows the Man's orders, even temporarily accepts a higher position, more luxurious apartment, and larger stipend to be the Pow! spokesperson/product tester/guinea pig. When he becomes hopelessly addicted and characters appear and reappear to monitor him, even appearing in lucid dreams is when he starts to question what he got into. He also learns some revealing things about his past and what The Man's real goals are.  That's when he can no longer remain a passive participant and slave to The Man. He becomes an active rebel and fighter against those that have controlled him for most of his life.

Orange City is a book with a terrifying premise that questions how much advertising, corporations, and our own self interests control us. It could be as real as tomorrow. That thought is enough to scare the colors out of the Reader.