Weekly Reader: What Branches Grow by T.S. Beier; Dystopian Science Fiction Pulls All The Stops in Despair and Angst

 

Weekly Reader: What Branches Grow by T.S. Beier; Dystopian Science Fiction Pulls All The Stops in Despair and Angst

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

 Spoilers: Yes because in the joy of the holiday season when gifts are exchanged, family and friends are together, people open their hearts to give to the less fortunate, it's the time to curl up with a good book of barren wasteland and dictatorships of small pockets of survivalist civilizations. What better time than the cheerful holiday season to read a depressing angst ridden dystopian Science Fiction novel?

It's not like I'm a stranger to reading dark themed books in December. In years past, I read supernatural horror, mysteries, and psychological thrillers. I have also read plenty of dystopian Science Fiction over the past few years to the point that I thought that I was immune to the somber depressed feeling of this subgenre. However, T.S. Beier's What Branches Grow proves that there is some life in this subgenre to move and depress the Reader and to hope that the world does not end up like this.

What Branches Grow pulls out all the stops describing a world destroyed by war, illness, and environmental disaster and the desperate tactics that people have to do to survive. 

Gennero is a guard in the settlement of Churchill. He was once close to the despot, Church, but the loss of some people close to Gennero and Church's increased paranoia and tyrannical behavior have put the guard at odds with his one time leader/friend. 

The final straw occurs when Delia, an outsider from the wastelands, comes to Churchill to get supplies on her way north. Church wants to recruit her for the local brothel, but Delia is not at all willing. In fact, she escapes with Gennero following close behind.

What is particularly unforgettable is the lengths that Beier goes through to describe the Post-Apocalyptic world. In the Acknowledgements, she wrote that she was inspired by such works as Cormac McCarthy's The Road, Stephen King's The Stand, and the Mad Max movies to prepare for her work. Aside from probably giving her nightmares and anxiety, they also combined to give her a book that is a tribute to the subgenre but she also works to make it her own.

Some of most evocative passages involve the descriptions of the Wastelands that Gennero, Delia, and their new friends Perth and his dog, Mort travel through. Beier goes all out describing a world that is devoid of blue skies, no vegetation, and dust, dirt, and grit everywhere. If you are one of those types of Readers with heightened senses, especially tactile, you may feel the dirt and grit all around you and your throat might be parched because of the dryness. Afterwards, you may need to shower to remove the imaginary grit and chug a water bottle to quench your thirst. And of course be grateful that you don't live in that world.

Besides the full on sensory description, Beier does a great job of fleshing out her main characters. Delia and Gennero are part of the generation that was born after the end and this is the only life that they know. True, they heard about life before from the elders, but they have no personal experience with them. 

An apartment in which you could come inside after work, turn on the lights, and sink into a comfortable couch and just relax is as unreal to them as a cavern full of dragons hoarding treasure to us. 

Gennero and Delia were exposed to sexual assault, diminished rations, and fighting for survival since they were children. It's safe to say that they were never children. Their innocence was lost because of decisions that were made long before they were born.

Actually not too long before they were born. In fact, in What Branches Grow we find out through Perth that this world is set only a few decades away from ours. In fact even though Perth is in his 60's or 70's, he is revealed to have been a Millennial. (Feeling old yet?) In fact his memories of the past such as working on computers, watching the Walking Dead and Game of Thrones, and going to Starbucks are our memories. Typically, Gennero and Delia roll their eyes when he goes on about his past. But it's heart tugging all the same. These are the little things that we would cherish and long for when the world ends and all that's left is a land of dust.

Gennero, Delia, and Perth go through many changes and development during their travels. They don't trust each other but have suffered tremendous loss. Eventually, they bond after saving each other's lives and scavenging for food and warmth inside abandoned houses. The hardness of the times have not made them completely cold and unfeeling. They show affection towards each other and other good people who help them and vice versa. 

They also have a goal in mind to reach: The City, a place that is still like it was. Another trope of Dystopian Science Fiction is a new better place that the characters long for, their version of Heaven. The City definitely invokes images of Tomorrow Morrow Land in Mad Max Beyond the Thunderdome (actually Sydney).

The three main characters and many of the others wonder about The City. Does it exist? Is it as beautiful as they say? Is it ruined like the rest of the world? Is it worth going to when they are surrounded by feral animals, cannibals, fanatic survivalists, and an uncertain environment? The idea of The City being this imagined Paradise gives the characters hope and something to aspire towards in such a dark world.

What Branches Grow is a dark disturbing book, no question. But it still carries themes of perseverance and hope.

New Book Alert: Court of the Grandchildren by Michael Muntisiov and Greg Finlayson; Somber Warning About The Future World The Next Generations Will Inherit

 

New Book Alert: Court of the Grandchildren by Michael Muntisiov and Greg Finlayson; Somber Warning About The Future World The Next Generations Will Inherit

By Julie Sara Porter

Bookworm Reviews

Spoilers: While reading Michael Muntisiov and Gregory Finlayson's Science Fiction novel, Court of the Grandchildren, I was reminded of the proverb, originally attributed to environmental activist, Wendell Berry, "We do not inherit the Earth from our ancestors, we only borrow it for our children." I am also reminded of Greta Thunberg, the young climate activist and Nobel Peace Prize Nominee, addressing the world leaders at the UN Climate Action Summit with the passion of her youth but the wisdom of someone twice her age with: "How dare you? You have stolen my dreams and my childhood with your empty words! And yet I am one of the lucky ones! People are suffering! People are dying! Entire ecosystems are collapsing! We are in the beginning of a mass extinction, and all you can talk about is money and fairy tales of eternal economic growth! How dare you?"

As older generations, we have to take into account the world that we have destroyed either on purpose for corporate gain or accidentally through apathy and inaction, the world that future generations will inherit. According to NASA's Global Climate Change Website, the global temperature has increased by 2.12 degrees with most of the increase occurring in the last 40 years. This causes rising sea levels, decreased snow cover and shorter winters, shrinking ice sheets and glacial retreat, declining Arctic seas, ocean acidification, and extreme weather patterns like hurricanes, tornados, floods, drought, blizzards, and famine. This is the world future generations will be given and may worsen.

This is also the world envisioned by Muntisiov and Finlayson in their novel. It is only set in a few short decades in 2059. This is a world where a massive flood caused by increased sea levels and inadequate protection occurred. The results were that many of the coastal states were destroyed or declared uninhabitable.

 New states are formed in the absence of old ones. Because people haven't learned anything about welcoming asylum seekers, the constitution limits entry of out of state residents into one of the states, Concord. Of course, these former residents are taunted and threatened by locals that complain about sharing resources and employment with out of staters. 

The environment is on the precipice of destruction and extinction of the human race is happening. To make up for the lack of human workers, artificial intelligence is on the rise. Some anti technology zealots have joined a group called Humans First. Younger generations have turned violent against the elders because of the state of the world that they have been left with by calling them "burners" and attacking them. (Forget, "Okay boomer." The term "burner" carries much deadlier connotations.) Death and loss are so common that the Euthenasia Law is enacted so people can acquire the right to commit suicide.

In this world, 96 year old David Moreland is at a loss. He is ordered to appear before the Climate Court because he is charged for being one of the people who caused the massive floods that destroyed the bicoastal states. He is guilty about the devastation but has also appealed to the court and reunited with his great niece, Lily for one reason: he wants to acquire the right to die.

This book is extremely dour and dark with a bleak future projected. However, there is a sense of detachment and world weariness within the writing. It alternates between David and Lily's points of view with transcripts from David's trial and memoranda provided by the Climate Court, police, and Presidential candidates. The overall effect is that the Reader is experiencing David's trial as though it were a real event. 

We are only getting parts of the information without providing an emotional investment. This is one of those books where the authors don't have to resort to melodrama or cheap gimmicks to appeal to emotion. The situation is sad enough to imagine the destruction of various beaches, coastlines, and once vastly populated cities, and the deaths of millions of people. It doesn't need theatrics, it just needs to report the events.

David and his great niece Lily reflect the generation gap that is inflicted in this book. David is grouchy, witty, and argumentative. He fights not only with Lilly but Sarah, his AI housekeeper, and everyone else unfortunate enough to be caught near him. However, he is a man who is using his snark and foul temper to hide the hurt that is inside. He knows that he is responsible for much of the blame and suffering that has  incurred including personal losses of his own. 

Lily on the other hand represents the younger generation, the one that has to live and work in the environment that her forebears created. She does not have the luxury of wanting to die so she has to push herself forward. Even though she just met David, she feels responsible for him since they both lost various family members. She realizes that granting permission for his death is a difficult request and has to weigh the consequences on allowing someone to die because by all intents and purposes, he is guilty for the deaths of many or letting him live because he is about the only family that he has.

One of the more heartbreaking moments occurs when David finally reveals what happened at the disaster that killed his family and was instrumental in the mass flooding. It becomes sadder when it is revealed that it was caused not by a slow natural progression from climate change but by human means, corporate greed, and human desire for cheap and easy rather than safe and energy efficient.  

We see this loss that has surrounded David and understand why he feels that he can't live with these ghosts any longer. 

Court of the Grandchildren is a dark book that makes us look at the consequences of our actions of the past and present. We can look at what we have caused and declare us, all of us, guilty.