Though utopian fiction is far from uniform, we might modify Tolstoy’s famous dictum about unhappy families to say that every work of post-apocalyptic speculative dystopia must be unhappy, too, in its own way, and that the relationship and power dynamics its author sees persisting in the world after collapse must be particular to their own experience, their privileges, deprivations, and insight into what is unsustainable about the now.
A ragtag group of humans live in a small colony, on the edge of the island. In one direction is the sea, rough and unpredictable.
One Book, Two Reviews: The Unworthy by Agustina Bazterrica, translated by Sarah Moses
If “diapause” is not a word you are familiar with, you should probably look it up before approaching Andrew Forbes’ new novel of the near future.
Despite it being a beautiful Saturday on a long weekend, a full house gathered at the Gibsons & District Public Library on the Sunshine Coast of British Columbia to hear Scott Alexander Howard read from his first novel, The Other Valley (Scribner Canada, 2024).
Against the Machine: Evolution is a richly imagined story that also serves as a cautionary tale for what might happen if we don’t take better care of the environment.
A literary speculative novel set in an unnamed valley, where bereaved residents can petition to cross a forbidden border to see their lost loved ones again.
I was glued to this one; Rice is a great storyteller, and his writing shines again here.
“One of the most beautifully chilling novels I’ve read this year was Landscapes by Christine Lai.”
Through three intertwined stories, The Red Hairband explores the inhumanity that is brought about when we are too certain of our beliefs.
Weaving a silken web of Chinese myth, speculative fiction and storytelling Lydia Kwa has brilliantly realized a future where questions of sentience, of personhood and of the truth of dreams wrap around a timeless quest for freedom and for love.
I’ve read a lot of outstanding books both before and after The Full-Moon Whaling Chronicles, but none so singularly innovative in their storytelling.
For those who enjoy dystopian science fiction, there’s a lot to like in Camp Zero.
In a virus-fearing world, skin hunger can drive you crazy — and human petting zoos can return you to yourself.
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