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The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

The Tangled Leaves of Anniseed

Tag Archives: Apocalyptic Fiction

Breakdown by Katherine Amt Hanna

24 Wednesday Sep 2014

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review

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Apocalyptic Fiction, Dystopia, Love, Relationships, Thriller

I simply cannot resist an apocalypse story. Especially one grounded in real life, rather than fantasy / horror tropes. So Breakdown was a must!

It’s very different from the usual premise. A virus wipes out a critical portion of the world’s population, meaning that the survivors have to painstakingly reconstruct society (oh, how I loved the 70s TV series, Survivors!). But Hanna’s tale takes a slightly offbeat perspective.

Former rock star Chris is in America with his wife and child when the plague starts, and it takes him years to get back to England to see if his family have survived. Terrified that he will discover that they perished, he postpones the last lap of his journey, instead falling in with a family in Portsmouth, helping to run their smallholding. Chris is traumatised by his experiences, but through his new found friend Pauline, who was a therapist before the plague hit, he starts to process his memories and feelings and begin to feel like a human being again. But is their relationship just one of therapist and patient? And when it comes to the crunch, who will Chris choose?

Breakdown is a love story, albeit one in an extreme situation. What I enjoyed was that Hanna told the tale from Chris’s point of view in retrospect; we learn of the terrible things that he has endured, but we don’t experience them directly, so the horror of the situation remains containable. The breakdown of society is mirrored by Chris’s personal breakdown, and the novel charts the reconstruction of both community and self. For readers who enjoy psychology, this is fascinating, although it may disappoint those who want a brutal, survivalist narrative. Ultimately this story is about normal people, and the healing power of relationships, rather than dystopian gloom; I found that I cared about Chris and Pauline, and the final section where their happiness is thrown into doubt was very tense for me. It made me think about what really matters in life, and how the choices we make at every stage of our own journey impact on others. Breakdown is a thoughtful, poignant novel, and an intriguing one to add to my collection of apocalypse narratives.

Rating: ***

47North, 2012, ISBN 9781612184111

A bit of light reading and some heavy weeding…

23 Tuesday Jul 2013

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Apocalyptic Fiction, Children's fiction, Fantasy, Historical, Humour, Psychological Thriller, Science Fiction

Well the blog has taken a back seat for a while as the summer ramped up… I’ve been juggling some major garden renovation with allotmenting, which has kept me outside in the sun far too much! I can advise that trying to grow a lawn from seed in the hottest few weeks of the year is mission impossible, and trying to not get evicted from the allotments is a recipe for a bad back, and very nearly a trip to casualty, as the garden fork went straight through my shoe and miraculously, in between my toes…. But I have fitted in some reading and I have a bumper crop of strawberries, so a successful summer!

My Allotment

I tried a bit of sci-fi first, The Long Earth by Terry Pratchett and Stephen Baxter (Corgi, ISBN 9780552164085). It’s an intriguing idea – an infinity of parallel worlds which you can step into with the aid of a makeshift machine, and the consequences of a mass exodus from Earth, with a billion different human societies being set up. Add to this a sentient computer in the form of a vending machine, and strange creatures that appear to be migrating across the worlds, running away from something, and you have a humorous and imaginative tale. I did however start to lose interest towards the end which was a shame, and I’m not sure I’ll be picking up the sequel.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker (Simon & Schuster, ISBN 9780857207258) grabbed my attention much more. It’s the story of a very slow apocalypse told by 11-year-old Julia. The rotation of the Earth has started to slow and the days are getting longer. At first it’s exciting, but eventually society begins to fracture, and people become either real-timers – attempting to live according to their Circadian rhythms – or follow the Government directive of adhering to the 24-hour clock. The disintegration of life as we know it is writ on a very small and human level; there’s no horror here, just the pain of ordinary existence slowly being taken out of the individual’s control. Very powerful and thought-provoking, and a different kind of apocalypse indeed.

I finally decided to tackle Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel (Fourth Estate, ISBN 9780007230204) on my Kindle whilst on holiday. In case you’ve been on Mars, it’s a tale of the Tudors told from the perspective of Thomas Cromwell. It was very interesting but with a large cast of characters I never really engaged with it to the depth I’d hoped to. I think it may be a book I’ll revisit one day so I’ll say no more at this point.

I was quite impressed with Hollow Earth by John Barrowman and Carole E. Barrowman (Buster Books, ISBN 9781907151644); this children’s fantasy had some good scary moments and John has clearly been paying attention to what children love in Doctor Who. Two siblings have the ability to manipulate reality through drawing – but those who wish to bind these powers are after them, and the monsters of Hollow Earth are straining to be unleashed… Good fun.

One story that really gripped me was The Magpies by Mark Edwards (CreateSpace, ISBN 9781483911892). This self-published story is really powerful, telling a tale of neighbourly aggravation that goes way beyond the usual arguments about boundaries and barbecues. Jamie and Kirsty move into their dream flat and are welcomed by downstairs neighbours Chris and Lucy. But soon the neighbours are complaining about noise, sending threatening letters and taping the couple in their bedroom. As the campaign gets more and more extreme, Jamie and Kirsty’s relationship comes under increasing pressure, leading to a shocking finale. Very tense and for anyone who’s experienced problem neighbours, frighteningly plausible… Good stuff.

Okay, back to the allotment for now!

 

The Last Policeman by Ben Winters

19 Sunday May 2013

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Apocalyptic Fiction, Crime, Detective, Murder, Mystery

Now here’s an intriguing twist in the detective genre! The Last Policeman is Detective Hank Palace, and he’s investigating the suicide of an insurance salesman, which he is convinced is really a murder. But it’s difficult to get anyone to care about his case, as an asteroid is hurtling towards Earth, and there are only six months left for the human race…

This is an unusual novel which in many ways is a straightforward detective story – a dedicated cop, beset by family troubles, surrounded by incompetence, following a case mired in conspiracy and replete with red herrings. But set that in a pre-apocalyptic scenario and it starts to question human nature way beyond the norm – not just “why do people act in such a way?” but also “how would you react to imminent, inescapable doom?”. And characters’ complex reactions to the asteroid are integral to the development of the investigation and the big reveal. Just how would you react – would you go into denial, stay at your post, get high on drink or drugs, join a cult offering salvation? The concept neatly messes with characters’ motivation so you as the reader can take nothing for granted. The rules have subtly, inevitably changed.

I really liked Hank’s character – his single-minded determination to do the right thing, his compassion, his dry perspective. I really, really wanted the resolution to the murder mystery to save the world, but that would be too simple, and as there are two more forthcoming novels about Hank Palace, I fear that he will be staying at his post until the inevitable end of days… The Last Policeman is a very good genre-bending read and I’ll certainly be following gumshoe Hank’s fortunes in the sequels. As for what I’d do if there was six months left – well that would be telling!

Check out the website at http://thelastpoliceman.com/. Rating:***

Quirk Books, 2012, ISBN 9781594745768

Copy provided by the publisher for review

 

“Then” and “Out of Breath” by Julie Myerson

15 Friday Feb 2013

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Adolescence, Apocalyptic Fiction, Horror, Thriller

Two by the same author today…

I confess that by the time I finished reading Then late last night, I was pretty much a nervous wreck. It’s my own fault really – my taste for apocalyptic fiction doesn’t make for pleasant dreams. This story is one that is uncomfortable to read but compelling, and it’s definitely affected my mood all day, as I contemplate the full horror of it. It’s narrated by a nameless woman who lives in the wreckage of contemporary London, hiding, with other survivors of the global environmental catastrophe, in a ruined office building. Her experiences have traumatised her so much she has no memory of her life before the disaster, except for fragments that appear in the form of hallucinations. She often can’t remember who her companions are, and the days are jumbled and confused, her sanity blown completely away. But through the wreckage of her thoughts the reader can start to pull together the truth about what has happened to her, and as the picture starts to coalesce, the absolute horror is revealed. Although you can foresee some of it, the force of the ending is breathtaking, and leaves you reassessing everything that has gone before. This is genuinely a book that will haunt you – the style is simultaneously dreamlike yet immediate, like the sudden wearing off of morphine to unleash the agony of evisceration. Unforgettable, horrible, and deeply moving – I’m glad I read it, and I recommend it, but make sure you feel strong enough first. Rating: *****

Vintage, 2012, ISBN 9780099554721

And here’s one I read earlier… Out of Breath is a magical, tragic story of lost innocence.Thirteen year-old Flynn has an unhappy home life, so when her brother Sam gets into trouble, she’s quick to persuade Sam to run away with her and Alex, a homeless boy she’s encountered at the bottom of her garden. What she doesn’t bargain for is Alex’s friends – the irrepressible six-year-old Mouse, and Diana, who has quite literally just become a teenage mum. They’re on the run from a “bad man”, and when the group find refuge in an abandoned cottage, Flynn starts to fall deeply in love with Alex. But the dream starts to fall apart and Flynn is forced to confront the terrifying reality of their lives. Like Then, the prose has the feel of a dream, creating an involving, compassionate story where you really care for the characters; the reader can see the signs of the impending nightmare well before Flynn, which makes it all the more compelling. Jullie Myerson is an accomplished author and I’ll definitely looking out for more of her work. Rating: ***

Vintage Books, 2009, 9780099516163

 

A Song of Stone by Iain Banks

27 Sunday Jan 2013

Posted by Anniseed in Book Review, Uncategorized

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Apocalyptic Fiction, Dystopia, Thriller, War

Reproduced with kind permission of Little, Brown Book Group

Reproduced with kind permission of Little, Brown Book Group

It’s been a long while since I was gripped by The Wasp Factory, and thought it was time I returned to Iain Banks. A Song of Stone caught my attention as a post-apocalyptic tale – I’ve long been fascinated by such stories, having been hooked by the 70’s TV series Survivors and the 80’s adaption of Day of the Triffids as an impressionable child.

The story is told by a man fleeing his castle in the midst of a un-named war. Abel and his wife Morgan are captured by a band of soldiers led by the fierce and ruthless Lieutenant, who insists that her troops take over the castle. What follows is a battle for power as the Abel tries to subvert the Lieutenant’s authority, and she tries to topple everything he’s ever believed in. The results are shocking, gruesome, and inevitable. Abel’s very educated, privileged background makes him a not entirely sympathetic character; although his world has been invaded, as he tells his story it becomes clear that the rot and decay in the castle is not simply the result of the war, but of the system that caused it – and the rot in heart of him is inextricably linked to the stones within which he’s sought to protect himself.

This is a thought-provoking novel and the ambiguity surrounding the war gives it resonance, as it could be equally set in the distant past or the far future. While the violence is graphic, it is finely judged to create a sense of collapse in society and morality, and as such does not seem gratuitous. Like The Wasp Factory, this is a challenging book, and while disturbing in its concept, in execution it is both gripping and haunting.  Rating: ****

Abacus, 1998, ISBN 9780349110110

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