Comments on: Young Adult Appreciation Month: (Post-)Apocalypse/Dystopia Day

By: hj

hj — Tue, 07 Jun 2011 01:51:42 +0000

Re: “provocative” ideas in ‘Genesis’: the concept of ideas as evolutionary units within the environments of a mind, or multiple minds, (memetics) has been around for a long time. See ‘memes,’ Richard Dawkins’ The Selfish Gene, before his later crappier works [non-fiction], or for treatment in good fiction – Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson. The latter’s later works are even better than Snow Crash, more mature. Stephenson’s treatment in Snow Crash was not only more timely and better informed but, as far as I can remember, better written than the blurb from ‘Genesis’ posted above

By: Alicia

Alicia — Tue, 22 Feb 2011 17:48:46 +0000

Exodus is set in the year 2099, when the Earth has all but drowned and only a few islands remain habitable. Mara is confined to her fast-disappearing island home of Wing, which is ravaged by fierce storms and an ever-dwindling supply of food, and where every night she escapes into a virtual world known as the Weave. One night, she discovers ‘proof’ of the mythical Sky Cities – entire cities that rose into the sky and kept their inhabitants safe from the flooded world below – and sets about convincing everyone of their existence, keeping secret the fact that she only discovered their existence from a talking fox, who may or may not be an enemy… She convinces the community to set sail on a terrifyingly dangerous journey to find these Sky Cities; but what will they find there?

I really wasn’t sure about this book at first – the blurb made it sound a teensy bit corny and when I started reading it, there wasn’t much of a story (in fact, the story doesn’t really kick off until about 75 pages to the end) and the present tense in which it is written takes a bit of getting used to – but I was intrigued by this incredibly detailed future that Bertagna had created and was interested to know what would happen when the story did kick off; and boy, am I glad I did! Not to say that there was no story before the ‘pick up the pace’ point – the book was beautifully written throughout and those pages were quite vital to the plot of the story, as well as essential in making connections with the characters in the book.

The characters are all really well developed and you genuinely care about them when horrible things happen to them. You also really feel for them and their situation – after all, the book in set just 90 years away, in a world that struggles to survive because of extreme flooding; a world that is frighteningly likely to happen and it could be our great-grandchildren that live in the nightmare-world, making it an eye-opening, powerful read.

An exceedingly beautifully written and thought-provoking read. I cannot wait to read the rest of the trilogy!

By: Kay

Kay — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 16:03:57 +0000

Thank you for such a great post! I love post-apocalyptic/dystopian novels and am always looking for new suggestions. I read Obernewtyn recently and really enjoyed the universe, so there’s a big chance I’ll read the next one. Genesis has been tempting me too!

By: Rhiannon Hart

Rhiannon Hart — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 04:18:45 +0000

Thanks for those climate apocalypse recommendations, Diana. I did read Life As We Knew It a month or so ago because the Smugglers recommend it, and while it’s not strictly climate change as we’re expecting it to be, it’s definitely a great climate-kills story. I’ll look for the others you mentioned.

Hehe, I’m so basking this Aussie fiction love-in.

And P.S. Diana, I can’t wait for the release of your book over here!

By: News from the Post-Apocalypse | Senor Parrot's Perch

News from the Post-Apocalypse | Senor Parrot's Perch — Sun, 09 Aug 2009 00:55:16 +0000

[...] of the start of the end of time. What will the world look like then? The Book Smugglers has a fantastic review of several books dealing with the post-apocalypse. Wars aren’t the only cause of the apocalypse, these days, we also have environmental [...]

By: Dan

Dan — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 12:44:09 +0000

Great reviews, I’ve got to add these to the look for lists, especially Genesis. You do a great reincarnation of Rod, by the way. Thanks.

By: KMont

KMont — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:44:56 +0000

Wow, this is a lot to absorb. The last book reviewed, Tomorrow, When the War Began, sounds pretty promising. Actually they all sound good. If I had to pick just one, right now, I don’t think I could. Must look into these some more – sans those frustrating Amazon summaries.

By: Bart's Bookshelf

Bart's Bookshelf — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:40:55 +0000

I’m very lucky to have had an Aussie as on online friend for a number of years (although given the cricket today, I might have to reassess that, when I log in to MSN Messenger…) who recommended the Tomorrow Series to me last year, and I have to just agree with how fantastic it is, I devoured the entire series (inc The Ellie Chronicles) just as quickly as I could get hold of the books.

If one arrived in the middle of another book, that book was immediately forgotten about

Brilliant, brilliant series.

(and I remember loving On The Beech as a teenager as well, but I am a ‘Pom’ so I’m genetically unable to claim Aussies are the best at anything, however good they may be! :wink:)

By: Thea

Thea — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 17:20:04 +0000

Celia – Thanks! Isobelle Carmody is just fantastic. I am so stoked that Random House rereleased the entire series for a new generation to discover and love

Karen – Genesis was pretty intense, wasn’t it? I understand your feelings – I still am grappling with some of the debate and philosophical pondering in that book! I hope you enjoy Exodus and Tomorrow.

Rhianon – My pleasure! Obernewtyn has long been one of my favorites, and strangely enough I had to read On the Beach in middle school and it has really stayed with me all these years! You Aussies and your awesome apocalypse (and fantasy) stories

As for Climate-Change dystopias, I think it’s a sub-genre that is really gaining ground now, as Diana says. Exodus is the second flood-catastrophe book I’ve read this year (Flood by Stephen Baxter being the other – though that is an adult SF novel), and just the other day I saw this one coming out soon as well: Island at the End of the World by Sam Taylor.

I think the prevalence of nuclear holocaust/apocalypse books overshadows the climate change variety, but in time I’m sure we’ll see more emerge. I haven’t read The Carbon Diaries 2015, but maybe I’ll hold off on that if it wasn’t that great. I hope you do get a chance to read (and hopefully enjoy) Exodus!

Diana – More book suggestions! My poor, poor wallet. Hehe. No seriously, of the books you mention I’ve only read Life as We Knew It (my favorite book of last year), and I have Feed to read as well. I’ll definitely have to check the others out. Thank you!

Jamie – My pleasure! I’m so glad the recommendations are helpful for you, and I hope you enjoy some of these fab titles

By: sharonluvscats

sharonluvscats — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 16:57:59 +0000

Oh I <3 this post. I'm such a huge dystopian novel geek. I've had both Exodus and Zenith sitting in my tbr pile for some time. Your review makes me want to start reading them right now.

This is the first that I've heard of Obernewtyn Chronicles. I will have to check them out especially since there is a cat on the cover!