Dub Steps by Andrew Miller

Let me start by saying that Dub Steps by Andrew Miller was not quite the novel I expected when I started reading it. The premise hooked me, for sure. But what the ride was entirely unexpected in all the best ways. If you're expecting a TWD setting sans zombies, this is not your book. What you will get is a strangely reflective meandering on the meaning of life interspersed with people trying to figure out what they want while coping with a new reality where more than 99.99% of humankind simply winked out of existence in the blink of an eye. (You'll find out why, near the end, never fear, and it won't quite be what you expected.)

How the remnants cope, varies, and in the telling of their uncovering of their new world and the absurdity of the human condition, we get to know a variable cast of personalities. What I appreciated the most about Miller's writing is the way he humanised even the most unfortunate in his cast. Roy, our incredibly unreliable narrator, sets out on a journey that ends up being both inward and outward. Crippled by his sense of never fitting in, he nonetheless takes on a role within his tiny community of survivors in a South Africa transformed by its people's absence.

Miller manages to pack so much into this book. It is both poignant and pithy, and delivers so much social commentary, even if Roy's constant awkwardness and contrary nature got to me. He's exactly the kind of dude I'd love to hate, yet I couldn't help but feel fond of him. He's a sort of broken-wing, mediocre everyman, and a somewhat tragic figure who stumbles through his world. And yet Roy also displays uncommon wisdom at times, which redeems him as he compulsively attempts to chronicle the world that was – as if that will somehow help him understand what went wrong not only in his life but also preserve the story of the world that was.

While Dub Steps can be considered a work of dystopian science fiction, it's so much more than that. And much in the same way that our lives are messy, often unfinished and all over the place, this is a story that celebrates not only the ephemeral fragility of our existence, but shares the uncommon moments of unbridled joy. This is not an easy read, but it's one that I'll recommend, even if it left me feeling sad and somewhat scratchy behind the eyes by the time I was done.

A glimpse into a grim future with Edyth Bulbring

For those of you who missed my interview with South African author Edyth Bulbring when it first appeared in the Pretoria News this month, here it is in its full glory.

In a genre made popular by such a runaway successes as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins and Divergent, by Veronica Roth, which have both spawned film franchises, it is perhaps a difficult to break into and put one’s own stamp on, but South African author Edyth Bulbring has done just that with her novel, The Mark, which tells the story of one young woman, Juliet Seven – or Ettie, as she prefers to be known – who fights against a system that will see her serve her entire life as a drudge in service to the upper classes.

Though, as Bulbring says, there is a lot in The Mark that is similar to other examples dystopian fiction, when she set out to write The Mark, she hadn’t read any in the genre.

“It was a completely new genre for me,” says Bulbring, “and I only started reading books like The Hunger Games and Divergent after I had written the first draft of The Mark. Looking back, I think there is one thing that sets The Mark apart from its fellows. This is that Juliet Seven, or Ettie, who has a prophecy about her saying that she will be the one to overturn the existing repressive system, does not know about the prophecy and she does not embrace popular rebellion. She is a loner, deeply suspicious of other people and she neither joins, nor identifies with the movement in opposition to the existing order.

“But I think it reflects my belief that all systems/governments are pretty much all the same. They are all underpinned by ugly, greedy rich men with big guns. And, that at the end of the day, behind the Mandelas and the Gandhis – the kinds of people whose heroic faces we so love to wear on our T-shirts and shout slogans about – the new systems that come about because of their sacrifices and the movements they inspire, simply turn out to be pretty much like the old ones – underpinned by ugly greedy rich men with big guns. Nothing ever changes. I think Ettie knows this, that one system is as rubbish as the next, which is why she chooses not to become the new poster girl for other people’s agendas.

Ettie isn't the special girl with all the special powers we’ve come to expect in YA fiction. In fact, she isn't even a very nice person, yet she does have some redeeming qualities. Why do we cheer for her despite her not-so-nice side?

Bulbring explains: “There are lots of not so nice things about Ettie. She is duplicitous, cunning and manipulative, a thief, a liar and she is driven by self-preservation. But there are two qualities that allow us to forgive her and root for her. The first is that when she loves, she loves hard and true. The second is that she is loyal to those she loves. I think we like the fact that she is discerning – she doesn’t care who likes her and likes few people in return. She is not into celebrity culture. She spends her love and loyalty frugally and doesn’t spread it around much, but when she does, she becomes incredibly vulnerable. Her love and loyalty make her behave contrary to her nature and have the power to break her. She knows this, and despite it, she allows it to happen.”

The world Bulbring paints has very little hope in it, and Bulbring shares that The Mark started off as a short story she wrote several years ago when her nine-year-old-son was tricked out of some money by a con artist while they were on holiday in Italy.

She says: “I wanted to explore the relationship between a hardened scammer and the boy who falls in love with her. The short story died, but I couldn’t forget the idea about the con artist and the boy, so I thought I would try and turn it into a book. When I thought about a setting, I realised that it would never work in South Africa, or even abroad. I had to set it in a place that didn’t exist. I needed to create a new place and a different time for them. So that’s what I did. I am also a keen recycler and gardener, and one of the things that drives me mental is the control that big corporations have over the environment and the production of food. I wanted to explore the consequences that the actions of a few greedy bastards would have on our future.”

There are few other survivors in this future, but hadedas are a remnant from the past, and add a touch of magical realism to what might otherwise be straight SF. Bulbring concludes: “The Mark is set some 250 years after a time when the world blew up and cut the face of the moon in half. Very little survived apart from fleas and rats and, of course, cockroaches. Except I love birds, especially hadedas, which are prehistoric looking, extremely deceptive in that they are ungainly and ugly, except up close they are quite extraordinarily beautiful. The sound they make (like strangled vuvuzelas) when they circle above my house and wake me every morning, makes me feel glad to be alive. In The Mark, the muti nags takes the eyes out of the hadeda chicks so that they have a second sight. I chose them to the blind tellers of the prophecy because if there is one bird I imagined surviving a conflagration, it would be the hadeda. They look a billion years old and as if they are set to last another billion.”

Find out more about Edyth Bulbring at www.nb.co.za/authors/8506.

REVIEW
Title: The Mark
Author: Edyth Bulbring
Publisher: Tafelberg, 2014

Before you roll your eyes at what you may consider to be yet another YA dystopia read, you can be reassured that The Mark by Edyth Bulbring isn’t cast in the same mould as The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins as so many recent releases have been. Instead, the work has a grittier, more scratchy-behind-the-eyes feel that one would expect with George Orwell’s 1984.

Ettie, also known as Juliet Seven, isn’t the special girl with the super abilities who is going to save the world and overthrow the evil ruling elite. She’s no one. She’s a drudge, a young woman fated to work in a menial job until she’s only fit for the Reject Dump. Her Mark, which she desperately tries to remove throughout, means she’s trapped in the roles cast for her by others.

We discover a world that is, as Bulbring puts it, “Post-Conflagration”. What exactly went wrong, we don’t find out, but it’s beside the point. Humanity and nearly all the life on the planet (apart from flies) have been driven to the edge of extinction. The Machine is all that keeps mankind going, regulating a rigid caste system in which only a few are lucky enough to number among the Elite. The sun is no longer a life-giving source of light, and any who do not play by the rules in this harsh world are deemed Savage, and cut off from society.

When not training for her future in service of the elite, Ettie is also part of a criminal underground that scams the “Posh”, and she makes no excuses for behaviour nor does she possess many redeeming qualities, beyond her rigorous self-interest. Though she’s clearly not a nice person – and some of her nasty comments are true gems – her devotion to her friend and companion Kitty, whom she will go to the ends of the earth to protect, shines through; and also her love of literature that transports her to magical worlds so vastly different from the reality in which she is immersed.

The main theme throughout the story is that of escape, and not being satisfied with preordained lots. Ettie’s attempts to break free from an oppressive system lead her through many unpredictable twists and turns; as soon as I thought I knew which direction Bulbring was going to take readers, she confounded my expectations.

The Mark is a fast-paced, gritty and uncomfortable read and Bulbring maintains a cracking pace, blending elements of SF dystopia with nuances of magical realism. Pick this one up if you’re looking for something slightly different.

The Bone Season by Samantha Shannon #reviews

Title: The Bone Season
Author: Samantha Shannon
Publisher: Bloomsbury, 2013

In this post-apocalyptic urban fantasy, author Samantha Shannon envisions an alternative history where “unnaturals” – individuals with the ability to interact with and control spirits – are discriminated against. Many Western cities are under the control of an organisation known as Scion, which enforces strict rules relating to those who show signs of clairvoyance, or voyants, as they are also labelled.

We explore Scion London and its environs from the viewpoint of Paige Mahoney, who is a member of a gang of voyants who are at the top of Scion’s most wanted list. Her ability is perhaps the rarest, that of dreamwalking – someone who is able to leave her body at will and infiltrate others’ minds.

Anyone who controls her has a powerful weapon in their hands, and it comes as no surprise that she soon finds herself in the midst of a bigger conflict than she previously imagined existed.

We are introduced to the shadowy Rephaim, a magical race best described as somewhat between angel and vampire, and though they claim to have mankind’s continued best interests at heart, to protect them from vicious creatures called the Emim, their methods for doing so leave a lot to be desired.

I was a bit torn about The Bone Season by the time I reached the end. I’d heard a lot of hype about it, touting Shannon as the next JK Rowling, but I feel much of that hype hasn’t done much good. So far as debut offerings go, this is a strong entry into the genre, and Shannon’s style is certainly fast-paced, gritty and vivid. Yet I did feel the combat scenes fell a bit flat for lack of detail, and at times a few clichéd phrases slipped through (enough that I noticed it and was jerked out of my reading). Also, the ending felt a bit untidy, with what I felt should have been crucial interactions glossed over in narrative summary that could have amplified tension. That being said, the world building is detailed, and overall this is a suitable departure from the standard YA dystopian reads I’ve encountered so far.

The love triangle that does crop up isn’t as glaringly heavy-handed as I initially feared.

The Bone Season is an action-packed thriller that will twist readers’ expectations a few times before it reaches a suitably explosive conclusion, with enough loose ends present to hint at further instalments.

The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey #review

Title: The 5th Wave
Author: Rick Yancey
Publisher: Penguin Books, 2013

Having read a fair amount of YA post-apocalyptic and dystopian novels, I can say with authority that The 5th Wave by Rick Yancey comes out on top of the pile. This post-apocalyptic thriller is tight, and I’m seriously hoping the upcoming movie adaption will do it justice.

Cassie was the girl no one really noticed, and if the alien invaders never made their attempt to knock out the human race, she’d most likely have gone on to lead a very ordinary life. And then there wouldn’t have been much of a story. This is not that book.

When the first wave hit, all the lights went out, but humanity was not to concerned because the powers that be would look out for them. Yet the alien mothership continued to loom ominously. Subsequent waves of attack saw the destruction of coastal cities and the release of a virulent disease that came close to wiping out nearly all the survivors.

Yet humanity endured. Those who survived were the strongest, the most wily.

Now Cassie is alone, and she has no idea who she can trust, because humanity has been infiltrated – and it’s almost impossible to tell friend from foe. All she has left to live for is her little brother Sam – but he’s been taken to a secure military base.

During the course of the story, we also encounter Ben’s ordeal, as he and a whole bunch of youngsters are put through basic military training with the aim of eradicating the alien threat.
Author Rick Yancey paints a frightening world that hints at the horrors of the World Wars and the complexities of warcraft. Throughout everything, he asks the age-old question: “What makes us human?”

If there is one YA post-apocalyptic read that you want to give a shot, make it this one. Everything is spot on, from the pacing through to the world building. Though there is a hint of the almost-ubiquitous love triangle experienced YA readers expect from the genre, Yancey handles this in a way that doesn’t result in too much eye-rolling. And another thing, Yancey spins out this epic with an authentic voice. Not once did I feel the adult author’s perspective creeping through.

Though Cassie begins as your average, slightly boy-obsessed teen, her heroic qualities, as she struggles against unbelievable odds, quickly shine through as she and her companions face challenge after challenge.

Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins #review

Title: Catching Fire (book #2 of The Hunger Games)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic, 2009

It’s always tricky to review a novel that has had so much hype surrounding it, and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins is no exception. We continue from where things were left off in book one for our plucky heroine, Katniss Everdeen, who discovers that her reward as victor of the Hunger Games is not all it’s cracked up to be.

She’d hoped to enjoy a life of quiet comfort with her family, and perhaps pursue her intended love interest, Gale, but there’s the not-so-small matter of her much-televised engagement to Peeta. And, of course, the rather dastardly President Snow, who’s coercing her to get married.

In surviving the Hunger Games, Katniss has unwittingly become the figurehead of a rebellion and the districts are on the verge of open revolt. She has no choice but to go along with Snow’s plans, because he has threatened her loved ones.

While the first half of the story leads you to believe that Katniss will begin to get actively involved in overthrowing the Capitol, she and all the victors from the past 25 years find themselves swept up in a Reaping again – this time as unwilling participants in the Quarter Quell games.

In this sense, Catching Fire is doomed to repeat the theme of The Hunger Games and doesn’t cover much in the way of new ground. It lacks some of the uncertainty and tension that we faced in the first book.

Once again, and perhaps regrettably so, Katniss is robbed of the opportunity to explore the moral issues surrounding the act of having to kill others to survive while providing entertainment for the masses. This time it is thanks to a hostile arena that conveniently does the killing on players’ behalf – verging on deus ex machina to a degree. When she does kill, the act hardly seems to make a dent on her emotionally or intellectually and the victim is reduced to a mere name.

As a character, Katniss doesn’t grow much; she is still as self-absorbed as she was in The Hunger Games and I was often left wondering about what redeeming qualities (beyond her propensity for self-sacrifice to save others) she possessed. Her childish outbursts at key moments didn’t make me warm to her either. I suspect she appeals to readers in her blandness, as a sort of everywoman.

Catching Fire is still an engaging read despite pacing issues of the first half, touching on many issues that make dystopian settings so fascinating.

The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins #review

Title: The Hunger Games (book #1 of The Hunger Games)
Author: Suzanne Collins
Publisher: Scholastic

A lot of hype surrounds Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games trilogy. The novels have been international best-sellers and have spawned a successful movie franchise. The premise for the trilogy certainly isn’t new, however, and it can be argued that it was a case of Collins’s manuscript being in the right place at the right time. In 1999 Japanese author Koushan Takami had his novel, Battle Royale, published, and it follows a similar theme – teens in a dystopian future battling it out to the death, their efforts televised.

In Collins’s vision, the region once known as the US has been reduced to 12 districts subservient to a decadent Capitol. Each year, each district has to send tributes – a boy and a girl – to compete in the annual Hunger Games, the ultimate in reality TV. The winner not only gets to live, but will have enough food to eat for the rest of their life, in addition to being a celebrity.

Indeed, there is little that is more chilling than the individual’s objectification and loss of sovereignty. The novel’s apt nod towards ancient Rome is a not-so-subtle dig at the socioeconomic disparities of those times.

Our protagonist, Katniss Everdeen, steps into the arena when she volunteers to take her younger sister’s place as tribute. Her hunting skills also makes her an ideal contender. She is well aware that the stakes are high, but her emotions become conflicted when she gets to know the other candidate from her district – Peeta.

Herein lies the rub – and the almost ubiquitous young adult love triangle. Katniss is in denial about her feelings towards her best friend back in the district, but Peeta has apparently held a torch for Katniss for ages. She just never knew about it until now. While they play out a supposedly sham romance for the benefit of their viewers, Katniss questions her own loyalties. At some point she might have to kill Peeta.

Some might find the casual violence in the novel shocking, but it pales in comparison to the gladiators in the popular television series Spartacus, where main characters kill their opponents without compunction.

The Hunger Games presents an ideal vehicle in which to examine how being in the arena would affect young Katniss. Her kills are mostly by accident rather than design. Katniss faces challenge after challenge, yet one does not step away with the sense that she has grown much as a character. Indeed, in that respect, the ending goes off like the proverbial damp squib.

While The Hunger Games is an adequate dystopian read, by the same measure I feel the hype surrounding it has hugely inflated its popularity. Don’t expect literary fireworks.

Six of the Best with Abi Godsell

I'm really excited to present a fresh voice in South African SFF fiction: Abi Godsell. Some of you might've read her story in one of the Something Wicked anthologies. But we're here to celebrate the release of her YA dystopian novel Idea War: Volume 1 which was published by Wordsmack quite recently.

So, without further ado, over to Abi! You're on a train and your stop is approaching. You've been chatting to a stranger who wants to know about your book, and you've got less than 30 seconds to tell them about it. Go!

South Africa Sci-fi! Young, relatable (no Mary Sues here!) female protagonist! Jet-Packs! Action! Witty hard-man banter! A layered story exploring complex themes through humour and extrapolation of a future that I hope will never be. Written to reintroduce the reader a side of Joburg they might not know and tap into the richness of what it means to grow up South African.

What parts of Joburg feature in your novel? How does the South Africa of your future compare to what we know? 

The first few chapters occur in a combination of real and imagined space, real locations like End Street Extension, or the Sandton CBD, that have been integrated into the politically and geographically changed future of Occupied Johannesburg.

The future I'm trying to weave is an exaggeration of current sociopolitical trends that I've noticed over the past six or so years. Honestly this is a work of plausible-sounding fiction, rather than a serious attempt to predict the country's future. (Future predictions fall more under my other field of Urban Planning!) I hope the the future Johannesburg is similar enough to be accessible but portrayed in a light that makes it seem like a new and strange city, somewhere exciting to get to know. Not that present Johannesburg isn't that! I do try and keep my writing self-consistent, so that getting to know the city in the story is possible. For a careful reader there should be enough hints and clues to discover some of the causalities, why things are the way they are in story and how they should have come to be that way.

Tell us what makes Callie Baxter special.

Not very much! She's definitely the product of both her upbringing and her inexperience. She gets things wrong often and has to question her assumptions. That's what I like about her personally. She isn't an everyman, she's quite a definite character, and her views and actions stem from this.

Who (without giving spoilers) are these alien invaders and what do they want? 

The CCA, the organisation responsible for the Restructuring of the city (for the explanation of the acronym I'll direct you to the free chapter peek on Amazon) just want to keep us safe. Very Safe. In a very specific manner. At least, that's what their Media Director would tell you, if you asked!

Who are the three authors you look up to the most and who have had the most profound impact on your writing?

Well, Garth Nix, for making me think things like "Huh, now that's cool. I wonder what it would look like if something like that happened in MY school?" Gerald Durrell, for teaching me both how writing can form a lens to perceive things about people and the natural world that simply observing cannot, and Ursula LeGuin, for showing me that serious and profound science fiction can be told in more than one kind of voice.

Where to from here? What's next for Abi Godsell writing wise? 

Well, Idea War is a series, so keep an eye out for the next few volumes in the near future! I've also got an Urban Magic novel somewhere in the works, and various short pieces of sci-fi, horror and sundries that I'm working on.

Pick up your copy of Idea War on Amazon or Kobo, or add it to you TBR pile via Goodreads.

Catch up with Abi on Facebook, her blog or on Twitter.

Bio
Abi is a student at the University of Witwatersrand, where she’s dreaming of free public transport and Internet access and musty basement libraries full of books and books and books. Creating new worlds is her speciality, and she set her first novel in a dystopian future Johannesburg, where the recovery is cautious, hesitant.

Runners by Sharon Sant #review

Title: Runners
Author: Sharon Sant
Publisher: Immanion Press, 2013

I'm a bit torn on this book. I really dig the premise and Sharon Sant's done a fantastic job painting an unsettling future that lies quite close to the bone, but I admit I felt a fair amount of disconnect while reading. Part of me *wanted* ... no *needed* the author to go deeper into Elijah's voice.

At most I felt like I was only skimming the surface which at times got a bit frustrating. I wanted to feel more what motivated Elijah and the others.

Pacing wise, things move along fairly slowly and there's a gradual build-up to the climax. I wasn't gripping the edge of my seat or anything but I'd have liked to have garnered more of a sense of urgency.

I want to like Runners a lot. Really. And I love settings redolent with urban decay as this one is. But suspect the fault lies with the reader – I really couldn't relate to the characters. Tessa showed a lot of pluck but we don't really get to see much of her, while Elijah's impulsiveness often has him acting without thinking – and suffering the repercussions. And I find that I didn't really *get* him.

Still, this is an enjoyable read for those who're into their YA lit, and does a good job capturing the frustration of youngsters who're trying to find their place in the world.

Call for submissions: Erotic Dystopia

A word from my publisher, Lyrical Press.

Lyrical Press is actively acquiring erotica dystopian works.

Dystopia - A repressive and controlled society, usually under the pretense of utopia. Dystopian societies feature all different kinds of social control systems that repress some while lifting others to a form of nobility. There is usually a distinct system with blatant and vast privileges and oppressions separating higher classes from lower classes. Dystopian societies are often police states, where an individual (dictator) has unlimited power over citizens.

Sensuality level: Red hot

Length: 30,000 – 95,000 words (60,000+ words are eligible for print)

Key Characteristics: Erotica romance set in a dystopian society. Strong sexual relationship between main characters. Elements of bondage and S&M that explore the dominant/submissive roles of a BDSM relationship welcome. Multiple partners acceptable.

Deadline: None

Submission Guidelines: http://www.lyricalpress.com/submissions

Submissions eMail: submissions@lyricalpress.com

Go ahead and try to shock us. We dare you.