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salemshomelibrary's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
fourtriplezed's review
Thematically covering subjects that are of concern now, refugees, global warming and corruption at a governmental level mixed with crony capitalism. It is also very multicultural with events told in a world 50 odd years into the future. This should have been made for a good read at a minimum but I have been very disappointed.
The story is told in the first person alternately by the two main protagonists, female Rin and male Yamaan. I found myself thinking that the story Rin told, that of a mid-twenties orphan rising to the heights in a corrupt multinational to the point she could bring the entire company to its knees, all a bit farfetched. Because of her feeling angry that her stepmother had lied to her about her birth mother and then adding to that the stepmother pathetically losing the plot over Rin having sex with the house boy, Yamaan, it was hard to take seriously. Sci Fi can pull off all kind of sleight of hand by the writer, but it does have to have some semblance of realism. Rin, was a character far too immature for my liking; with that, I could never imagine one so young being given such free rein in a multinational corporation that had its corrupt tentacles in the use of refugee facilities as prison camps worldwide to make exorbitant profit at the expanse of the helpless. Its ideas were very good, but characters and plot were too shallow.
I did laugh though that the Premier of Tasmania at this time in the future is one James Abetz, Tasmanian, and some mainland Australia readers, will get a chuckle out of that.
Author Rohan Wilson first two very good novels were about colonial era Van Diemen's Land and were highly acclaimed by both critics and the public. So when it was announced that he was spreading his wings with a sci fi novel I was looking forward to it. I loved his first 2 novels, they both verged on outstanding. This one failed for this reader.
The story is told in the first person alternately by the two main protagonists, female Rin and male Yamaan. I found myself thinking that the story Rin told, that of a mid-twenties orphan rising to the heights in a corrupt multinational to the point she could bring the entire company to its knees, all a bit farfetched. Because of her feeling angry that her stepmother had lied to her about her birth mother and then adding to that the stepmother pathetically losing the plot over Rin having sex with the house boy, Yamaan, it was hard to take seriously. Sci Fi can pull off all kind of sleight of hand by the writer, but it does have to have some semblance of realism. Rin, was a character far too immature for my liking; with that, I could never imagine one so young being given such free rein in a multinational corporation that had its corrupt tentacles in the use of refugee facilities as prison camps worldwide to make exorbitant profit at the expanse of the helpless. Its ideas were very good, but characters and plot were too shallow.
I did laugh though that the Premier of Tasmania at this time in the future is one James Abetz, Tasmanian, and some mainland Australia readers, will get a chuckle out of that.
Author Rohan Wilson first two very good novels were about colonial era Van Diemen's Land and were highly acclaimed by both critics and the public. So when it was announced that he was spreading his wings with a sci fi novel I was looking forward to it. I loved his first 2 novels, they both verged on outstanding. This one failed for this reader.
tasmanian_bibliophile's review
4.0
‘If you want to remember who you are, you have to live in your mind.’
Like his previous two novels, ‘Daughter of Bad Times’ is set in Tasmania. But this is not the colonial Tasmania of ‘The Roving Party’ or ‘To Name Those Lost’, this is set in the future. A future in which people whose land has vanished under the rising sea levels become environmental refugees. A future in which the Eaglehawk MTC is both an immigration detention centre and a manufacturing plant. In this facility, refugees work. They work to pay off the debt they owe for their travel expenses, relocation, food and housing. And, if they are lucky enough to pay off their debt, perhaps one day they will be granted a visa.
The two main characters in this novel are Rin Braden, whose mother’s company built the Eaglehawk MTC, and Yamaan, her former lover, who is one of the environmental refugees interned there. Rin thought that Yamaan was dead, and she wants to try to free him.
I found this novel very uncomfortable to read. Firstly, because it isn’t hard to envisage a flood of environmental refugees at some stage soon and secondly, because it isn’t difficult to imagine such refugees being exploited and dehumanised. Not difficult at all.
For much of the novel, Rin Braden comes across as a spoilt rich child. She has manipulated Yamaan in the past, and her interest in freeing him seems to be motivated by her desire rather than his needs. But Rin is a little more complex than that. I found Yamaan much easier to understand.
What held my attention throughout this uncomfortable read was not so much the characters as the situation. Yes, I can envisage a private company running detention facilities focussed on profit. Yes, I can envisage a cynical government enabling such a model, knowing that those seeking refuge will never be able to pay off their debt to secure a visa. And yes, I can imagine such a government changing the rules so that a visa moves from being a remote possibility to the realms of absolute impossibility. And how better to reinforce the imbalance of power than to have people doing work which is usually computerised?
Rin wants to secure Yamaan’s release, but she cannot pay his debt. Only he can do that. So Rin decides to take matters into her own hands.
I finished this novel profoundly unsettled. The Eaglehawk MTC is a scary 21st century version of Port Arthur: environmental refugees have replaced transported convicts but have even less hope.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
Like his previous two novels, ‘Daughter of Bad Times’ is set in Tasmania. But this is not the colonial Tasmania of ‘The Roving Party’ or ‘To Name Those Lost’, this is set in the future. A future in which people whose land has vanished under the rising sea levels become environmental refugees. A future in which the Eaglehawk MTC is both an immigration detention centre and a manufacturing plant. In this facility, refugees work. They work to pay off the debt they owe for their travel expenses, relocation, food and housing. And, if they are lucky enough to pay off their debt, perhaps one day they will be granted a visa.
The two main characters in this novel are Rin Braden, whose mother’s company built the Eaglehawk MTC, and Yamaan, her former lover, who is one of the environmental refugees interned there. Rin thought that Yamaan was dead, and she wants to try to free him.
I found this novel very uncomfortable to read. Firstly, because it isn’t hard to envisage a flood of environmental refugees at some stage soon and secondly, because it isn’t difficult to imagine such refugees being exploited and dehumanised. Not difficult at all.
For much of the novel, Rin Braden comes across as a spoilt rich child. She has manipulated Yamaan in the past, and her interest in freeing him seems to be motivated by her desire rather than his needs. But Rin is a little more complex than that. I found Yamaan much easier to understand.
What held my attention throughout this uncomfortable read was not so much the characters as the situation. Yes, I can envisage a private company running detention facilities focussed on profit. Yes, I can envisage a cynical government enabling such a model, knowing that those seeking refuge will never be able to pay off their debt to secure a visa. And yes, I can imagine such a government changing the rules so that a visa moves from being a remote possibility to the realms of absolute impossibility. And how better to reinforce the imbalance of power than to have people doing work which is usually computerised?
Rin wants to secure Yamaan’s release, but she cannot pay his debt. Only he can do that. So Rin decides to take matters into her own hands.
I finished this novel profoundly unsettled. The Eaglehawk MTC is a scary 21st century version of Port Arthur: environmental refugees have replaced transported convicts but have even less hope.
Jennifer Cameron-Smith
rhodaj's review
3.0
3.5 stars
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for an ARC of this book.
This book is set in the future - loosely around 60 years from now and is not one that I would normally pick up myself, however I did find the themes in it interesting and (unfortunately) definitely quite believable.
Climate change has brought about loss of countries (islands in particular) and corporate greed in the form of privately owned immigration detention centres seeking to exploit the homeless, poor and vulnerable.
Briefly, Rin meets Yaaman when he is hired as a 'houseboy' in her mother Alessandra's house in the Maldives. Rin becomes pretty much obsessed with Yaaman and starts sleeping with him when her mother is not around. After a series of events, Rin believes Yaaman to be dead, then finds him in one of her mother's (and hers - as she is the vice president) immigration detention facilities.
The characters are where this book fell down for me. The character of Yaaman was definitely the best character in the book and was well-rounded and believable. Alessandra was the true business woman type character who bought her way through life, while Rin was the spoilt adopted daughter who appeared to lack any real intelligence or integrity and went through life making poor decisions, and to me, seemed to treat Yaaman as her plaything.
The relationships between the characters didn't really gel for me either and none of them seemed genuine or believable.
Definitely worth reading though, as the themes are very interesting and definitely topical.
Thank you to Allen & Unwin for an ARC of this book.
This book is set in the future - loosely around 60 years from now and is not one that I would normally pick up myself, however I did find the themes in it interesting and (unfortunately) definitely quite believable.
Climate change has brought about loss of countries (islands in particular) and corporate greed in the form of privately owned immigration detention centres seeking to exploit the homeless, poor and vulnerable.
Briefly, Rin meets Yaaman when he is hired as a 'houseboy' in her mother Alessandra's house in the Maldives. Rin becomes pretty much obsessed with Yaaman and starts sleeping with him when her mother is not around. After a series of events, Rin believes Yaaman to be dead, then finds him in one of her mother's (and hers - as she is the vice president) immigration detention facilities.
The characters are where this book fell down for me. The character of Yaaman was definitely the best character in the book and was well-rounded and believable. Alessandra was the true business woman type character who bought her way through life, while Rin was the spoilt adopted daughter who appeared to lack any real intelligence or integrity and went through life making poor decisions, and to me, seemed to treat Yaaman as her plaything.
The relationships between the characters didn't really gel for me either and none of them seemed genuine or believable.
Definitely worth reading though, as the themes are very interesting and definitely topical.
shorter_books's review
4.0
3.5 stars rounded up. The imagined future aspects of this novel were excellent and, frighteningly, believably extrapolated from our present. I got a great sense of the world of the novel. For me, the relationship between the two protagonists wasn’t as believable.
rebekahroma's review
4.0
I read primarily non-fiction because I love learning new things about the world, and yet, as I was reading this book I could not help but acknowledge the impeccable research that conceived it. So much information about the fate of the Maldives as a result of climate change is woven deftly into the thrilling love story of Rin and Yamaan which acts as a criticism of class and capitalism.
Rin is the upper-class, Japanese-American daughter to the CEO of Cabey-Yasuda Corrections, and Yamaan is their Maldivian house boy. As sea-levels rise and salt water pollutes the Maldivian water tables, islands are lost and Yamaan is one of the thousands displaced, ending up in one of Rin’s mother’s facilities. Wilson has applied the American-prison-industrial-complex to the ever increasing plight of environmental refugees and his vision of 2075 is hyper-realistic and consequently nauseating. The refugees are promised visas after they provide a year of work in one of the manufacturing plants. However, every meal, dab of toothpaste, or day of housing in the facility accrues a debt they must continue to work to pay off. The refugees cannot leave or be deported as they are nationals of nations which no longer exist and they cannot be granted visas as the Australian government is in the pocket of Cabey-Yasuda. This future is grim, but already here and this novel urges us to oppose governments and corporations who would exploit us all given the chance.
Rin’s Japanese backstory with her birth mother was a welcome added complexity to her character and also enabled the happy(ish) ending that was crucial to ward off the wave of despondency the subject-matter inspires. The prose was wonderful, and while I found parts of Rin’s narration to ring a little false, her character development from the privileged CEO’s daughter to the refugee activist (or more acutely, Yamaan activist) and strained relationship with her mother were adeptly portrayed. Additionally, I am aware that it is s a male author writing a female character with genuine intentions, and considering I just read Richard Flanagan’s attempt at women this was a goddamn masterpiece.
I appreciated how Wilson was able to acknowledge the necessity for a people’s uprising while also displaying how it easily descends into needless violence. Holland was a great character, charismatic but flawed as all leaders are, and I found the protest-come-riot fairly true to what I have witnessed of other uprisings.
Love was the one quality of human nature not corrupted by capitalism in the novel and Wilson has demonstrated how it can be the driving force behind social and political change. This was a very enjoyable, relevant read and a great way to kick off 2020.
Quotes I enjoyed:
* Here and now the walls of class are topped with barbed wire
* The state has a monopoly on violence its not even called violence when they do it, it’s called policing or security.
* The Australian accent was described as a sound like a ‘honking goose’ - As an Aussie, this was accurate, but hurtful haha.
Rin is the upper-class, Japanese-American daughter to the CEO of Cabey-Yasuda Corrections, and Yamaan is their Maldivian house boy. As sea-levels rise and salt water pollutes the Maldivian water tables, islands are lost and Yamaan is one of the thousands displaced, ending up in one of Rin’s mother’s facilities. Wilson has applied the American-prison-industrial-complex to the ever increasing plight of environmental refugees and his vision of 2075 is hyper-realistic and consequently nauseating. The refugees are promised visas after they provide a year of work in one of the manufacturing plants. However, every meal, dab of toothpaste, or day of housing in the facility accrues a debt they must continue to work to pay off. The refugees cannot leave or be deported as they are nationals of nations which no longer exist and they cannot be granted visas as the Australian government is in the pocket of Cabey-Yasuda. This future is grim, but already here and this novel urges us to oppose governments and corporations who would exploit us all given the chance.
Rin’s Japanese backstory with her birth mother was a welcome added complexity to her character and also enabled the happy(ish) ending that was crucial to ward off the wave of despondency the subject-matter inspires. The prose was wonderful, and while I found parts of Rin’s narration to ring a little false, her character development from the privileged CEO’s daughter to the refugee activist (or more acutely, Yamaan activist) and strained relationship with her mother were adeptly portrayed. Additionally, I am aware that it is s a male author writing a female character with genuine intentions, and considering I just read Richard Flanagan’s attempt at women this was a goddamn masterpiece.
I appreciated how Wilson was able to acknowledge the necessity for a people’s uprising while also displaying how it easily descends into needless violence. Holland was a great character, charismatic but flawed as all leaders are, and I found the protest-come-riot fairly true to what I have witnessed of other uprisings.
Love was the one quality of human nature not corrupted by capitalism in the novel and Wilson has demonstrated how it can be the driving force behind social and political change. This was a very enjoyable, relevant read and a great way to kick off 2020.
Quotes I enjoyed:
* Here and now the walls of class are topped with barbed wire
* The state has a monopoly on violence its not even called violence when they do it, it’s called policing or security.
* The Australian accent was described as a sound like a ‘honking goose’ - As an Aussie, this was accurate, but hurtful haha.
taphophile's review
4.0
A dark speculative fiction set in a dystopian near future. Also a love story. What would you do for love? How many lives would you sacrifice for your own desire? 3.5 stars
devilstatedan's review
5.0
In the very-scarily-too-near future, entire nations are lost to ice melt and subsequent rising sea levels. Amid this environmental catastrophe a privatised system of detaining the now-stateless environmental refugees has arisen, and those with no country to call home are held in detention centres dotted around the world. The refugees are forced to work to earn their right to become citizens of their captors' lands. Within this book we see themes of climate change, privatised essential services, monopoly control of resources, and the monetisation and dehumanisation governments will force upon their citizens in the name of shareholder interests. This story is told through transcripts from a court case and the internal accounts of two young people, virtual strangers coming together surrounded by chaos This could possibly be the most important book of our times, a tool to expose the money-making processes that are being constructed right before our eyes. A great book by a great award winning author.
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