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A review by kitsuneheart
The Sleepless by Victor Manibo
5.0
The fact that I’ll be spending 1/3rd of my life unconscious is actually a BIG existential dread thing, for me. That’s SO MUCH. What could I do with all that time, if I didn’t need sleep? If I could just be at an optimal mental level all the time? So, on hearing the concept of this book, I connected immediately. Gaining those hours in the day, with no side-effects, would get me out there, looking for a dose of conversion!
While this book has a scifi premise, a lot of it is more murder mystery. Jamie Vega, our narrator, is trying to figure out who murdered his boss. He’s got a lot of connections, as a journalist, but he’s hampered by that all-too common problem of armature detectives: he’s a prime suspect.
There’s a bit of tortured backstory and relationship drama thrown in, to spice things up, but a think a lot of where this book shines is how Manibo reasons out what the world would look like if we had this sudden influx of literal all-nighters. More things are open 24 hours, People up their hustle and take on YET ANOTHER extra job. Manibo even points out that people have to EAT more, because you use more caloric energy when awake! But Manibo goes on to find the all-too real dark sides to this possible world. More things open at all times mean more energy is used, making the energy and pollution crisis worse. People who CAN’T take on an overnight job are now severely disadvantaged, making capitalism even more of a nightmare. And while we already overproduce food, it’s not managed well, so greater demands on the food chain mean more environmental damage and world hunger.
And yet…I would still want to be sleepless!
This is just such a realistic novel. Only one thing was changed about the world, but it’s such a fundamental thing that there’s HUGE ramifications.
I loved this. I’ve read a LOT of good scifi this year, but I think this is going on my Hugo nominee list. We need more (open) eyes on this.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, it is literally my bedtime.
…damn.
While this book has a scifi premise, a lot of it is more murder mystery. Jamie Vega, our narrator, is trying to figure out who murdered his boss. He’s got a lot of connections, as a journalist, but he’s hampered by that all-too common problem of armature detectives: he’s a prime suspect.
There’s a bit of tortured backstory and relationship drama thrown in, to spice things up, but a think a lot of where this book shines is how Manibo reasons out what the world would look like if we had this sudden influx of literal all-nighters. More things are open 24 hours, People up their hustle and take on YET ANOTHER extra job. Manibo even points out that people have to EAT more, because you use more caloric energy when awake! But Manibo goes on to find the all-too real dark sides to this possible world. More things open at all times mean more energy is used, making the energy and pollution crisis worse. People who CAN’T take on an overnight job are now severely disadvantaged, making capitalism even more of a nightmare. And while we already overproduce food, it’s not managed well, so greater demands on the food chain mean more environmental damage and world hunger.
And yet…I would still want to be sleepless!
This is just such a realistic novel. Only one thing was changed about the world, but it’s such a fundamental thing that there’s HUGE ramifications.
I loved this. I’ve read a LOT of good scifi this year, but I think this is going on my Hugo nominee list. We need more (open) eyes on this.
Now, if you’ll excuse me, it is literally my bedtime.
…damn.