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A review by citronella_seance
Anthropocene Rag by Alex Irvine
4.0
A Review of Anthropocene Rag by Alex Irvine
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novella is described, right on the cover, as being part Willy Wonka and part Huckleberry Finn, and let me say, that description is exceedingly accurate. It’s a description that, at face value, I feel like I should enjoy, but ultimately this sci-fi dystopian novella about magical realism and robots left me wanting more.
About 90% of the novella follows six people from across America as they make their way to a city in the Rockies that has become more myth than reality, Monument City. Making their way across the country, however, proves to be a little less than normal given that billions upon billions of nanotech-like robots have taken over America and mold the land and the people to whatever story or Americana lore it wishes to see. This is where the intersection of sci-fi and magical realism starts to come into play. Honestly, I loved these parts of the novella. One character describes how “The Boom”, the technology that rules the land, turned thousands of people into a baseball stadium just to watch a historic game played out on it.
This take on our already waning bodily autonomy as we enter into the late stages of capitalism was a very interesting facet of the story and I was intrigued by all of the characters, especially Geck and Teeny. Geck is especially interesting to this ever-present technology because he’s a twin. Like the billions of nanos that make up The Boom, Geck and his twin, Kyle, are coded exactly the same but yet still turned out to be two different people with two different personalities.
I found each character’s journey to Monument City to be fascinating, including Prospector Ed, the robot or “construct” that was assigned to find these six characters and bring them to Monument City. I wanted to know more about The Boom and the kind of world America is now and what Monument City really is. I know the nature of a novella means I won’t get all the answers and should figure some out for myself, but I felt like the plot could have been structured with just a little bit more emphasis on the arrival to Monument City.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and loved the combination of magical realism with science fiction. I also loved the message about American culture and history that Alex Irvine was trying to get across, I just wish there was more of it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novella is described, right on the cover, as being part Willy Wonka and part Huckleberry Finn, and let me say, that description is exceedingly accurate. It’s a description that, at face value, I feel like I should enjoy, but ultimately this sci-fi dystopian novella about magical realism and robots left me wanting more.
About 90% of the novella follows six people from across America as they make their way to a city in the Rockies that has become more myth than reality, Monument City. Making their way across the country, however, proves to be a little less than normal given that billions upon billions of nanotech-like robots have taken over America and mold the land and the people to whatever story or Americana lore it wishes to see. This is where the intersection of sci-fi and magical realism starts to come into play. Honestly, I loved these parts of the novella. One character describes how “The Boom”, the technology that rules the land, turned thousands of people into a baseball stadium just to watch a historic game played out on it.
This take on our already waning bodily autonomy as we enter into the late stages of capitalism was a very interesting facet of the story and I was intrigued by all of the characters, especially Geck and Teeny. Geck is especially interesting to this ever-present technology because he’s a twin. Like the billions of nanos that make up The Boom, Geck and his twin, Kyle, are coded exactly the same but yet still turned out to be two different people with two different personalities.
I found each character’s journey to Monument City to be fascinating, including Prospector Ed, the robot or “construct” that was assigned to find these six characters and bring them to Monument City. I wanted to know more about The Boom and the kind of world America is now and what Monument City really is. I know the nature of a novella means I won’t get all the answers and should figure some out for myself, but I felt like the plot could have been structured with just a little bit more emphasis on the arrival to Monument City.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and loved the combination of magical realism with science fiction. I also loved the message about American culture and history that Alex Irvine was trying to get across, I just wish there was more of it!