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A review by edent_
How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu
5.0
This book is devastatingly good. It's a grim and darkly prophetic set of interlinked short stories set during a pandemic.
*sigh* I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot of "what if Covid19 but in the future?" novels. But this one is special. The sci-fi is sublime and realistic. It draws very firmly from the art of the possible - including the terrifying euthanasia roller coaster.
And, it is terrifying. I had to put the book down between each chapter to gather my courage for the next onslaught.
Remember how Joey from Friends dealt with scary books?
Yeah, that's what I wanted to do with this.
And yet, in the middle of this awful pandemic, there's something cathartic about reading how it might go in the future. The little asides remind me of the infomercials in the Robocop movie, or the ever present advertising in Blade Runner.
I've read a lot of Black Sci Fi over the last few years, but this is the first Japanese-American focussed book that I've read. The author skilfully weaves his characters together to give us a wide variety of people through which to view the end of the world.
And a talking pig.
It slowly builds up the terror - always dwelling on the human experience of the individual, never straying to the global level. And then gently releases us from its grasp into something surprisingly beautiful.
You may find it extremely upsetting to read - but it is an outstanding experience.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The book is released in January 2022 and I urge you to preorder.
*sigh* I suspect we're going to be seeing a lot of "what if Covid19 but in the future?" novels. But this one is special. The sci-fi is sublime and realistic. It draws very firmly from the art of the possible - including the terrifying euthanasia roller coaster.
And, it is terrifying. I had to put the book down between each chapter to gather my courage for the next onslaught.
Remember how Joey from Friends dealt with scary books?
Yeah, that's what I wanted to do with this.
And yet, in the middle of this awful pandemic, there's something cathartic about reading how it might go in the future. The little asides remind me of the infomercials in the Robocop movie, or the ever present advertising in Blade Runner.
I've read a lot of Black Sci Fi over the last few years, but this is the first Japanese-American focussed book that I've read. The author skilfully weaves his characters together to give us a wide variety of people through which to view the end of the world.
And a talking pig.
It slowly builds up the terror - always dwelling on the human experience of the individual, never straying to the global level. And then gently releases us from its grasp into something surprisingly beautiful.
You may find it extremely upsetting to read - but it is an outstanding experience.
Thanks to NetGalley for the review copy. The book is released in January 2022 and I urge you to preorder.