Alien Nation
by Raymond King
Style: Science Fiction / Dystopia
ISBN: 9798218362980
Print Size: 347 pages
Reviewed by Kathy L. Brown
Armed rebel and societal visions conflict on this deeply immersive dystopia.
The theme of this startlingly artistic e book is hidden in plain sight, proper there within the title: “Alien Nation” —“alienation.” Right here, writer RaymondKingimmerses the reader on this utopia-gone-wrong cautionary story, the place a person’s place in society stands towards their duties to themselves and others.
Because the e book opens, the 2 major characters lead very totally different lives. Jason is a poor android, designed to serve. However he’s remoted, awkward, and self-conscious. As we first meet him at his counselor’s workplace, he’s present process an vital ceremony of passage that may change his life. “That is the story of my life. If somebody tells you that issues get higher with exhausting work, they’re both silly or mendacity to you. Issues don’t get higher with exhausting work. The one factor that advantages from exhausting work is the system.”
Prince Marcus Kane can be ill-at-ease along with his scenario, chaffing below the expectations of his father, the king, in addition to being hopelessly in love with an inappropriate woman. His opinion of his personal social caste is cynical. After a Peace Day assassination try is thwarted, Marcus shares, “You could possibly hear the dignitaries letting out a sigh of aid. It was each aid and pleasure. These have been monarchs, in spite of everything. Life tends to get boring for individuals who have every little thing, although we discovered to benefit from the suggestion of hazard from time to time.”
The younger males’s paths cross in an surprising and violent manner, upending each their lives. This turnabout in circumstances finds Marcus scrabbling for survival and revenge, whereas Jason beneficial properties some measure of respect and accountability. Or maybe each younger males are simply being utilized by the manipulative energy brokers round them.
Alien Nation locations nice belief within the reader to discover and parse out the nuances of its imaginative and immersive world: A utopian (for some) theocracy, ripe for rebel. Foregoing abstract backstory not solely empowers the reader to expertise the world and draw conclusions, but additionally retains us a bit disoriented and, maybe, alienated. Intriguing little questions lurk round each nook, however we discover the breadcrumbs after we want them.
The story is advised in a primary individual standpoint, switching between the 2 major characters. The voice for every younger man is expressive and distinct. The wordsmithing is high notch: evocative and all the time hitting the correct notes to reinforce the scene.
Claudia, a servant within the monarch’s home, is Marcus’s love curiosity. I’d have appreciated a deeper look into her character and motivations although. She has an vital position in motivating and guiding Marcus, however she is considerably missing in company. Claudia’s perspective on Anthem’s actually tousled society might be illuminating.
Alien Nation raises themes widespread in younger grownup fiction: What contains a person’s id? How does maturation into maturity change the child-parent relationship? What’s going to one’s life work and position in society be? Different themes are right here as nicely: Do people have duties past their very own self-interest? When does freedom turn out to be anarchy? All these points are explored by individuals’s choices and actions in a considerate and insightful manner. I used to be put in thoughts of the science fiction tales of Kazuo Ishiguro (akin to Klara and the Solar and By no means Let Me Go.)
I extremely advocate Alien Nation for lovers of secondary-world, character-driven science fiction.
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