Dystopias aren't just for teens
Time for more book reviews. I finished reading a really good dystopian series just before Christmas - yes, and failed to post reviews. Afterward I loaned it to a friend. Neither I nor the friend are teenagers, and the fact that the protagonists of the Unwind series are teens makes no difference to our enjoyment of the novels. Dystopias aren't just for teens. And dystopian ideas just might make all of us open our eyes and think if we let them in. Our world could become a lot more messed up if we don't take care of it.
I read Neal Shusterman's Unwind quite some time ago and loved it. The novel stood on its own perfectly, so I wasn't sure about looking for more. But what I found is a series where each novel adds intriguing depth to the tale, and compels the reader to ask new questions about life's value and meaning. So now there's Unwholly where one character struggles to believe he is human while others' only worth is their body parts; followed by UnSouled, whose questions of whether we have souls and what happens to them remind me of Star Trek's split personalities after transporter glitches... how easily deception becomes the norm; and finally Undivided, a perfect roller-coaster ending. Enjoy them all with some bold, dark, intense five-star coffee.
Then there's Stephen King's The Institute. It's not quite dystopian since it's set in the present, but... it's still a dystopian vision of what's going on in the world, and it's truly enthralling. Again, many of the protagonists are children, and they're fighting for survival. Good guys and bad are adult. And motivations might be seriously mixed. But who's in charge? Another great read to enjoy with intense five-star coffee!
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde surely isn't dystopian, but it has the same slightly disturbing, slightly disturbed sense to it. I've read some of the earlier books in the series. I know the characters and the book-themed world. But it's falling apart - a dystopian vision of book-world perhaps, best enjoyed with some well-balanced three-star coffee.
Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy by Brian Clopper invites readers into another kind of bookworld. Irving might be a character in his own dystopia, as his every-distracted author searches for his story. But something's wrong (even dystopian?) in the world of training fictional characters, and Irving might have a greater task ahead than his author imagines. A very odd, rather slow, educational and self-referential tale, this is one to enjoy with an long, intense, dark, five-star coffee.
Then there's Un-Lun-Dun by China Mieville. A dystopian world beneath London perhaps? Certainly as things fall apart, and it has that dystopian feel. Blend fantasy with Alice through the Looking Glass, and enjoy some oddly complex four-star coffee with this one.
So... what will be my next dystopian read?
I read Neal Shusterman's Unwind quite some time ago and loved it. The novel stood on its own perfectly, so I wasn't sure about looking for more. But what I found is a series where each novel adds intriguing depth to the tale, and compels the reader to ask new questions about life's value and meaning. So now there's Unwholly where one character struggles to believe he is human while others' only worth is their body parts; followed by UnSouled, whose questions of whether we have souls and what happens to them remind me of Star Trek's split personalities after transporter glitches... how easily deception becomes the norm; and finally Undivided, a perfect roller-coaster ending. Enjoy them all with some bold, dark, intense five-star coffee.
Then there's Stephen King's The Institute. It's not quite dystopian since it's set in the present, but... it's still a dystopian vision of what's going on in the world, and it's truly enthralling. Again, many of the protagonists are children, and they're fighting for survival. Good guys and bad are adult. And motivations might be seriously mixed. But who's in charge? Another great read to enjoy with intense five-star coffee!
First Among Sequels by Jasper Fforde surely isn't dystopian, but it has the same slightly disturbing, slightly disturbed sense to it. I've read some of the earlier books in the series. I know the characters and the book-themed world. But it's falling apart - a dystopian vision of book-world perhaps, best enjoyed with some well-balanced three-star coffee.
Irving Wishbutton and the Questing Academy by Brian Clopper invites readers into another kind of bookworld. Irving might be a character in his own dystopia, as his every-distracted author searches for his story. But something's wrong (even dystopian?) in the world of training fictional characters, and Irving might have a greater task ahead than his author imagines. A very odd, rather slow, educational and self-referential tale, this is one to enjoy with an long, intense, dark, five-star coffee.
Then there's Un-Lun-Dun by China Mieville. A dystopian world beneath London perhaps? Certainly as things fall apart, and it has that dystopian feel. Blend fantasy with Alice through the Looking Glass, and enjoy some oddly complex four-star coffee with this one.
So... what will be my next dystopian read?
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