Hi folks,
I'm going to be away over Christmas and New Year day and so updates to the blog will be on hold until I return.
Stay safe readers and have a merry Christmas and a happy new year!
Wednesday 17 December 2014
Sunday 14 December 2014
Book Review: Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky - 4thwallfly
This week's science fiction book takes place deep underground in a world with little hope. Actually, in all honesty, the book's world has no hope. It is a story of the dying struggles of mankind as it turns slowly away from the world above and spins its own myths and legends in the world below.
It's Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
Cover Art copyright of respective owner.
'The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. A few thousand live on, not knowing if they are the only survivors on the planet.
They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever build. It is humanity's last refuge. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price.
VDNKh is the nothernmost inhabited station on its line and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the future of the Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.' Metro 2033 - Dmitry Glukhovsky [2007], Translation - Natasha Randall [2009]
Metro 2033 is set in a world of dingy darkness. The world has been ravaged by nuclear war (during a Cold War that had not remained cold but had ended up getting rather hot). The surface is an uninhabitable wasteland that belongs to the mutated creatures that now thrive in the light of the radioactive cities. Artyom is a young man whose home station is under terrible threat. He is directed by a Stalker called Hunter (Stalker is the title of near-mythic heroes who run salvage missions on the surface) to tell the heart of the metro, Polis, of the threat that faces VDNKh. This threat, coming from the next station along, the abandoned botanical gardens, is a threat that might bring ruin to the entire metro.
The story is episodic in style, each station and each step of the journey is almost an entirely separate world from the previous. Artyom's travels allow him to realise that his station is not some far-flung outpost that protects the metro alone, but merely one of many struggling for survival and within the metro itself, stations vie with each other over resources, ideology and creed.
The Moscow Metro is a classic tourist destination for visitors to Moscow thanks to the beautiful architecture within the stations, however, Metro 2033 turns away from its beauty and presents a world alone and in the dark. Mankind has become so used to the flare of emergency lighting that they are blinded by the light of the sun. Stalkers only dare operate at night.
This is not the story of a bright future, or of mankind banding together to face the threat of the ruined world. This is not the story of progressive mankind. This is the story of man's descent into smaller and smaller communities as they turn their back on the world they had once known and embrace the darkness below with their own myths and legends. Such is the darkness of the world that each station lives in that these myths and legends have taken life as facts.
Food for thought:
Frankly, this is a lovely setting. Not entirely original (though in this day and age that's a hard mantle to assume). It is a bleak tale certainly, and a bleaker setting, but this story nevertheless conjures some fantastic differences between stations and there is great detail in the world setting throughout the book in the form of the people Artyom meets and the stories they share.
However, that does lead directly to the first problem. The setting of Metro 2033 is strongly developed but mostly told to the reader by characters, rather than shown (which is always the more subtle and more interesting way to develop 'lore' around a setting). The other issue is that, despite this deep and dark (pun intended on the Metro there) setting, there is actually very little drama for Artyom. His story is less about his journey through the metro and becomes more a vehicle for the author to use to display the metro. It is only near the last quarter (or so) of the book that Artyom's tale rises to the forefront, but the majority of the book revolves more around the various stations that Artyom finds himself at.
In its own way, the author has written charicatures of ideologies and creeds in each of Artyom's encounters, one dimensional belief systems that control stations. Artyom meets with Communist stations that war with the fascist Fourth Reich, he is captured by cannibals, talks with traders of the capitalist Hansa and listens to stories from born-again Christians, Trotskyists and more. Sadly, each of these examples are rendered without much depth which results in the feeling that Metro 2033's universe is deep and intriguing but without much impact.
On the interesting side, the author frequently visits the concept of humanity and what exactly that means in this dark age. The world is grim, highlighted by small realities (the currency for example is ammunition, to have weapons and bullets is to have both physical power and spending capability). The threat to VDNKh and the rest of the metro is not at all physical but psychological. There is little humour in this book to relieve the reader of the story's tone.
However, in the midst of all this, we are treated to Artyom's education of the world he inhabits. Raised in one of the metro's far-flung outposts he is the equivalent of an unworldly, untravelled person. He is essentially himself an innocent to the metro, though this is true in its own way of each station's inhabitants. There are endless myths that Artyom cannot separate from fact because his world differs so vastly from ours. There is no ability to merely 'check' the truth, no ability to merely be sceptical as the world is dark enough to believe near anything. As an example, Artyom is told that there is a station that takes people and forces them to dig downwards. The station is run by satanists who believe that the metro and life there is merely just a layer of hell itself and that to connect the metro with the hell that ran deeper would be to bring about the end of days. He is told rumours about the Kremlin, that he should never look too closely at it, for should the light catch those domes he might be drawn in like a moth to the flames. He even encounters a society of luddites who worship a 'Great Worm' that they attribute as the creator of the metro's tunnels, arguing that mankind had arrived after it had passed to build in its wake. There's no real way that Artyom can prove or disprove anything he is told and it boils down to a simple fact for the young man. He is free to choose how he should think on his world. The world of metro is shaped mostly by belief and almost regressive 'caveman-like' behaviour of wild stories around campfires, though Artyom does not ever commit to any one of the beliefs around him.
In our world it is easy to scoff at say, the satanists for example, but in Artyom's world, a world were strange beasts roam the surface and stranger creatures threaten the metro, a world where some stations are so badly affected by horrific creations of science and a by-gone war that the tunnels must be collapsed, it would be hard to tell where truth ended and fiction started. There are stories of the souls of the dead caught in the pipes of the metro, strange anomalies that incite fear and terror, rumours of a Soviet missile base still functioning.
It is ironic that despite the setting and the slow pace of the narrative that we are treated to fairly blunt intimations that Artyom possesses an unique destiny with even Artyom himself coming to believe that he has an allotted path, and should he continue on it he would remain unharmed. It is rare that the character of a book acknowledges his own plot-given right to survive no matter the odds.
In summary, the book has an interesting setting but fails to deliver a plot to match with it. Artyom's tale results in the feeling that even Artyom is merely along for the ride as he is taken from station to station and shown the glory (and horror) of the metro world.
It's Metro 2033 by Dmitry Glukhovsky.
'The year is 2033. The world has been reduced to rubble. Humanity is nearly extinct. A few thousand live on, not knowing if they are the only survivors on the planet.
They live in the Moscow Metro - the biggest air-raid shelter ever build. It is humanity's last refuge. It is a world without a tomorrow, with no room for dreams, plans, hopes. Feelings have given way to instinct - the most important of which is survival. Survival at any price.
VDNKh is the nothernmost inhabited station on its line and still remains secure. But now a new and terrible threat has appeared. Artyom, a young man living in VDNKh, is given the task of penetrating to the heart of the Metro, to the legendary Polis, to alert everyone to the awful danger and to get help. He holds the future of his native station in his hands, the future of the Metro - and maybe the whole of humanity.' Metro 2033 - Dmitry Glukhovsky [2007], Translation - Natasha Randall [2009]
Metro 2033 is set in a world of dingy darkness. The world has been ravaged by nuclear war (during a Cold War that had not remained cold but had ended up getting rather hot). The surface is an uninhabitable wasteland that belongs to the mutated creatures that now thrive in the light of the radioactive cities. Artyom is a young man whose home station is under terrible threat. He is directed by a Stalker called Hunter (Stalker is the title of near-mythic heroes who run salvage missions on the surface) to tell the heart of the metro, Polis, of the threat that faces VDNKh. This threat, coming from the next station along, the abandoned botanical gardens, is a threat that might bring ruin to the entire metro.
The story is episodic in style, each station and each step of the journey is almost an entirely separate world from the previous. Artyom's travels allow him to realise that his station is not some far-flung outpost that protects the metro alone, but merely one of many struggling for survival and within the metro itself, stations vie with each other over resources, ideology and creed.
The Moscow Metro is a classic tourist destination for visitors to Moscow thanks to the beautiful architecture within the stations, however, Metro 2033 turns away from its beauty and presents a world alone and in the dark. Mankind has become so used to the flare of emergency lighting that they are blinded by the light of the sun. Stalkers only dare operate at night.
This is not the story of a bright future, or of mankind banding together to face the threat of the ruined world. This is not the story of progressive mankind. This is the story of man's descent into smaller and smaller communities as they turn their back on the world they had once known and embrace the darkness below with their own myths and legends. Such is the darkness of the world that each station lives in that these myths and legends have taken life as facts.
Food for thought:
Frankly, this is a lovely setting. Not entirely original (though in this day and age that's a hard mantle to assume). It is a bleak tale certainly, and a bleaker setting, but this story nevertheless conjures some fantastic differences between stations and there is great detail in the world setting throughout the book in the form of the people Artyom meets and the stories they share.
However, that does lead directly to the first problem. The setting of Metro 2033 is strongly developed but mostly told to the reader by characters, rather than shown (which is always the more subtle and more interesting way to develop 'lore' around a setting). The other issue is that, despite this deep and dark (pun intended on the Metro there) setting, there is actually very little drama for Artyom. His story is less about his journey through the metro and becomes more a vehicle for the author to use to display the metro. It is only near the last quarter (or so) of the book that Artyom's tale rises to the forefront, but the majority of the book revolves more around the various stations that Artyom finds himself at.
In its own way, the author has written charicatures of ideologies and creeds in each of Artyom's encounters, one dimensional belief systems that control stations. Artyom meets with Communist stations that war with the fascist Fourth Reich, he is captured by cannibals, talks with traders of the capitalist Hansa and listens to stories from born-again Christians, Trotskyists and more. Sadly, each of these examples are rendered without much depth which results in the feeling that Metro 2033's universe is deep and intriguing but without much impact.
On the interesting side, the author frequently visits the concept of humanity and what exactly that means in this dark age. The world is grim, highlighted by small realities (the currency for example is ammunition, to have weapons and bullets is to have both physical power and spending capability). The threat to VDNKh and the rest of the metro is not at all physical but psychological. There is little humour in this book to relieve the reader of the story's tone.
However, in the midst of all this, we are treated to Artyom's education of the world he inhabits. Raised in one of the metro's far-flung outposts he is the equivalent of an unworldly, untravelled person. He is essentially himself an innocent to the metro, though this is true in its own way of each station's inhabitants. There are endless myths that Artyom cannot separate from fact because his world differs so vastly from ours. There is no ability to merely 'check' the truth, no ability to merely be sceptical as the world is dark enough to believe near anything. As an example, Artyom is told that there is a station that takes people and forces them to dig downwards. The station is run by satanists who believe that the metro and life there is merely just a layer of hell itself and that to connect the metro with the hell that ran deeper would be to bring about the end of days. He is told rumours about the Kremlin, that he should never look too closely at it, for should the light catch those domes he might be drawn in like a moth to the flames. He even encounters a society of luddites who worship a 'Great Worm' that they attribute as the creator of the metro's tunnels, arguing that mankind had arrived after it had passed to build in its wake. There's no real way that Artyom can prove or disprove anything he is told and it boils down to a simple fact for the young man. He is free to choose how he should think on his world. The world of metro is shaped mostly by belief and almost regressive 'caveman-like' behaviour of wild stories around campfires, though Artyom does not ever commit to any one of the beliefs around him.
In our world it is easy to scoff at say, the satanists for example, but in Artyom's world, a world were strange beasts roam the surface and stranger creatures threaten the metro, a world where some stations are so badly affected by horrific creations of science and a by-gone war that the tunnels must be collapsed, it would be hard to tell where truth ended and fiction started. There are stories of the souls of the dead caught in the pipes of the metro, strange anomalies that incite fear and terror, rumours of a Soviet missile base still functioning.
It is ironic that despite the setting and the slow pace of the narrative that we are treated to fairly blunt intimations that Artyom possesses an unique destiny with even Artyom himself coming to believe that he has an allotted path, and should he continue on it he would remain unharmed. It is rare that the character of a book acknowledges his own plot-given right to survive no matter the odds.
In summary, the book has an interesting setting but fails to deliver a plot to match with it. Artyom's tale results in the feeling that even Artyom is merely along for the ride as he is taken from station to station and shown the glory (and horror) of the metro world.
Sunday 7 December 2014
Book Review: Compile Quest by Ronel van Tonder - 4thwallfly
Welcome to the Fly on the Fourth Wall. This week's book is an interesting tale of dystopia on Earth.
It's Compile Quest by Ronel van Tonder.
Cover art copyright of Ronel van Tonder
'In the year 2036, solar storms batter Earth crippling electrical infrastructures across the globe. Night falls and the ensuing pandemonium claims millions of lives, catapulting the world into chaos.
In the midst of this global turmoil a hero emerges. The altruistic SUN Council intercedes, constructing enormous domes on each continent to protect the world’s population from the radioactive CME’s of the incessant solar storms.
But not everyone makes it to the domes. In an attempt to survive the deadly radiation, hundreds of thousands of people dig into the earth, living in squalor under an oppressive military dictatorship.
Now centuries later, the final stage of the SUN Council’s plan to decimate the world’s population approaches. But as victory glimmers on the horizon, two women from discordant halves of this new world start to unravel the conspiracy.' Compile:Quest - Ronel van Tonder [2014]
Compile Quest is a story that revolves around two women and a male, Jinx, Peppermint and Ray respectively, who live lives that are so far apart they may as well be anathema to each other. Their story is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, ravaged by solar flares and centres around South Africa. Switching back and forth between the two, the reader is gradually brought into the world of the SUN Council's domes. Peppermint is a survivor of the disaster that struck the Earth and lucky enough to be a resident of the Africa Dome, enjoying a life of luxury such as our world has never seen. She has a soft life and lives out of touch of the reality of her situation, only coming to realise that her world is highly regimented when she is personally impacted by the Africa Dome's policies. Jinx is a soldier of the Rooivalk Digger Colony which occasionally struggles with the Wildebeest Colony while Ray is a farmer and later recruit for the Wildebeest Digger Colony. Their lives seem far apart (though Ray and Jinx are perhaps closer together than they both are to Peppermint) but they are intrinsically linked.
Food For Thought:
A couple of things caught my eye with this story and I had a mix of reactions towards it. My first delight was the technology present in the book. The SUN Council has gone well out of its way to develop a closed world that is kept content and placid. We see this throughout Peppermint's experiences as she lives (without quite realising it until later) under the thumb of the SUN Council's requirement. At her disposal is a level of technology that brings about a level of hedonism unheard of in today's world. Peppermint's world features robots and virtual reality, recreational drugs and wild parties (and polygamous relationships). The word robot derives from robota which itself derives from a word referring to a form of slavery or forced labour. In this bright new world, mankind appears to enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle on account of the SUN Council's magnanimous organisation of their upkeep. Even clothes are provided from dispensers called weDress (which is probably a subtle dig at the Apple I- product lines). A concept to consider is how likely this is to occur to a human population. Are we, as humans, content to remain catered and cared for at the expense of our curiousity? Alot of human technological progress has managed to make life easier for mankind (admittedly resulting in larger workloads to compensate for the time saved). It bears thinking that in a closed society that didn't seek to progress but rather sustain itself indefinitely it would be possible for technology to entire replace the requirement for people to work themselves. This is sometimes thought to lead to a hypothetical death by boredom. That without struggle and given the resources to do whatever one pleases, one would eventually find every aspect of life boring and without purpose. Which begs the question: Can mankind truly be 'human' without driving goals and struggles to fight?
The book also details the SUN Council as a form of benevolent corporate entity (if we assume benevolent to mean protective and constrictive). Provided a dome citizen follow the SUN Council's mandatory requirements, then that citizen is provided with a luxurious lifestyle. I've talked about this issue before, how society and our environment controls how we interact with the world around us. Currently, it is harder and harder to avoid a homogenous culture thanks to the Internet, but in the world of the Africa Dome, it is all too easy to dictate how every citizen should think and behave. Every citizen must wear a Cerberus Unit that effectively monitors them and must receive regular check ups to determine their physical and mental health (here referring to their compatibility with acceptance of their situation). In a closed society without external influence then, it is too easy to see how one can be controlled. However, people within that closed society would be unable to recognise their situation, seeing it more as 'the way things are.' It is simply impossible to shed those subjective influences on our views (i.e. true bias is impossible). The SUN Council presents a warning to the reader, reminding us that we choose to limit our choice of information sources at our own peril.
Outside of this, I have only a few observations to add. Some of which might be interesting to note. Events that impact our individual culture's history tend to lend great weight to how we create our villains. For example, Harry Potter's Deatheaters are influenced by the Nazi SS Deathheads (same motif, similar goals of racial purity, a fascination in their innate superiority as the world's master race, rule by fear and violence). In much the same way, I would theorize (can't be proven, too few sources to back it up), that a South African book might be influenced by the Soweto (South Western Townships) that edge around Johannesburg, much like the parallels drawn in real life by the Soweto and the city of Jo-burg proper, Compile Quest highlights the differences between the rich and poor, those who live in Domes and those who live in Colonies. Ray's viewpoint provides the greatest comparison between the struggle for life that every day in the Wildebeest Digger Colony requires compared to Peppermint's near idyll lifestyle. The natural tensions caused by friction between have and have-nots is a very powerful thing and in the world described by Compile Quest, it would be enhanced by the sheer size of the contrast between the rich and poor. The Domes of Compile Quest are probably analogous with the compounds that formed in South Africa.
I was quite endeared to the use of Afrikaans in the book (despite having no actual knowledge of the language at all). I found that the dialogue and interactions are written well enough that it is easy to parse meaning when Afrikaans is being spoken. There are admittedly some issues with the terminology used by the Africa Dome denizens (whose language has quite understandibly evolved to reflect their high-tech society), I think that was well thought out (though I disagree with the idea that 'data' should be an epithet as data is neither a positive nor negative term on its own).
Overall though, I believe this book to be an enjoyable read. It gives some interesting insights, it has a fantastic setting and is young (but not in the young-adult sense). I look forward to seeing what else van Tonder decides to put to pen.
Thank you and have a sunny day.
It's Compile Quest by Ronel van Tonder.
'In the year 2036, solar storms batter Earth crippling electrical infrastructures across the globe. Night falls and the ensuing pandemonium claims millions of lives, catapulting the world into chaos.
In the midst of this global turmoil a hero emerges. The altruistic SUN Council intercedes, constructing enormous domes on each continent to protect the world’s population from the radioactive CME’s of the incessant solar storms.
But not everyone makes it to the domes. In an attempt to survive the deadly radiation, hundreds of thousands of people dig into the earth, living in squalor under an oppressive military dictatorship.
Now centuries later, the final stage of the SUN Council’s plan to decimate the world’s population approaches. But as victory glimmers on the horizon, two women from discordant halves of this new world start to unravel the conspiracy.' Compile:Quest - Ronel van Tonder [2014]
Compile Quest is a story that revolves around two women and a male, Jinx, Peppermint and Ray respectively, who live lives that are so far apart they may as well be anathema to each other. Their story is set in a post-apocalyptic Earth, ravaged by solar flares and centres around South Africa. Switching back and forth between the two, the reader is gradually brought into the world of the SUN Council's domes. Peppermint is a survivor of the disaster that struck the Earth and lucky enough to be a resident of the Africa Dome, enjoying a life of luxury such as our world has never seen. She has a soft life and lives out of touch of the reality of her situation, only coming to realise that her world is highly regimented when she is personally impacted by the Africa Dome's policies. Jinx is a soldier of the Rooivalk Digger Colony which occasionally struggles with the Wildebeest Colony while Ray is a farmer and later recruit for the Wildebeest Digger Colony. Their lives seem far apart (though Ray and Jinx are perhaps closer together than they both are to Peppermint) but they are intrinsically linked.
Food For Thought:
A couple of things caught my eye with this story and I had a mix of reactions towards it. My first delight was the technology present in the book. The SUN Council has gone well out of its way to develop a closed world that is kept content and placid. We see this throughout Peppermint's experiences as she lives (without quite realising it until later) under the thumb of the SUN Council's requirement. At her disposal is a level of technology that brings about a level of hedonism unheard of in today's world. Peppermint's world features robots and virtual reality, recreational drugs and wild parties (and polygamous relationships). The word robot derives from robota which itself derives from a word referring to a form of slavery or forced labour. In this bright new world, mankind appears to enjoy a hedonistic lifestyle on account of the SUN Council's magnanimous organisation of their upkeep. Even clothes are provided from dispensers called weDress (which is probably a subtle dig at the Apple I-
The book also details the SUN Council as a form of benevolent corporate entity (if we assume benevolent to mean protective and constrictive). Provided a dome citizen follow the SUN Council's mandatory requirements, then that citizen is provided with a luxurious lifestyle. I've talked about this issue before, how society and our environment controls how we interact with the world around us. Currently, it is harder and harder to avoid a homogenous culture thanks to the Internet, but in the world of the Africa Dome, it is all too easy to dictate how every citizen should think and behave. Every citizen must wear a Cerberus Unit that effectively monitors them and must receive regular check ups to determine their physical and mental health (here referring to their compatibility with acceptance of their situation). In a closed society without external influence then, it is too easy to see how one can be controlled. However, people within that closed society would be unable to recognise their situation, seeing it more as 'the way things are.' It is simply impossible to shed those subjective influences on our views (i.e. true bias is impossible). The SUN Council presents a warning to the reader, reminding us that we choose to limit our choice of information sources at our own peril.
Outside of this, I have only a few observations to add. Some of which might be interesting to note. Events that impact our individual culture's history tend to lend great weight to how we create our villains. For example, Harry Potter's Deatheaters are influenced by the Nazi SS Deathheads (same motif, similar goals of racial purity, a fascination in their innate superiority as the world's master race, rule by fear and violence). In much the same way, I would theorize (can't be proven, too few sources to back it up), that a South African book might be influenced by the Soweto (South Western Townships) that edge around Johannesburg, much like the parallels drawn in real life by the Soweto and the city of Jo-burg proper, Compile Quest highlights the differences between the rich and poor, those who live in Domes and those who live in Colonies. Ray's viewpoint provides the greatest comparison between the struggle for life that every day in the Wildebeest Digger Colony requires compared to Peppermint's near idyll lifestyle. The natural tensions caused by friction between have and have-nots is a very powerful thing and in the world described by Compile Quest, it would be enhanced by the sheer size of the contrast between the rich and poor. The Domes of Compile Quest are probably analogous with the compounds that formed in South Africa.
I was quite endeared to the use of Afrikaans in the book (despite having no actual knowledge of the language at all). I found that the dialogue and interactions are written well enough that it is easy to parse meaning when Afrikaans is being spoken. There are admittedly some issues with the terminology used by the Africa Dome denizens (whose language has quite understandibly evolved to reflect their high-tech society), I think that was well thought out (though I disagree with the idea that 'data' should be an epithet as data is neither a positive nor negative term on its own).
Overall though, I believe this book to be an enjoyable read. It gives some interesting insights, it has a fantastic setting and is young (but not in the young-adult sense). I look forward to seeing what else van Tonder decides to put to pen.
Thank you and have a sunny day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)