Phil Leader (619 KP) rated 2084 in Books
Nov 8, 2019
Following his selection for work in one of the Ministries David very soon finds out the truth. The wider populace are controlled by fear, propaganda and lies. The workers in the Ministry are controlled by greed, power and lust. He soon learns that the whole system is corrupt, rotten to the core, despite the all-powerful and dispassionate AIs that are supposed to only benefit mankind. But as one man there is little he can do, and certainly nobody he can trust. But there are plenty who want to use him as a weapon is their political infighting and power battles.
Clearly a more technological update on 1984, Hogan tackles this grim subject matter from the human perspectives of David and his childhood friend Juli, who is also pulled into the dark world of the power and corruption. Like peeling a rotten onion, layer after layer is removed, finally revealing the rotten heart. Along the way there are some huge plot twists, shocking events and reveals that completely change how the reader understands this future vision. The ending, which it comes, is certainly cataclysmic.
As with the best science fiction, this casts a light on the world we live in with certain current events clearly used as a basis for how Hogan constructed his dystopia. Sometimes the subtext isn't as subtle as it could be, but there is no denying the chilling warning it delivers.
Note: This book contains multiple scenes and themes of a sexual nature
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ClareR (5950 KP) rated A Net for Small Fishes in Books
Feb 17, 2021
This is a story that I already knew a little about: I read The Poison Bed by E. C. Fremantle on The Pigeonhole about 3 years ago, where the story was told from Frances Howards point of view, and A Net for Small Fishes does nothing to contradict that story. They both illustrate really well how women were expected to conform and be perfect, docile, brood mares for their influential husbands, and in Frankie’s case, how political marriages weren’t always happy ones. It also illustrated how desperation to escape a loveless marriage made two women take desperate action. As so often happens throughout history, the women in this story are punished for the barefaced cheek they had to want better lives for themselves. It’s a frustrating conclusion - but I could see that it was inevitable. It showed that it didn’t matter if you were a woman in one of the most influential families in the country or a doctors widow, you toed the line or suffered the consequences. But what a journey they had!
This is such a good story, as real life often is, and it’s a book that’s going on the Keeper shelf (yes, I bought a copy after I read it on The Pigeonhole - that’s how much I liked it).
Many thanks to The Pigeonhole for serialising this, and to Lucy Jago for contributing to the conversation.
Joe Goodhart (27 KP) rated Faction Paradox: Newtons Sleep (Faction Paradox, #6) in Books
Nov 30, 2020
To describe it.. FWOAR! There's a heckuva lot going on, some of it will make your brain long after you're done! Set in England during the later half of the 17th Century, it deals with the effects of the "War in Heaven" (see also Lawrence Miles' 'FP: The Book of the War'), a War between Gallifrey (referred to as "the Homeworld") and the unnamed Enemy, with Faction Paradox caught in the midst of it. The story has political intrigue, metaphysics, sex, science fiction, and much that will make you scratch your head at times as well as prompting a trip to Wiki (while I have a general knowledge of that period of history, it is not something I am well-versed) now and again.
There are notable real history characters (the poetess, and spy, Aphra Behn) as well as fictional characters such as Nicholas Silver (who has SUCH a role to play!) and..well. SPOILERS! Seriously well-written characters all around, fleshed out enough to get a feel for each and every one. All had a unique voice when I read their dialogue.
The story is twisty-turny, but at the end it all comes together. I will caution you to read it carefully: this is NOT a book to run through quickly! I've been told it will altogether better the second time round, so I expect I will re-read it again sometime in the not-too-distant future.
Read it now: you won't be disappointed!
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