PURE by Julianna Baggott....or, mutants running around in an apocalyptic wasteland.

Sexy black proof copy on the table in the staff room, yes please.  There seems to be an abundance of titles at the moment that have been released with the word Pure in the title, probably best not to confuse them all as the Orange Prize winner by Andrew Miller is very, very different from this grim apocalypse laid out by Julianna Baggott.  This novel is likely to be referred to as a "Hunger Games" for adults, but I don't think that does it justice.  This is a cleverly written dystopia novel that echoes elements of Justin Cronin's "The Passage" and even Stephen King's "The Stand".  I am not saying she matches the rather legendary talent of Mr. King, but I feel it is more appropriate to compare this novel to his work than it is to compare it to "The Hunger Games".  In saying that however, this would be a brilliant novel to move onto after Suzanne Collins' masterpieces as it is certainly of the same genre and would be a good branch between Teen and Adult Fiction.

We are thrown mercilessly into the world of Pressia, a survivor of The Detonations, a series of bombs set off in America that genetically mutated or killed anything outside of a safe haven known simply as 'The Dome'.  Pressia must create small trinkets to earn food for herself and her Grandfather, in order to survive the barren and dangerous wasteland left behind by the bombs.  Everyone is mutated in some way, mostly by being fused to objects or other living beings.  Pressia wields a doll's head as a fist, fused to her wrist and her Grandfather wheezes through a handheld fan lodged in his throat.  This broken community lives in the shadow of 'The Dome', a place where a select few breathe clean air and are known as 'Pures'.  No one can get into or out of the Dome, or so both populations are led to believe.  Pressia's life is changed forever when she helps a young man escape death in an alley by the hands of thugs as she soon realises that he is a Pure, escaped from the Dome and is on a mission to find someone.  A mission that will take Pressia deep into the heart of corrupt leadership and connections to her own identity she thought all but lost.

This is truly a carnival of the weird, a collection of broken, mutated individuals, whose strength in survival is a testament to their endurance.  Baggott creates such vivid imagery, the characters we encounter leap from the pages and burn their identities into you retinas.  So brilliant and so unusual, I was almost expecting the descriptive imagery of the novel to somehow damage the integrity of the narrative.  I was so very wrong.  Every little detail and every little happening is integral to the story, everything has a role to play.  Prior to picking this up I did go through a few reviews online, and one stood out as saying that it seemed as if there are too many unessential stories in the plot itself.  I can only assume the person that wrote the review never finished the novel itself, because they couldn't be more wrong.  This is crafted almost to perfection, nothing stood out as unfinished, and in spite of this being the first in a series it ends well, the quest to find Partridge's mother comes to a conclusion and it is through this quest that more questions are raised and are unanswered.  So really, this leads well into what will be the second novel.

The narrative itself is told in chapters headed by Pressia, Partridge (the escaped Pure) and Lyda (left inside the Dome), there is also one chapter headed as El Capitan.  This approach gives the reader a much more rounded view of each of the characters and of the lives they lead.  Pressia's chapters were my favourite, probably because she is the character with the most depth and the most courage.  The blossoming and fraught story of love between Pressia and Bradwell (a boy with live birds fused, flapping in his back) is just beautiful.

Baggott works with a lot of themes in the novel, family, loss, identity and even religion.  In the opening pages the week following the Detonations is set out for us as flyers are dropped from the sky, into the arms of those left outside the Dome.

"We know you are here, our brothers and sisters.

We will, one day, emerge from the Dome to join you in peace.

For now, we watch from afar, benevolently."

Those inside the Dome have assumed the role of a deity, creators that control the fortune of those within and without the boundaries of their safe haven.  I think we all know what happens when individuals adopt the role of God, it never ends well for them.  This is certainly the case for the man in charge of the Dome.  More and more of the cracks beneath the surface emerge as the narrative goes on and we are exposed to his role in the horrific Detonations and to his own desperation.  This is a brilliant warning, and one that fits well into this apocalyptic future.

As with any good fantasy, there are of course some startling revelations and twists but it would certainly ruin the story if I were to reveal them in this review.  You can see some of these coming and the narrative allows you to second guess yourself a lot, this novel was just great fun to read.

Another part of it that I loved was the description of the landscape outside the Dome, ripped apart by the brutal detonations.  Everything is covered with ash, an ash that whips up storms and fills peoples lungs.  The landscape itself is also full of danger as there are living beings that have fused to the very ground itself, Dusts that prey on anything that moves.  These monsters are brilliant and make more than one appearance in the novel.  The attack by a swarm of Dust mice is particularly memorable.  So bleak and so barren, it conjures up some amazing visuals as you read.  It is not just the Dusts that pose a threat, there are also death marches  by an insurgent group called the OSR that also steal away children as soon as they turn sixteen.  Such a dangerous world to be a part of, yet somehow there are those that survive.

I could go on and on about the different oddities that surface in the novel, but I would be here all day and it is probably best for the reader to stumble upon these treasures themselves.  Basically, you should read this, it is absolutely fantastic and I can't wait until the next one comes out! 

The Age of Miracles....a warning to us all!

This is one of the much heralded titles on the Waterstones 11 list this year.  This is a list of, yes, 11 debuts that are set to be the next big thing, this is the only title so far that has appealed to me.  I would not have even picked the novel up unless one of my colleagues thrust the proof into my hands telling me that it was my sort of book, they weren't wrong.  It seems I am getting far too predictable in my tastes, makes life easy I suppose.

The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker really is not what you would expect.  It is somewhat of a cautionary tale of humanity and has inklings of a coming apocalypse, something out of our control and totally unexpected.  Walker renders the a scene of American suburbia in crisis, the knock on effect of a worldwide catastrophe.  The spinning of the Earth on it's axis is slowing and scientists can neither explain nor prevent the phenomena.  Walker goes on to describe the ascending progression of this catastrophe, starting with the lengthening of daytime and nighttime by minutes and moving on to the deaths of birds and crops.  The reader has this story explained to them by the young, revealing narrator Julia.  This wonderful character describes the world around her as everything that we take for granted starts to fall apart, friendships, families and natural ways of life.  The story seems all the more harrowing told through the eyes of a teenager struggling to deal with the effect this global occurrence has on the world around her.


I would love to know more about the science of this novel, the details were very interesting and thought provoking.  The author must have put some really hard work into researching the effects of prolonged sunlight and prolonged nighttime as you never doubt the knowledge you are presented with.  It is weird to think of days and days of sunlight and how this would effect our world, and how dangerous it really would be, I would not recommend sunbathing at all!!  This is set off by the long nights and the effect of these on plant and animal life, how ecosystems are just completely destroyed.

I was moved throughout this book, Walker cleverly combines science with moving passages about the people of this story.  She reveals a human resilience, our need to carry on with routine, to follow a clock that no longer reflects night and day.  Alongside this resilience we see rebellion as well, as individuals decide to live their lives by the sun rather than by the 24 hour clock.  It is all very saddening as you can't help but feel for the people that are trying so hard to live how they want, yet become discriminated against by people that used to be their allies, their friends and neighbours.

The dramatic altering of day and night is obviously a very clear and important part of this novel, however, Julia's story is just as important.  It is this story that leads us through the novel and Julia's perception of others that make it such an engrossing read.  There is romance, heartbreak, loss and persistent challenges to face as Julia has to continue being a part of a world that is crumbling around her, literally and metaphorically.  Her family life becomes one of secrets, and we are encouraged to understand that sometimes secrets are what saves people from harm.  It is a very interesting and difficult view to digest, but one that Walker expresses with tenderness and tact.

The most moving part of the novel for me was a scene set upon a beach as Julia acts impulsively to join her crush, Seth, to look at the beached whales.  It is so sad to think of these beautiful creatures driven to confusion over the changing of tides and times, dying helplessly in the blazing sunshine and there is just nothing that can be done to help.

From moving to haunting, the message of the book is very clear on the notion that there are just some things we cannot prepare for or reverse.  Global warming and nuclear holocausts are things that can be affected by human behaviour and in some cases controlled, the looming apocalypse in this tale is completely out of human control and it is terrifying.

I would recommend this to anyone that enjoys a good old fashioned end of the world sci fi.  This novel is more subtle, it is more gentle, but you wont be able to put it down because it is never a heavy read.  Also good for folks that want a thought provoking read, you really don't need to be a sci fi fan, there is no fancy gadgets or futuristic spaceships in sight.  Maybe I am just saying that anyone could enjoy this, it is just a clever, brilliant read.

Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker is due out 21/06/2012

The Tiny Wife: Andrew Kaufman's New Fable

A big thank you to Harpercollins for sending through a reading copy of this one, I devoured All My Friends are Superheroes and loved it, so I squeaked with joy when I saw that proofs were doing the rounds for Kaufman's new novel The Tiny Wife. 

This was a delight to read, a lovely novella about a thief that holds up a bank.  This wonderfully elaborate thief, with his distinctive purple hat takes from each person, not their money, but that which they attach the most sentimental value to upon their person.  An old key, a cheap watch, photographs and so on.  If that wasn't peculiar enough, things, weird things, start to happen to the victims of this confusing crime.  One lady's lion tattoo roars to life and starts to chase her wherever she goes, another woman turns to candy, and our narrator's wife, Stacey, begins to shrink.  Each victim's story is a fable in itself, not all of which have a happy ending.

This a book that makes you feel warm and fuzzy inside, and is quite beautiful, creative and endearing.  It is most definitely about the things we value most, even our fears, and facing up to those things.  It is because of this that this book would make the perfect gift to a close friend, or someone that could do with a smile.  It is short and sweet and only really took about an hour to read in it's entirety, if it had been any longer I really don't think it would have had such an impact.  Kaufman is the master of the touching, soulful short novel.  I think the only aspect of the novel that would put people off is it's gentle weirdness, I would say to put your judgements aside until you have read it, you will likely be surprised.

A big thumbs up from me, as you can probably tell.  This one is due out on the 1st of September, so I would imagine it will be in a lot of people's Christmas stockings.  All I want to know is, when will we be seeing an omnibus of Kaufman's novellas?  I want one now!