Book Review
Dec. 30th, 2013 08:30 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
kenjariFallen Land
by Patrick Flanery
This engrossing an haunting novel takes on very heavy issues within the form of a proto-dystopian thriller. Taking place in an unnamed midwestern city, Fallen Land centers around an ensemble of characters who are all part of a growing nightmare. Louise Washington is an elderly woman who has sold her farmland to a developer and is about to be evicted from her home (which has been in her family for generations). Paul Krovik is the developer who bought Louise's land. However, due to the failing economy and his own shoddy workmanship, he has lost everything and is now living in a secret bunker connected to his former home. Nathaniel, Julia, and their 7 year old son Copley have just moved from Boston to pursue the next stage in their careers: Julia as a robotics scientist at the city's university, and Nathaniel at the security and corrections division of EKK, the sinister corporation he works for.
Paul is slowly losing it, and when Nathaniel, Julia, and Copley move into Paul's former house, he begins sneaking into their home to engage in petty vandalism and eventually worse. Unfortunately, Copley is the only one aware of the true nature of these occurrences, but his parents do not believe him. Nathaniel's work at EKK and his growing awareness of and involvement in their sinister plans to essentially create a paranoid dystopia ruled by constant surveillance and a corporatized prison system is changing him into a dangerously authoritarian, potentially violent person. It is only Louise, with her deep connection to the land and its history, who seems to be able to slow the tide of madness.
Flanery's writing is very good, and he does a great job of gradually increasing the atmosphere of dread and menace. In that, the book is reminiscent of a horror novel. The reader is increasingly drawn into a nightmare in which the characters' inability to fully realize what is going on gradually eliminates any path of escape from the horror. The dystopian aspects are very understated and creep in very subtly. It's kind of like getting the backstory on a dystopian world and finding out where it all started and what initiated the descent into dystopia, which I found both fascinating and chilling.
Through this complex and carefully plotted narrative, Flanery explores themes of the darker side of the American Dream, the failings of that dream, and the dangers and price of an increasingly security and corporate driven culture. Plus, these themes are seamlessly embedded in the plot and characters. It's a novel that gives the reader a lot of think about.
by Patrick Flanery
This engrossing an haunting novel takes on very heavy issues within the form of a proto-dystopian thriller. Taking place in an unnamed midwestern city, Fallen Land centers around an ensemble of characters who are all part of a growing nightmare. Louise Washington is an elderly woman who has sold her farmland to a developer and is about to be evicted from her home (which has been in her family for generations). Paul Krovik is the developer who bought Louise's land. However, due to the failing economy and his own shoddy workmanship, he has lost everything and is now living in a secret bunker connected to his former home. Nathaniel, Julia, and their 7 year old son Copley have just moved from Boston to pursue the next stage in their careers: Julia as a robotics scientist at the city's university, and Nathaniel at the security and corrections division of EKK, the sinister corporation he works for.
Paul is slowly losing it, and when Nathaniel, Julia, and Copley move into Paul's former house, he begins sneaking into their home to engage in petty vandalism and eventually worse. Unfortunately, Copley is the only one aware of the true nature of these occurrences, but his parents do not believe him. Nathaniel's work at EKK and his growing awareness of and involvement in their sinister plans to essentially create a paranoid dystopia ruled by constant surveillance and a corporatized prison system is changing him into a dangerously authoritarian, potentially violent person. It is only Louise, with her deep connection to the land and its history, who seems to be able to slow the tide of madness.
Flanery's writing is very good, and he does a great job of gradually increasing the atmosphere of dread and menace. In that, the book is reminiscent of a horror novel. The reader is increasingly drawn into a nightmare in which the characters' inability to fully realize what is going on gradually eliminates any path of escape from the horror. The dystopian aspects are very understated and creep in very subtly. It's kind of like getting the backstory on a dystopian world and finding out where it all started and what initiated the descent into dystopia, which I found both fascinating and chilling.
Through this complex and carefully plotted narrative, Flanery explores themes of the darker side of the American Dream, the failings of that dream, and the dangers and price of an increasingly security and corporate driven culture. Plus, these themes are seamlessly embedded in the plot and characters. It's a novel that gives the reader a lot of think about.
