Dystopia

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The Light Thieves and the Terrifying Dawn by Helena Duggan

What would you do if you found out that the sun was being ‘stolen’ by a tech-billionaire called  Howard Hansom and the whole world is facing annihilation?  That is the premise behind the brilliant trilogy, starting with “The Light Thieves”.  This latest book is the stunning finale to the sequence and follows the hero Grian and his friends as they struggle to save the world.  Although it is best to have read the first two books in the sequence, we are given a timeline of the story so far, which will bring readers up to speed, but also make them want to read the others.

In this story, the search is on for the mysterious ‘White Rose’, who has the secret to stopping Howard Hansom.  The heroes finally make it to the domed city of Quantum, which appears to be acting as an Ark for friends and followers of Hansom.  But time is ticking and they have less than 24 hours to solve the written puzzles they have found; however they find missing members of their family and are able to fit a few more pieces into the jigsaw.  Look out for a totally breathtaking end to the story, with a range of twists and turns that will have you on the edge of your seats.  The sun might be in danger but this series of books provides the five stars to keep us in the light.

This is a fantastic story that reminds us of the importance of family and friends, but it also has really strong messages about nature and how we should be working with the natural world, rather than trying to tame it.  There are also strong reminders that “absolute power, corrupts absolutely”, but also that the wealthy often have a very selfish and narrow view of what is right for the world.  what an absolutely brilliant series.

 

Extract One

Grian woke just as he was slipping off the side of the fastmoving motorbike heading straight for the tarmac. “Whoo, steady on there!” Harry cried over the wind, shoving his arm back to stop Grian’s certain fatal descent. “You can’t be falling asleep on me, mate. I warned you the last time.”

“Yes, yes, right,” Grian mumbled groggily.

He looked over at Shelli and Nach, her fox, sleeping in the sidecar of another motorbike nearby and wished for a minute he could join them. Trying to stay awake on the back of this metal death machine was proving a struggle.

Their journey so far had been long. They’d left Hopper city, in southern Babbage, hours previously and zipped in a motorbike cavalcade up through the Hopper and Turing districts, passing dying landscapes. Nature wilted at pace under the frosts that now settled across the land since the sun turned half-dark.

Grian could handle looking at the devastated landscapes; he’d almost gotten used to it. Nature had been dying for a long time before he’d even cared, before he’d met his Wilde friend Shelli. It was even before their adventure began.

It was the hordes of people on foot lining the roadways that rattled his core.

Hairy Harry, leader of Riders of the Apocalypse, the biker group who’d offered them a lift, had spoken to a few walkers during a pit stop.

“Since another part of the sun went out, they’re scared, Grian. And their cars and scooters can’t be charged now that the power grid keeps dropping so lots have taken to their feet instead.”

“But where are they walking to?” Grian asked.

“To Quantum. Same place as us. They want answers. They’ve woken up to Howard Hansom’s lies,” Harry shouted over the roar of the engine. “It’s a good thing. You’re changing the world, Grian. You kids are giving us all hope.”

Book Information
Title: The Light Thieves and the Terrifying Dawn
Series: The Light Thieves #3
Author: Helena Duggan
Release Date: 12th September 2024
Genre: MG
Publisher: Usborne

 

Author Information
Helena Duggan is a children’s author, graphic designer and illustrator from Kilkenny, a medieval town in Ireland, which was the inspiration for A Place Called Perfect. She writes in a treehouse built by her husband Robbie and his brother in the bottom of their garden. She lives in a small house with Robbie, their daughters Jo and Bobbie and dog Tinker.

Instagram: https://instagram.com/helenadugganwrites
X: https://x.com/heldideas

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Terra Electrica: the Guardians of the North by Antonia Maxwell and Cecilia Bennett

The dystopian novel has been a major element in children’s publishing for many years, but having said that, it can be based on a wide range of circumstances which act as trigger points for the disasters.  Often, the action is linked to the concerns of the real world; so that over the years we have seen post nuclear worlds, pandemics and currently there is an ever growing understanding of the impact of climate change.

Mani has been growing up in a world that is gradually being destroyed by climate changes.  The land of her ancestors should be covered in snow and ice, so that the people can hunt for animals and fish, but over the years the snow has melted, leaving a soggy and very unhealthy environment.  However, the final straw has been the arrival of a dreadful disease that kills all of those who catch it.  The symptoms are  based on the eyes and makes the sufferer look as if they are giving off electric sparks.  The condition seems to feed of any source of electricity, so this has been turned off.  Mani and her father are the sole survivors of their community, but after her father leaves to find food, she eventually needs to try and find him, however she unexpectedly find another survivor; he is Leo, one of the scientists from the local research station, but he has the disease; then amazingly Mani reaches out to him and somehow cures him of the disease.  This sees them start on a journey to try and find Mani’s father and also to discover if others have survived.

Intertwined with this story we have the mythical world of animal spirits, which are linked to individuals.  Whenever Mani puts on a wooden mask that her mother left her, she finds herself in a spirit world, with a guardian polar bear called Ooshaka (who turns out to be the spirit version of herself) and a very sparky Crow who seems to be full of sarcasm, but with a very strong  positive attitude, which enables him to help Mani when necessary.  The author has balanced these two elements of the story by giving them separate chapters, but she has given each a very different feel, so that the reader does not get confused by the changes.

Antonia Maxwell has given us a book that really should make people think.  Every year we are seeing changes in the climate across the world and many cultures are already under threat.  It is interesting that the author has focused on electricity as being one of the danger factors, while many think that it is a solution; however, we have to remember that we need other sources of energy in order to produce the electricity itself.  This is a wonderful mix of adventure, nature and the importance of understanding the limits of science.  As the story develops, we see Leo begin to fully accept that whilst science is good and useful, it also has limits and the welfare of the natural world and people has to be the priority.  This is the first in a new series and I look forward to seeing more of Mani as she understands her place in this new world and whether anything can be done to mitigate the natural disasters..

 

 The Author

Antonia Maxwell is a writer and editor based in North Essex and Cambridge, UK. With a  degree in Modern Languages and a long-standing career as a book editor, she has a lifelong curiosity for language and words, and a growing fascination in the power of story – the way it shapes our lives and frames our experience.

Title: Terra Electrica: The Guardians of the North

Author: Antonia Maxwell

Genre: Dystopian, Science & Nature, Environment

Age Category: Middle Grade

Page Count: 272 Pages

Publication Date: July 4, 2024

Publisher: Neem Tree Press

Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/204929195-terra-electrica

Amazon: https://amzn.eu/d/0dUDASJ3 (UK)

 

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Feast of Ashes by Victoria Williamson

Neem Tree Press, 9781911107873

I will freely admit that dystopian novels are not my favourite genre, perhaps because I have been reading them for a VERY long time.  However, I have read and enjoyed Victoria’s middle grade work, so I wanted to see what she imagined in this first YA novel.

As you would expect, the story is set in a dystopian future and where the population live in sealed domes, to protect them from the lethal environment outside.  The central character, Adina  is a teenager with all of the frustrations and longings of her age; what she does not expect is that her desire for a ripe apple will lead to the explosion that destroys her home and kills most of its inhabitants, including her parents.  The small group of survivors have a matter of days to find refuge at Sanctuary Seven, the nearest habitation,  before their bio filters stop working and they succumb to the deadly atmosphere.

This is a story that reminds me of the conflicts that have happened during my life around the wishes of big business, especially when genetic modification is the focus.  The story is set in an African landscape that has basically been destroyed by the desire of multinationals to provide food as cheaply as possible, using non-western countries as test beds for their ideas.  This need to feed the population, together with the pressing issues around the environment, is something that is very much at the heart of the eco-movements that are voicing concerns today.  In contrast to this theme, we have the much more personal issues around Adina, her attitudes and the way that she has to deal with her guilt after the disaster.  The story is set out in a simple timeline; dealing with life and attitudes before the event and then following the survivors as they face the natural dangers and also the potential threat to them, if they do not reach safety in time.  We see the interaction of the characters and how they all react to their circumstances; in particular we see the gradual shift in the way that Adina thinks and acts, until we have the final scene that really packs a punch.

This is one of those stories that I cannot say I ‘enjoyed’, but that is perhaps not the purpose.  It does however, make you think very long and hard about what we are doing to our world and in particular those parts that are still seen as ‘developing’.  The author has given us a book to be mindful about and which will hopefully give its young readers a lot of food for thought.

About the Author

Victoria Williamson is an award-winning author who grew up in Scotland surrounded by hills, books, and an historical farm estate which inspired many of her early adventure stories and spooky tales. After studying Physics at the University of Glasgow, she set out on her own real-life adventures, which included teaching maths and science in Cameroon, training teachers in Malawi, teaching English in China and working with children with additional support needs in the UK. Victoria currently works part time writing KS2 books for the education company Twinkl and spends the rest of her time writing novels, and visiting schools, libraries and literary festivals to give author talks and run creative writing workshops.
Victoria’s previous novels include The Fox Girl and the White Gazelle, The Boy with the Butterfly Mind, Hag Storm, and War of the Wind. She has won the Bolton Children’s Fiction Award 2020/2021, The YA-aldi Glasgow Secondary School Libraries Book Award 2023, and has been shortlisted for the Week Junior Book Awards 2023, The Leeds Book Awards 2023, the Red Book Award 2023, the James Reckitt Hull Book Awards 2021, The Trinity School Book Awards 2021, and longlisted for the ABA South Coast Book Awards 2023, the Waterstones Children’s Book Prize 2020, and the Branford Boase Award 2019.
Her latest novel, The Pawnshop of Stolen Dreams, is a middle grade fantasy inspired by classic folklore. Twenty percent of the author royalties for this book are donated to CharChar Literacy, an organisation working to improve children’s literacy levels in Malawi.
You can find out more about Victoria’s books, school visits and free resources for schools on her website: www.strangelymagical.com

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Once upon a Fever by Angharad Walker

A favourite theme found in literature is that of an alternative world and in this country it very often centres around a world with a vastly different version of London.  If you like this type of fantasy, then you are really going to love this book.

This story centres around two sisters Payton and Ani Darke, who have moved to Lundain with their father, who works as a Methic (Doctor) at King Jude’s Hospital and their mother, who is a patient in the hospital.  They live in a world that is very different from our own because the country has been devastated by a mysterious fever that seems to affect people and their emotions; this has led to a view that all emotion should be suppressed.  There has also been a change in the way the country is governed and the power now lies with two large groups, the Bankers and the Methics, everyone else is subservient to them.

The two sisters discover that their lives are beginning to diverge and whilst Payton looks to science in the hope of finding a cure for her mother, Ani discovers that there might older and more natural ways to help those who are suffering.  As they both explore new paths they discover that  there are some good people in the world, but also that you can’t always trust those who you have looked up to in the past.  They learn the lesson that power can corrupt and that even those closest to us cannot always be trusted.

This is an absolutely brilliant teen novel from the author of “The Ash House“.  It is full of darkness and a lingering sense of evil that permeates the world in which the girls live.  The emphasis is very much on trying to remove emotions from those that have been struck down by the fever, because the illness is creating a wide range of disturbing symptoms in the patients.  It feels like a comment on the world that we live in and the way that mental health has been dealt with in the past; in fact the hospitals bear a close resemblance to the images we have of Victorian hospitals, with their dark spaces and rigid rules.  However, there is a glimmer of hope in the middle of this dystopian world, as Ani discovers when she is taken to Hyde gardens and meets the two remaining members of the ‘Wilders’ Guild.  These are people who are close to nature and understand that we need this link to the natural world and that it can bring a sense of peace, or at least tranquility to the troubled mind.

The author has created a truly frightening world, where disease has changed the way we all behave and has allowed small elites to take control of life.  There are definitely shadows of events that have, or could occur if we cannot deal with the pandemics that arise; we have all seen the rise in authoritarianism and the consequences if this is allowed to continue and take permanent control.  One of the really worrying elements of this are the quasi-scientific methods used by the Methics and the feeling that no one is trying to make any advances, despite the girls’ father supposedly researching a cure for their mother.

I have loved this book and the two main characters, who are each struggling to make sense of the world that they live in.  Many of the people they meet are also fighting against the dangers that they face and they find that together they are able to put up a stronger resistance to the powers that be.  Definitely a 5 stars from me, for this one.

About Angharad Walker

“Angharad Walker grew up on military bases in the UK, Germany and Cyprus, where stories were often being told about far-flung places, past conflicts, and friends and family.

She studied English Literature & Creative Writing at the University of Warwick and the University of California Irvine. Her fiction has been published in Structo and A Million Ways, and her poetry has made it into Agenda broadsheets and Ink Sweat & Tears.

She lives in South London. When she’s not writing, she works as a communications consultant for charities and not-for-profits.”   Chicken House website.