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In an instant, Mathembe Fileli's life was burned away . . . Now, in search of answers, she must traverse a divided nation Life in the village of Chepsenyt is idyllic. Despite the empire's growing religious tensions, the people of Chepsenyt live together peacefully and ply their trades, growing useful objects through the manipulation of DNA. It was here that Mathembe Fileli grew up, with her father creating tools used in construction and her mother spinning clothes and food. That all changed in an instant. The Broken Land mirrors Belfast resident Ian McDonald's upbringing in Northern Ireland by depicting a nation cut in two by a violent religious divide. On one side are the Proclaimers, the ruling group that doesn't believe in life after death, and on the other side are the Confessors, the opposing group whose thoughts are uploaded in the afterlife. When two Confessors take shelter in Chepsenyt, the Emperor's soldiers burn the village to the ground, throwing the whole country into civil war. In this newly perilous world, Mathembe must draw on her resourcefulness and inner strength to find her family and bridge the nation's gaping rift.… (more)
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The language is remarkable; this is not a book that you can plunge into and it is not a quick read (at least, not unless and until you can get your head around what it is telling you). And do not be misled by the exoticism; although names suggest Africa or Asia, it quickly becomes clear that we are looking at an allegorical Ireland. The transplantation of clues is skilful; early on, there is a quotation from an Irish Republican song that flagged this up to me, but as conflict breaks out between two political and religious factions, supported by an overseas power, the parallels become impossible to ignore. Yet the reader isn't browbeaten by McDonald; he neither takes sides nor forgets that he is weaving a science fictional tale of a world where biotechnology and the ability of some of the characters to manipulate it can produce wonders.
Mathembe's journey exposes her to dangers as well as those wonders; she becomes separated from her family and spends much of the novel looking for them. Some she finds; others are lost. Those she finds are changed in one way or another. And eventually she also finds a way to resolve not just her own story, but that of her land, though redemption comes at a price, and cannot be instant. Peace and reconciliation can come, but only one step at a time. And what we have in common is more important than what separates us.
Along the way, we see exploitation, the plight of refugees, the grinding drudgery of relocation camps and the realities and dangers that imposing borders can bring to a place.
The messages in this book are timely, and timeless; unfortunately, those who most need to read it most likely won't (and if they did, they might struggle with it). It reinforces my view that Ian McDonald is probably one of the finest writers in any genre that these islands have produced.