Status
Available
Call number
Publication
Ecco (New York, 2018). 1st edition, 1st printing. 336 pages. $22.99.
Description
After the climate wars, a floating city is constructed in the Arctic Circle, a remarkable feat of mechanical and social engineering, complete with geothermal heating and sustainable energy. Now crime and corruption have set in, the contradictions of incredible wealth alongside poverty are spawning unrest, and a new disease called "the breaks" is ravaging the population. When a strange new visitor arrives--a woman riding an orca, with a polar bear at her side--the city is entranced. She very subtly brings together four people--each living on the periphery--to stage unprecedented acts of resistance. By banding together to save their city before it crumbles under the weight of its own decay, they will learn shocking truths about themselves.
User reviews
LibraryThing member rivkat
Climate change has turned much of humanity into refugees. Qaanaaq is a floating city in the Artic, controlled by its shareholders and teeming with both registered and unregistered occupants. When the sole survivor of a genocide arrives with an orca and a captive polar bear, she provides an impetus
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for a war by a crime syndicate against a powerful shareholder. All the while, the strange disease the breaks is driving people to horrible deaths amidst images of lives they’ve never led, and the AIs running the city can’t do anything about it. Although almost everything goes wrong and key players don’t make it to the end of the story, it’s also about the kind of hope that can persist even in ashes, and the family connections that survive all kinds of wrongs. Show Less
LibraryThing member dreamweaversunited
Really great concept, amazing worldbuilding, less than satisfactory execution. I wish the book had either been longer, to give time to flesh out all the characters, or that it had focused in on fewer characters. I did appreciate the anti-capitalism.
LibraryThing member richardderus
This is a delightful read. The investment you make in the first 100 pages pays off in a rich, enfolding experience of very able, capable worldbuilding by Author Miller.
Four PoV characters seems like a lot, I know, but each presents the reader with a different lens on a world that is all about where
Author Miller is a top-notch talent, a maker of archetypes and a weaver of worlds whose skills are already as sharp as many with much longer résumés. What points of complaint I have are negligible compared to the central, overarching concerns he presents in this three-year-old and already timeless title.
Some of my favorite lines:
Money is a mind, the oldest artificial intelligence. Its prime directives are simple, it's programming endlessly creative. Humans obey it unthinkingly, with cheerful alacrity. Like a virus, it doesn't care if it kills its host. It will simply flow on to someone new.
–and–
The American fleet had lacked a lot of things—food, shelter, fuel, civil liberties—but it hadn’t lacked weapons. The global military presence that had made the pre-fall United States so powerful, and then helped cause their collapse, had left them with all sorts of terrifying toys.
–and–
“Fine line between good business and a fucking war crime,” he said. “Ain’t that the goddamn epitaph of capitalism.”
Four PoV characters seems like a lot, I know, but each presents the reader with a different lens on a world that is all about where
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you are in its hierarchy as to what it looks like, feels like, and how Qaanaaq functions to meet your needs. Wealthy and privileged and bored Fill and Kaev, males at opposite ends of the city's caste system, and Kaev the professional fight-thrower is about to slip a few more rungs down the ladder. Ankit and non-binary Soq are the mobile middle-dwellers, each functioning in their differing-status jobs to support the power structure. Soq the messenger, the Mercury of Qaanaaq, was probably my favorite PoV in the book. The stealth they possess; the invisibility that rejecting binaries confers on them; all the moments of revelation this leads to make them a character I'd've loved to hear more from.Author Miller is a top-notch talent, a maker of archetypes and a weaver of worlds whose skills are already as sharp as many with much longer résumés. What points of complaint I have are negligible compared to the central, overarching concerns he presents in this three-year-old and already timeless title.
Some of my favorite lines:
Money is a mind, the oldest artificial intelligence. Its prime directives are simple, it's programming endlessly creative. Humans obey it unthinkingly, with cheerful alacrity. Like a virus, it doesn't care if it kills its host. It will simply flow on to someone new.
–and–
The American fleet had lacked a lot of things—food, shelter, fuel, civil liberties—but it hadn’t lacked weapons. The global military presence that had made the pre-fall United States so powerful, and then helped cause their collapse, had left them with all sorts of terrifying toys.
–and–
“Fine line between good business and a fucking war crime,” he said. “Ain’t that the goddamn epitaph of capitalism.”
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LibraryThing member greeniezona
I'd been wanting to read this book since I first heard of it (great cover, polar fiction, intriguing concept), but was forcing myself to wait for the paperback, as per usual. Except then I discovered that the hardback cover glowed in the dark, and then my friend challenged me to make some glowing
(The paperback actually came out while I was reading the library copy, and I ran out to buy it. Tragically, the paperback doesn't glow. But it's still gorgeous.)
I ATE THIS BOOK UP. Interesting world-building, some great, spiky characters, lots of polar-fiction flavor, despite the hotter, climate-changed world. I was on this ride 100% and careening through it as fast as I could to find out would happen until a certain plot point I am avoiding because spoilers. I mean, it's not as it didn't make sense, necessarily, as an in-world consequence. Maybe it just felt bigger to me than the book seemed to make it out to be -- I wanted more build-up to it, more impact after. (Not that there wasn't impact after.) I just felt kind of hollow after that moment -- not 100% on the ride anymore. Which is fine, it just knocked the book down from a 5-star for me, which it was well on its way toward being until then.
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earrings to coordinate with it, so to the library I went.(The paperback actually came out while I was reading the library copy, and I ran out to buy it. Tragically, the paperback doesn't glow. But it's still gorgeous.)
I ATE THIS BOOK UP. Interesting world-building, some great, spiky characters, lots of polar-fiction flavor, despite the hotter, climate-changed world. I was on this ride 100% and careening through it as fast as I could to find out would happen until a certain plot point I am avoiding because spoilers. I mean, it's not as it didn't make sense, necessarily, as an in-world consequence. Maybe it just felt bigger to me than the book seemed to make it out to be -- I wanted more build-up to it, more impact after. (Not that there wasn't impact after.) I just felt kind of hollow after that moment -- not 100% on the ride anymore. Which is fine, it just knocked the book down from a 5-star for me, which it was well on its way toward being until then.
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LibraryThing member macha
three and a half stars. set in a new post-apocalyptic city near the north pole, after an environmental collapse of a civilization that could be ours - capitalism survives for the few, but everyone else becomes refugees. the city itself is an original and fascinating place, fundamentally dystopic
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but dynamic and ever changing in spite of an ongoing epidemic. the characters come alive and are unusually elevated by the book's spirit of hope and transcendence. the whole thing is a bit reminiscent in places of Delany's Dhalgren, Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials series, and Stevenson's Snow Crash. but it is also flawed by a problem with the second half, which rushes what happens when the characters finally collide, and ends the book at a point that probably should warrant a sequel or more. no sign of one coming, but here's hoping. Show Less
LibraryThing member Kristelh
Read this book for my f2f bookclub. It is a dystopia book written by Sam J. Miller and is set in the near future after a climate and techno disaster destroys most of the world. People are living on this floating object in the arctic circle area. It is science fiction involving nanobonding (people
While it was easy to read, there were difficulties as well. There is a aspect of mystery and thriller and goodly amount of blood and violence.
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to animals) and bots, AI, etc and like a lot of SF it addresses current cultural issues of capitalism, the right to own property, and genders/pronouns, While it was easy to read, there were difficulties as well. There is a aspect of mystery and thriller and goodly amount of blood and violence.
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LibraryThing member jakecasella
This is great! Post-climate-catastrophe, floating city, refugee crisis, tech-telepathy with orcas and polar bears. I loved the mash-up of different cultures, the vibrancy of the city, and the way gender identity was handled. Full of ideas big and small, loads of action. Well done.
LibraryThing member quickmind
I wanted to like this book more, but it never reached a point where the book completely gelled to me. I know this is going to sound strange, but it almost felt too short. Momentous events happened suddenly, and it felt like the characters didn't earn the things that happened to them. There was a
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lot of characters being in the right place at the right time. This book was definitely character driven, but I never felt more than a cursory attachment to them. If a book's plot isn't going to keep my turning pages, then the characters have to be up to some interesting stuff. Sometimes they were, but this book was really more about the city. Qaanaaq is a very interesting place, and I loved exploring it. The city could live alongside other famous scifi cities, it is definitely that unique. Its an awful dystopia, and I wouldn't want to live there, but it was interesting to read about. There were other good ideas in this book, especially the idea that AIs and programs did most of the governing, and that political power is not held by people as much because it was too easy to manipulate people in positions of power. I felt like the ending was also a little abrupt and would have loved to have a small denouement for the characters. Overall, good concepts, fairly interesting characters, if a little shallow, but never quite gelled for me. Show Less
LibraryThing member davisfamily
Loved the world building, didn't like the ending..... at all. (But it was not my story to tell)
Still worth a read and the COVER GLOWS IN THE DARK... Just an FYI
Still worth a read and the COVER GLOWS IN THE DARK... Just an FYI
LibraryThing member krau0098
Series Info/Source: This is a stand alone book. I borrowed this on audiobook from the library.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this, it is a bit of an odd book. Originally you hear from a bunch of different POVs that don't seem to be related. I enjoyed the setting though and how the story ends up coming
We hear from a number of different POVs throughout the book. There are four main ones I think. All of these people live in a city that floats in the ocean in the Arctic Circle. After horrible climate events, this city is one of the remaining places to escape to and live. Unfortunately, a new disease called "the breaks" is tearing through the population. People with the breaks start to disassociate with reality and have mental confusion as they see past events through other people's eyes.
Initially we are just following these characters through their day to day lives but then a woman riding an orca appears and as she starts to integrate herself into events around the city, it brings together the people whose POV we are reading from in an intriguing way.
I loved the post-apocalyptic setting that blends both cyberpunk elements and climate change crisis elements. The cyberpunk elements are definitely there in the bleakness of the city, the body modifications, and the general despair of the populace. I also really enjoyed how the different story threads, that at first seem unrelated, tie together so well in the end.
Weak points of the story for me were the characterization and pacing. I didn't love these characters and I struggled to engage with them, but they were still interesting. The story starts slow and is a bit confusing at first but really picks up pace at the end. I am glad I stuck with this to the end.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was very well done (Adam is a great narrator). Oh and I love the cover for this book, it really grabs your attention and embodies the feel of the story well.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this book. The unique setting, cyberpunk elements, climate crisis elements, and plague elements were well done. I enjoyed how all the different story threads came together in the end. This was a bit weak on characterization and the pacing was sluggish in the beginning but picked up towards the end. I would recommend to those who enjoy strange post-apocalyptic cyberpunk reads...or are just looking for something a bit different to pick up.
Thoughts: I enjoyed this, it is a bit of an odd book. Originally you hear from a bunch of different POVs that don't seem to be related. I enjoyed the setting though and how the story ends up coming
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together.We hear from a number of different POVs throughout the book. There are four main ones I think. All of these people live in a city that floats in the ocean in the Arctic Circle. After horrible climate events, this city is one of the remaining places to escape to and live. Unfortunately, a new disease called "the breaks" is tearing through the population. People with the breaks start to disassociate with reality and have mental confusion as they see past events through other people's eyes.
Initially we are just following these characters through their day to day lives but then a woman riding an orca appears and as she starts to integrate herself into events around the city, it brings together the people whose POV we are reading from in an intriguing way.
I loved the post-apocalyptic setting that blends both cyberpunk elements and climate change crisis elements. The cyberpunk elements are definitely there in the bleakness of the city, the body modifications, and the general despair of the populace. I also really enjoyed how the different story threads, that at first seem unrelated, tie together so well in the end.
Weak points of the story for me were the characterization and pacing. I didn't love these characters and I struggled to engage with them, but they were still interesting. The story starts slow and is a bit confusing at first but really picks up pace at the end. I am glad I stuck with this to the end.
I listened to this on audiobook and the narration was very well done (Adam is a great narrator). Oh and I love the cover for this book, it really grabs your attention and embodies the feel of the story well.
My Summary (4/5): Overall I liked this book. The unique setting, cyberpunk elements, climate crisis elements, and plague elements were well done. I enjoyed how all the different story threads came together in the end. This was a bit weak on characterization and the pacing was sluggish in the beginning but picked up towards the end. I would recommend to those who enjoy strange post-apocalyptic cyberpunk reads...or are just looking for something a bit different to pick up.
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LibraryThing member dcunning11235
2.5 stars. Good ideas mixed up with too much preaching mixed up by a POV switch every 2 pages (literally, the book jumps POV like 125 or 150 or maybe more times, sometimes after only a page) mixed up with not-at-all-scifi-actually-just-techno-fantasy. It's like... the Johnny Mnemonic (movie)
So potentially good, but this book failed for me in many ways. The city is interesting, but the world behind it is annoyingly unconvincing in all the wrong spots. I suspect the author doesn't have a lot of familiarity with science, tech, or e.g. real climate model predictions. These characters all come together... magically. In all seriousness, it might have worked better if they just had a "destiny" to fulfill, a prophecy was foretold, etc.
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crossed with His Dark Materials crossed with... some environmental fiction. So potentially good, but this book failed for me in many ways. The city is interesting, but the world behind it is annoyingly unconvincing in all the wrong spots. I suspect the author doesn't have a lot of familiarity with science, tech, or e.g. real climate model predictions. These characters all come together... magically. In all seriousness, it might have worked better if they just had a "destiny" to fulfill, a prophecy was foretold, etc.
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Awards
Nebula Award (Nominee — Novel — 2018)
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2019)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Winner — 2019)
Kirkus Reviews Best Book of the Year (Science Fiction and Fantasy — 2018)
Chicago Public Library Best of the Best: Adults (Selection — 2018)
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
2018
Physical description
336 p.; 6 inches
ISBN
9780062684820