1. A continual dropping of water.
2. Law - A right or duty relating to the collection of water from or onto adjacent land.
Stillicide, by Cynan Jones, is a collection of loosely connected vignettes about people living in a world in an advanced state of climate destruction. The book presents a sobering picture of how existing inequalities will worsen as natural resources become scarcer, and how humans will have to adapt less-than-ideal methods of continuing to supply ourselves with basics like fresh water.
The story is told from a handful of different viewpoints, among them an earnest young engineer working on a project to transport icebergs south to irrigate fields, an older couple determined to stay in their coastal home despite rising sea levels, and a guard who feels conflicted about the ethics of his job. However, despite the doom and gloom predictions, Jones also thoughtfully portrays humanity's resilience with how the characters glean little moments of joy and beauty from what they still have left of the world.
The prose is very sparse in some places, so that reading it and trying to visualize the author's world is kind of like trying to see through a frosted glass window. Characters appear and disappear from the narrative without much resolution to their stories, leaving the reader with the uncomfortable feeling that something bad might happen to the character now that they're out of sight. The style of Jones’ writing reflects our current uncertain relationship with the environment, while also creating a compelling story.
This book is a quick read, and will be interesting to anyone who likes sci-fi or speculative fiction. I liked the way the author incorporated current cultural trends and took them further, to imagine what daily life might be like in the future. It has a sense of continuity, where today’s world believably becomes the almost-apocalyptic world of Jones’ Stillicide.
This adult fiction novel is available in print and as an eBook in our catalog.
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4 comments:
Great recommendation, Taylor!
That sounds super interesting! What a unique recommendation!
This is one I never would have picked up before your recommendation, Taylor, but now I am intrigued!
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