This was one of the hardest books I've ever loved. Not only does it deal with a troubling issue--the rise of a violent, authoritarian government--but the style takes some getting used to, with pages-long paragraphs mingling dialogue and narration in ways that can be bewildering and even frustrating. In the end, though, the book tells a simple story about ordinary people trying to hold their lives together when the world falls apart, and it succeeds brilliantly.
WINNER OF THE BOOKER PRIZE 2023 • NATIONAL BESTSELLER
"A prophetic masterpiece." — Ron Charles, Washington Post
On a dark, wet evening in Dublin, scientist and mother-of-four Eilish Stack answers her front door to find two officers from Ireland’s newly formed secret police on her step. They have arrived to interrogate her husband, a trade unionist.
Ireland is falling apart, caught in the grip of a government turning towards tyranny. As the life she knows and the ones she loves disappear before her eyes, Eilish must contend with the dystopian logic of her new, unraveling country. How far will she…
This book was a revelation. I've read a little bit about plant intelligence, volition, community, etc., but I've never read a book filled with so many truly amazing insights based on contemporary science. At times, I felt as if the author was being a bit slipshod in her logic--she tends to assume that plants' behavior proves them to be sentient when in fact much of the behavior she examines might simply be evolved--but I'm willing to overlook that minor lapse in a book that made my head pop with so many new ideas.
"teeming with fascinating and enlightening insights" Observer
A narrative investigation into the new science of plant intelligence and sentience, from National Association of Science Writers Award winner and Livingston Award finalist Zoe Schlanger.
Look at the green organism across the room or through the window: the potted plant, or the grass or a tree. Think how a life spent constantly growing yet rooted in a single spot comes with tremendous challenges. To meet them, plants have come up with some of the most creative methods for surviving of any living thing - us included. Many are so ingenious that they…
As a fan of the original Hunger Games trilogy, I'll admit I was disappointed with the first of the prequels, which I found dull and over-long. In "Sunrise on the Reaping," however, Suzanne Collins returns to form, with an engaging protagonist (the teenage Haymitch), a deviously deadly arena, and a devastating conclusion from which I'm still recovering months after finishing the book. From time to time, I had a perhaps inevitable feeling of "been there, done that," but for the most part, Collins managed to make a familiar story as fresh and shocking as it was almost 20 years ago.
"Sunrise on the Reaping is a propulsive, heart-wrenching addition to The Hunger Games, adding welcome texture to the cruel world of Panem . This is the project of dystopian fiction: to shine a light in tyranny's greasiest corners and show how people - ordinary, determined human beings - might take it apart" - New York Times
"Collins is an excellent writer, and there are moments of surprising lyricism . Sunrise on the Reaping contains enough both to snare new readers and to satisfy the most bloodthirsty fan" - Guardian
When you've been set up to lose everything you love, what…
Sarah is a Sensor, gifted with the ability to survive within the sentient Ecosystem that swept away human civilization centuries ago. While the remnants of humankind huddle in small villages of stone, Sarah uses her psychic connection to the Ecosystem to travel freely in the wild in search of food, water, and fuel. Sarah doesn’t fear the Ecosystem—but she hates it for killing her mother when Sarah was a child. When she hunts, she hunts not only for her people’s sustenance but for revenge.
Then Miriam, an apprentice Sensor, is lost in the Ecosystem, and Sarah sets out to rescue her. Joining Sarah is Isaac, a boy who claims to possess knowledge of the Ecosystem that will help their people survive. The harrowing journey to find the missing apprentice takes Sarah and Isaac into the Ecosystem’s deadliest places. And it takes Sarah into the unexplored territory of her own heart, where she discovers feelings that threaten to tear her—and her society—apart.
A thrilling fantasy-adventure set on a future Earth where Nature reigns supreme, "Ecosystem" is the first book in a cycle that includes "The Devouring Land," "House of Earth, House of Stone," and "The Last Sensor."
