A Voice & Vibe Book Review
Inversion. Aric McBay. 2023.
Debut. Canadian literature. Science fiction. Activist fiction. Ecotopian fiction.
When a militaristic force invades a non-hierarchical paradise, a young woman and a traumatized slave must help a peaceful nomadic society learn how to defend themselves before their world is destroyed.
The narrative features dual first person points of view. One, a slave from a previously conquered society, is technological and militaristic. The other, a young woman from the society currently under attack, is spiritual and ecocentric.
The resulting vibe is one of culture clash. On one side is an advanced, imperialist, invader society peppered with flavours of Ancient Rome. On the other are primitive, anarchistic, nomads unaccustomed to violence or avarice.
While this story is certainly in the tradition of Ursula K. Le Guin’s The Dispossessed, its execution is not really comparable. Where Le Guin (the master) is subtle and nuanced, this debut author makes less of an effort to disguise his activism.
AUTHORS – I write short book reviews that focus on voice and vibe. They are useful to querying authors searching for comp titles. There are more like this on my website.
REMINDER – If you follow my reviews, you already know this. I have a policy about reviewing debut novels. Provided I finish them, I always rate debut novels with maximum stars, regardless. When I don’t finish a debut novel, I don’t review it. No exceptions. And I don’t review books I don’t pay full price for.