The White Rose by Dave Baines
| The White Rose by Dave Baines | |
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| Category: Dystopian Fiction | |
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Reviewer: Jill Murphy
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| Summary: A wonderfully realised dystopian adventure with themes of climate and human fallibility and resilience. Great worldbuilding and engaging characters, with an energetic pace. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 460 | Date: July 2024 |
| Publisher: Independently Published | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 979-8332505928 | |
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In 2033, a superstorm known as the White Rose devastates the Northern Hemisphere. And it's not a storm that gathers, wreaks havoc, then dissipates. Instead, it hovers across half the Earth with its octopus-like tentacles, not giving up and never going away.
Crops withered. Animals died out. Deserts expanded. In response to the mass population movement, humankind embarked on momentous construction efforts to save itself. Africa built three megastructures, each more than a thousand miles in diameter, capable of housing millions. South America, which came to be known by the old name of Kay Pacha, constructed a massive electromagnetic barrier to repel the storm (and people). And Europeans and Asians who had decamped to Australia at the beginning, in a feat of accelerated engineering advances, created underwater domes on the bed of the Pacific Ocean, when Australia, too, fell.
All the while, the White Rose is still out there....
.... years later, we come to follow the stories of Iggy and Hiromi and their many compatriots as their paths weave ever closer together.
I don't want to say too much about the plot or the characters because I'd hate to give away too much. I think you should meet the inhabitants of this dystopian world for yourself and follow their adventures with as little idea of where they will lead as possible. But I will say that my favourite was Iggy, a young man from a tiny fishing village who has a mission to reach the African Republic. He's irrepressible, energetic, determined, and, best of all, as far from the cardboard cutout of a reluctant hero that so often features in this genre of novel as you could possibly get. I was also fascinated by the enigmatic Sorrowsmith but if I say I any more I'll say too much. Keep an eye on Sorrowsmith; that's all I'll tell you!
What I do want to tell you is that the worldbuilding in The White Rose is immense. I loved the scene setting - from the power of the jungle reclaiming itself in what was South America, to the takeover of organised crime in the devastated United States of Eurasia - everything has been thought through and is not only credible but beautifully realised, threading through and giving purpose and drive to the plot overlaying it. The scariest thing is that all seems so possible. Unstable climates lead to unstable societies - this we already know, but could something like the White Rose actually happen in the near future? It's a great topic for speculative fiction and a worry for all of us in our real lives.
There's a lot of action and a fast pace and the writing is muscular and vivid. And you get to the end of almost five hundred pages before you even know it. I think there is much more room in this dystopian world for more stories and I hope Dave Baines writes some.
Recommended.
You might also enjoy Blackfish City by Sam J Miller, set in the aftermath of climate wars. Or if you also enjoy YA fiction, you could look at Dark Life by Kat Falls, which looks at people moving to live on the sea bed.
You can read more about Dave Baines here.
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You can read more book reviews or buy The White Rose by Dave Baines at Amazon.co.uk Amazon currently charges £2.99 for standard delivery for orders under £20, over which delivery is free.
You can read more book reviews or buy The White Rose by Dave Baines at Amazon.com.
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