Many dystopian tales are high tech, stylised, futuristic fantasy fables that entertain us without making us unduly uncomfortable - think Hunger Games, Maze Runner, Divergent. Bureaucratic, autocratic, technocratic. They entertain us without hurting us or alarming us unduly.
But every once in a while, one comes along that hits home with a chilling sense of prescience. Often, they depict a near future with enough familiarity for the reader to relate.
We Are Not Anonymous is one of those once-in-a-whilers.
The story spans two decades in a three country England still struggling with climate change. Beth is a ‘caster’. Naomi is a rebel opposing the regimes via Resist and Regain an organisation that makes Just Stop Oil look like kindergarten.
Dystopia embraces the us versus them, good versus bad, dark versus light concepts, Anonymous is no different. Here it is the tech elite Narcissists who are the bad guys headed by Kia who experiments on children and wants complete control. Beth and Naomi want to oust Kia. But activism comes at a price.
This book is heavy on mnemonics and my advice is to get them sorted in your head right at the beginning of the book – OS, BP, ANN, UBI, the L’s and, of course, AI.
The creation of an alternate regime and society is at the heart of dystopian fiction. But it must be plausible. Terminologies must be relatable without extensive explanations. The reader needs to learn and understand though the narrative itself. It’s a skill for the writer and not always achieved. It is here. Trust me, you’ll be thinking about globules as if you’d had one your entire life.
In some ways a story like this offers future consequences for the actions of today. The book looks at how our reliance on technology and our devices underpins everything we do. Recognisable areas of our country permanently flooded. Individuals seek to control and dictate. Surveillance and observation are everywhere. Is this a chilling blueprint for our future? However, you cannot merely seek to preach and warn, even if you do it under the guise of fiction, without some broader dimensions. Stephen Oram has done that with a rip-roaring tale of subterfuge and skullduggery, some of it taking place on the seven seas like a pirate escapade. High octane adventure nestles alongside some domestic and family dynamics, considerations of friendships and parenthood. And the nature of activism.
It is an immaculately plotted story. It has to be for there is so much going on, at times it made my head spin! But the story remains highly pertinent, this line for example.
‘We will resist this onslaught of unfettered belief in the flawlessness and omniscience of artificial intelligence. It’s species suicide. We will resist.’
With current events unfolding in this world of ours today a novel like this cannot fail to make us think about what might be ahead.
My thanks to Isabelle Kenyon of Fly on the Wall Press for an advance copy of this book and a place on the blog tour.