Conquest - Nina Allan

A new book from Nina Allan is always a cause for celebration. You never know what she’s going to come up with next. Always genre defiant but there are those who wish to label this latest novel, Conquest, as science fiction and I can see why. But, wow, it is so very much more. It performs on so many different layers from poetic prose that is rich in metaphor and imagery, a plot that is complex yet so finely tuned it takes your breath away, to the concepts explored within its mighty depths. And I’d be surprised if you didn’t at some point while reading to listen to some Bach! 😉

This is one of those books where you wish that the ubiquitous ‘blurb’ had never been invented, because it tells of just the basic story, giving no clue as to how rich this book is, or on how many levels it can be appreciated. As a story, it’s a great one, vulnerable man, probably on the spectrum, goes missing after meeting some online people, heartbroken partner enlists the services of a private detective, whose past won’t leave her.

But the spiders web of connections between people and places and themes is mind blowing. And I find myself almost powerless to do justice to it with my inadequate words. It’s structurally diverse with a straightforward third person narrative giving us the story. But then there is a book within a book, a novella referenced in the text is offered to us in its entirety partway through the book. It’s crucial to the overall understanding thematically to read the novella. But I know from reading Nina Allan’s previous two novels that she does like to insert other stories within the main body of her stories to good effect. Also, in the story are articles written by some of the characters, again significant to the overall understanding. There is much about musical structure and the book is resplendent with cultural references to poetry and cinema and I marvelled at how all these strands are tied so perfectly together. 

Alien war, conspiracy theories, pandemic, it’s all here. And yet it’s all presented with an air of plausibility. You get the sense that Robin, the detective, is halfway to believing that aliens have already populated our planet. And I guess the reader along with her does so too. I’m not going to go into my own personal beliefs about this subject. It’s not relevant here, but the ideas in the book really struck a chord with me.

This is one of the best books I’ve read this year. There were parts where I was holding my breath not just at the ideas contained within the book but the quality of the writing. It’s so intelligent, demonstrating such a wide and deep breadth of knowledge. It’s so culturally rich. I just want to read it all over again. And I can’t wait for Nina Allan’s  next book.

My thanks to Ana McLaughlin at Riverrun for a gifted copy.