Review by orchid+ -- Days of Future Found by M. K. Wark
-
orchid+
- Posts: 6
- Joined: 14 Jun 2020, 14:28
- Currently Reading:
- Bookshelf Size: 4
- Reviewer Page: onlinebookclub.org/reviews/by-orchid.html
- Latest Review: Days of Future Found by M. K. Wark
Review by orchid+ -- Days of Future Found by M. K. Wark
[Following is a volunteer review of "Days of Future Found" by M. K. Wark.]
Days of Future Found (published by Silver Reads, November 5, 2019) is Mary K. Wark's first fiction book.
In 2039, the world is recovering from devastation processes that almost erase life on Earth. Four people, who live in a protected community in a non-specified state of Northern US, decide to adventure outside the safe conditions guaranteed by a controlling system. To do it, they should face unknown challenges in a deteriorated environment. At first, it seems that hidden conspiracies threaten them, but unexpected events drive the story to a very different outcome.
Characters are well constructed, vivid, and authentic, including the ones that move around the four principal actors. Ella is an educated woman, healthier than the average of her age group, intelligent and open-minded. Riley is distrustful, usually acting under Murphy's Law premise: if you believe that someting bad is going to happen, probably it will happen. Alvi, completely different from other dark personages of dystopias, is not a concious-evil guard of the regime: she simply follows the rules. Harold, the oldest, faces the end of his life mindfully, choosing his own path. Wark depicts the features of four generations, subtly weaving the relationships among them.
Time is not absolute; past and future are dimensions created to get a better comprehension of the Universe but they entangled one inside the other, forming the present reality. Authors like Bradbury and Orwell have written dystopias predicting a dark fate to our planet. Unlike those, Wark's novel is neither one hundred percent fiction nor dark. The problems that the story presents are already happening today; the consequences of irresponsible human behavior against nature are here. However, in Days of Future Found, everything focuses on solutions even if they are not perfect. These insights make the book amazing original.
When I started reading, I could not stop. The plot develops with the dynamism of a movie, captivating the attention since the beginning; a thriller atmosphere seduces the reader, who cannot wait to find out what happens. The narrative, aimed at adults who care about the destiny of the planet, is rich and ample; an example of Wark's mastery of words is the beautiful allegory where she describes the neighbors' constant anaysis of Harold's remaining lifetime: "he felt like and exotic hothouse orchid sitting on a greenhouse shelf before the petals fall (p. 19). Wark frames the future under a thecnological scope; the pursued goals are to eliminate human infertility, environmental disasters, and unwanted intervention of science and politics in people's lives.
The edition is almost perfect.There is also a glossary of acronyms, just in case you were a little lost about the meanings. Wark does not judge anything openly, but she does show a deep knowledge of our world nowadays. All in this book is excellent, but the main reason I rate it four out four stars is its message: No matter what tragedies might come, no matter how flawed human beings could be, our species will survive: as Mary K. Wark says, the summer will grow again.
******
Days of Future Found
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Days of Future Found (published by Silver Reads, November 5, 2019) is Mary K. Wark's first fiction book.
In 2039, the world is recovering from devastation processes that almost erase life on Earth. Four people, who live in a protected community in a non-specified state of Northern US, decide to adventure outside the safe conditions guaranteed by a controlling system. To do it, they should face unknown challenges in a deteriorated environment. At first, it seems that hidden conspiracies threaten them, but unexpected events drive the story to a very different outcome.
Characters are well constructed, vivid, and authentic, including the ones that move around the four principal actors. Ella is an educated woman, healthier than the average of her age group, intelligent and open-minded. Riley is distrustful, usually acting under Murphy's Law premise: if you believe that someting bad is going to happen, probably it will happen. Alvi, completely different from other dark personages of dystopias, is not a concious-evil guard of the regime: she simply follows the rules. Harold, the oldest, faces the end of his life mindfully, choosing his own path. Wark depicts the features of four generations, subtly weaving the relationships among them.
Time is not absolute; past and future are dimensions created to get a better comprehension of the Universe but they entangled one inside the other, forming the present reality. Authors like Bradbury and Orwell have written dystopias predicting a dark fate to our planet. Unlike those, Wark's novel is neither one hundred percent fiction nor dark. The problems that the story presents are already happening today; the consequences of irresponsible human behavior against nature are here. However, in Days of Future Found, everything focuses on solutions even if they are not perfect. These insights make the book amazing original.
When I started reading, I could not stop. The plot develops with the dynamism of a movie, captivating the attention since the beginning; a thriller atmosphere seduces the reader, who cannot wait to find out what happens. The narrative, aimed at adults who care about the destiny of the planet, is rich and ample; an example of Wark's mastery of words is the beautiful allegory where she describes the neighbors' constant anaysis of Harold's remaining lifetime: "he felt like and exotic hothouse orchid sitting on a greenhouse shelf before the petals fall (p. 19). Wark frames the future under a thecnological scope; the pursued goals are to eliminate human infertility, environmental disasters, and unwanted intervention of science and politics in people's lives.
The edition is almost perfect.There is also a glossary of acronyms, just in case you were a little lost about the meanings. Wark does not judge anything openly, but she does show a deep knowledge of our world nowadays. All in this book is excellent, but the main reason I rate it four out four stars is its message: No matter what tragedies might come, no matter how flawed human beings could be, our species will survive: as Mary K. Wark says, the summer will grow again.
******
Days of Future Found
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Days of Future Found by M. K. Wark
