Review of 2084
Posted: 24 Jan 2022, 21:00
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "2084" by Kadon Landon Peterson.]
Psychotic villains are not unusual to find in science fiction, but how about a psychotic protagonist? In 2084: Book One: 2069, by Kadon Landon Peterson, we have a quite likable, if psychotic, anti-hero. He doesn’t want to create a utopia. He wants to destroy it. Meet Dune, master philosopher and psychotic genius extraordinaire. Psychotic in what way, you ask? Well, he believes himself to be the devil and that humanity’s only way out of Hell (current reality) is through him. He’s also somewhat mentally disconnected from the real world at times. Fennec helps with that… sometimes… at least when she’s not experiencing the same thing. Fennec, as a child, was genetically modified to look like a fox. (She’s currently thirty-two.) She is Dune’s lover/companion, pet, and tether to what is real.
Dune doesn’t appreciate the current state of things, and he has every intention of changing it. He is a ‘Nat,’ you see. That is, he is a naturally born human in a world where natural birth has been made illegal, and infants are neutered at birth. (Or would that be upon production?) Diversity engenders discontent, which leads to dissidence, right? Dune doesn’t agree; he likes diversity in all its forms. However, it isn’t until 2069, when the WPA (World Peace Authority) passes a law requiring all remaining ‘Nats’ to present themselves to be neutered or be ‘extinguished’ upon discovery, that he is forced to take action. To what lengths would you go to save yourself from this forced reality? How about your future children? For Dune, whose own daughter is soon to be born, those lengths are quite extreme.
Although the book contains elements found in novels such as 1984, Gattaca, The Giver, and even Hunger Games, the author has taken them, tossed them into a mind-bending trip to an entirely possible scientific future dystopia, and added his own dark twists to everything you ever thought you knew about humanity and many things I’m sure you’ve never thought of before. The author’s recipe is relatively simple. Take your every belief system, mix them generously with realistic, well-researched scientific possibilities and psychological ideals, and toss them back inside your head, still spinning. You go in feeling perfectly normal… and come out forever changed. This book will resonate within your brain for years to come. Peterson’s writing is truly on par with masters such as George Orwell, Robert Heinlein, and Andy Weir.
Before I move on, I must include a couple of significant trigger warnings. The book delves heavily into possible future changes in morality. One of the scenes provokes disturbing images of nudity and ritual practices bordering on non-erotic pornography in ways that cannot be described here. Even so, the scene is not gratuitous; it is necessary to the dealings of Dune’s belief systems (yes, systems – plural) and the story itself. Pedophilia is touched on in that Fennec was transformed as a child expressly to serve the pleasure of those with a specific fetish. However, you must remember that in the present reality of the book, she is no longer a child but very much an adult… a disturbed one, but an adult. If you are sensitive to these subjects or not willing to broach them, even in the context of science fiction, steer clear.
As the book focuses on Dune and Fennec, not much character building happens elsewhere. However, in the course of the book, both of them change, mature, and… well, I think ‘warp’ would be an appropriate word. (Believe me, keeping up with that is enough for anyone.) That is not to say that other important characters are one-dimensional. They are given vivid descriptions, personalities, and at least a bit of background. They simply do not experience anywhere near the ‘growth’ that Dune and Fennec display. World-building is simple to describe. You’re there. Whether you’re huddling under a maintenance ladder while chaos runs rampant around you or delving through dark tunnels, you see through Dune’s eyes and live within his mind. The experience is rich, surreal, and sometimes disturbing.
I will state clearly and resoundingly that, because of the aforementioned content, this book is for adults only. Additionally, though it will almost certainly make you doubt my sanity, I admit that I enjoyed reading it. If you like mind-bending, thought-provoking, dark sci-fi featuring characters whose sanity is also in question, I believe you will enjoy it too. A few words were misused in the book, but this did not unduly disturb or interrupt my reading. Given this, in a rare occurrence for me, I happily award 2084: Book One: 2069 4 out of 4 stars for the story itself, the superb writing, and the depth of soul-searching it evokes.
******
2084
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Psychotic villains are not unusual to find in science fiction, but how about a psychotic protagonist? In 2084: Book One: 2069, by Kadon Landon Peterson, we have a quite likable, if psychotic, anti-hero. He doesn’t want to create a utopia. He wants to destroy it. Meet Dune, master philosopher and psychotic genius extraordinaire. Psychotic in what way, you ask? Well, he believes himself to be the devil and that humanity’s only way out of Hell (current reality) is through him. He’s also somewhat mentally disconnected from the real world at times. Fennec helps with that… sometimes… at least when she’s not experiencing the same thing. Fennec, as a child, was genetically modified to look like a fox. (She’s currently thirty-two.) She is Dune’s lover/companion, pet, and tether to what is real.
Dune doesn’t appreciate the current state of things, and he has every intention of changing it. He is a ‘Nat,’ you see. That is, he is a naturally born human in a world where natural birth has been made illegal, and infants are neutered at birth. (Or would that be upon production?) Diversity engenders discontent, which leads to dissidence, right? Dune doesn’t agree; he likes diversity in all its forms. However, it isn’t until 2069, when the WPA (World Peace Authority) passes a law requiring all remaining ‘Nats’ to present themselves to be neutered or be ‘extinguished’ upon discovery, that he is forced to take action. To what lengths would you go to save yourself from this forced reality? How about your future children? For Dune, whose own daughter is soon to be born, those lengths are quite extreme.
Although the book contains elements found in novels such as 1984, Gattaca, The Giver, and even Hunger Games, the author has taken them, tossed them into a mind-bending trip to an entirely possible scientific future dystopia, and added his own dark twists to everything you ever thought you knew about humanity and many things I’m sure you’ve never thought of before. The author’s recipe is relatively simple. Take your every belief system, mix them generously with realistic, well-researched scientific possibilities and psychological ideals, and toss them back inside your head, still spinning. You go in feeling perfectly normal… and come out forever changed. This book will resonate within your brain for years to come. Peterson’s writing is truly on par with masters such as George Orwell, Robert Heinlein, and Andy Weir.
Before I move on, I must include a couple of significant trigger warnings. The book delves heavily into possible future changes in morality. One of the scenes provokes disturbing images of nudity and ritual practices bordering on non-erotic pornography in ways that cannot be described here. Even so, the scene is not gratuitous; it is necessary to the dealings of Dune’s belief systems (yes, systems – plural) and the story itself. Pedophilia is touched on in that Fennec was transformed as a child expressly to serve the pleasure of those with a specific fetish. However, you must remember that in the present reality of the book, she is no longer a child but very much an adult… a disturbed one, but an adult. If you are sensitive to these subjects or not willing to broach them, even in the context of science fiction, steer clear.
As the book focuses on Dune and Fennec, not much character building happens elsewhere. However, in the course of the book, both of them change, mature, and… well, I think ‘warp’ would be an appropriate word. (Believe me, keeping up with that is enough for anyone.) That is not to say that other important characters are one-dimensional. They are given vivid descriptions, personalities, and at least a bit of background. They simply do not experience anywhere near the ‘growth’ that Dune and Fennec display. World-building is simple to describe. You’re there. Whether you’re huddling under a maintenance ladder while chaos runs rampant around you or delving through dark tunnels, you see through Dune’s eyes and live within his mind. The experience is rich, surreal, and sometimes disturbing.
I will state clearly and resoundingly that, because of the aforementioned content, this book is for adults only. Additionally, though it will almost certainly make you doubt my sanity, I admit that I enjoyed reading it. If you like mind-bending, thought-provoking, dark sci-fi featuring characters whose sanity is also in question, I believe you will enjoy it too. A few words were misused in the book, but this did not unduly disturb or interrupt my reading. Given this, in a rare occurrence for me, I happily award 2084: Book One: 2069 4 out of 4 stars for the story itself, the superb writing, and the depth of soul-searching it evokes.
******
2084
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
