Review of The Prophecy of the Heron

[Alexandra Marvelous]

[Following is a volunteer review of "The Prophecy of the Heron" by Craig W. Stanfill.]

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5 out of 5 stars

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Kim, a former AI creator, is totally unprepared for her new life as an outcast living without all the amenities of the current age like housebots and VR headsets that tell her about the world around her. In a world where all indicators of individualism are illegal and AIs are commonplace, all personal pronouns and relationships are forbidden. Kim has been sentenced to live and work in the treacherous and archaic 33rd district after conducting an illegal love affair with her partner Shun. Kim is challenged with surviving her sentence of hard labor while combating new challenges like the Artificial Intelligence Center, her former boss, and new adversaries. How ever shall she overcome her obstacles and endure this ordeal which she has been punished with for the crime of choosing a rebellious love?

Author, Craig W. Stanfill creates an engrossingly vibrant and believable dystopian world in his book The Prophecy of the Heron. The small details like the outlawing of all personal pronouns and futuristic robotic technologies help add reality to this gritty future he envisions. The main character is also realistic and relatable. The author uses the pronouns she and her to refer to all characters throughout the book which may be offputting to some but I found it engaging and unique.

I give this book five out of five stars. I was engrossed from the start and I found it a singularly feminist perspective to the classic SciFi genre. The lead character is an engrossing narrator as she battles her way through her work sentence. The book is also incredibly creative. I have never thought of how a future society would realistically handle pronouns which are such a contemporary topic.

One issue I had with this book was the onslaught of unfamiliar terms and characters. I would appreciate an index of some sort to help make sense of different characters and concepts. I mentioned enjoying that all characters had female pronouns but I can also appreciate how this may be confusing to some readers. A glossary or index of characters would help to keep everything straight.

I think anyone who finds SciFi complicated or challenging to get into would enjoy this book as an introduction to the genre. Particularly young adult women may enjoy the book for its feminist and romantic themes. I would not recommend it for very young readers as it does have adult themes and can be distressing at parts.

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The Prophecy of the Heron
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