Review of Dissonance: Volume I: Reality
Posted: 05 Apr 2024, 10:03
[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Dissonance:Volume I: Reality " by Aaron Ryan.]
"We slunk our way around onto Washington, zigzagging onto Union. ... So far, nothing but abandoned office spaces and businesses in a good mix of commercial and residential, with various windows broken out, and cars littering the street with their doors open. Occasional dried blood streaked across the windows. Whatever happened here was savage. Just like everywhere else." Dissonance by Aaron Ryan, p. 79.
Above is a description of a US town 16 years after Earth was invaded. Alien beings, known as gorgons because they mesmerize their victims before devouring them, have decimated humanity. The protagonist of the dystopian novel Dissonance, Cameron "Jet" Shipley, is an army sergeant from one of the pockets of survivors sheltering from the lethal monsters. Yet the humans are not merely hiding but researching and strategizing. Then a new arrival at Jet's blockade, Lieutenant Trudy, brings borosilicate masks that protect the wearer from the gorgon glare. When Jet learns of this and further new technology, he wonders what else he and his brother Wyatt Rutledge ("Rutty") have been kept in the dark about, and why.
Jet finds Allison Trudy more than sympathetic but mistrusts her companion Joe Bassett. This brought forth sarcastic asides from Jet as he told the story, and I enjoyed his wry humour. The developing relationships between the characters are a counterpoint to the humans' progression from surviving to fighting the gorgons. Author Aaron Ryan did a great job of creating life-like characters with distinctive voices. I felt as if I were sitting with Jet as he recounted the tale.
This use of Jet's narrative voice meant that Ryan avoided a common pitfall of speculative fiction, namely, clunky exposition and information dumping. The story opens in the middle of the action with Jet and Rutty on a mission, and I was hooked right away. Jet's commentary took me by the hand and guided me through this story's unknown and dangerous world. However, this strength of the book came with a slight problem. Jet made many cultural, social and political references to the world before the gorgons arrived in 2026, such as the major conflicts in 2023. This would make perfect sense to a "listener" in 2024, but by definition, Jet can only be recounting this to someone in a later future who would have no knowledge of the pre-apocalyptic world. Some explanations would help here.
In connection with these "anachronisms", the tale felt slightly off balance. Although it was excellently structured overall and the shocking revelations at the climax were sufficiently foreshadowed, the end felt too much like a segue into the sequel. It's not that I'm not keen to read the sequel - I am, but the final cliffhanger felt contrived.
As a result of these slight downsides to a novel that otherwise has much to recommend it, my rating is four out of five stars. The character development, pace and structure are skilfully handled, and the author's research shows. I didn't always understand the military abbreviations, so explanations would have been useful. That aside, the writing is clear and vivid, and the story raises questions about how this scenario might impact humanity. Ryan avoided black-and-white morals but rather explored the possibilities with fascinating ambiguity. For example, Jet saw beauty in the floating, misty gorgons even as he knew they were bloodthirsty and destructive.
I'd certainly recommend this to dystopian fiction fans. It is suitable for teens and up, though be warned that the events get gruesome at times.
******
Dissonance
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
"We slunk our way around onto Washington, zigzagging onto Union. ... So far, nothing but abandoned office spaces and businesses in a good mix of commercial and residential, with various windows broken out, and cars littering the street with their doors open. Occasional dried blood streaked across the windows. Whatever happened here was savage. Just like everywhere else." Dissonance by Aaron Ryan, p. 79.
Above is a description of a US town 16 years after Earth was invaded. Alien beings, known as gorgons because they mesmerize their victims before devouring them, have decimated humanity. The protagonist of the dystopian novel Dissonance, Cameron "Jet" Shipley, is an army sergeant from one of the pockets of survivors sheltering from the lethal monsters. Yet the humans are not merely hiding but researching and strategizing. Then a new arrival at Jet's blockade, Lieutenant Trudy, brings borosilicate masks that protect the wearer from the gorgon glare. When Jet learns of this and further new technology, he wonders what else he and his brother Wyatt Rutledge ("Rutty") have been kept in the dark about, and why.
Jet finds Allison Trudy more than sympathetic but mistrusts her companion Joe Bassett. This brought forth sarcastic asides from Jet as he told the story, and I enjoyed his wry humour. The developing relationships between the characters are a counterpoint to the humans' progression from surviving to fighting the gorgons. Author Aaron Ryan did a great job of creating life-like characters with distinctive voices. I felt as if I were sitting with Jet as he recounted the tale.
This use of Jet's narrative voice meant that Ryan avoided a common pitfall of speculative fiction, namely, clunky exposition and information dumping. The story opens in the middle of the action with Jet and Rutty on a mission, and I was hooked right away. Jet's commentary took me by the hand and guided me through this story's unknown and dangerous world. However, this strength of the book came with a slight problem. Jet made many cultural, social and political references to the world before the gorgons arrived in 2026, such as the major conflicts in 2023. This would make perfect sense to a "listener" in 2024, but by definition, Jet can only be recounting this to someone in a later future who would have no knowledge of the pre-apocalyptic world. Some explanations would help here.
In connection with these "anachronisms", the tale felt slightly off balance. Although it was excellently structured overall and the shocking revelations at the climax were sufficiently foreshadowed, the end felt too much like a segue into the sequel. It's not that I'm not keen to read the sequel - I am, but the final cliffhanger felt contrived.
As a result of these slight downsides to a novel that otherwise has much to recommend it, my rating is four out of five stars. The character development, pace and structure are skilfully handled, and the author's research shows. I didn't always understand the military abbreviations, so explanations would have been useful. That aside, the writing is clear and vivid, and the story raises questions about how this scenario might impact humanity. Ryan avoided black-and-white morals but rather explored the possibilities with fascinating ambiguity. For example, Jet saw beauty in the floating, misty gorgons even as he knew they were bloodthirsty and destructive.
I'd certainly recommend this to dystopian fiction fans. It is suitable for teens and up, though be warned that the events get gruesome at times.
******
Dissonance
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
