Kid's Book Review 1#
This Time Of Darkness, by H.M Hoover
I'll always start my book reviews with the covers. Mostly because covers, especially older ones, don't always give you a good idea of the plot. Try telling your fellow public transport users that you're reading a book about the implications of alien contact and not one about four breasted unicorn women. But today's subject isn't too bad. It does convey the book's premise of "two kids from a futuristic or at least technological world emerge into a natural one" well enough. But I do notice the tunnel they're coming from doesn't appear to be connected to anything; which is odd since in the story it's actually joined to a big flippin' dome. And it was falling apart and covered in shrubbery. Also can anyone tell me what that rainbow streak is? Looks like the Enterprise has just hit warp. I do find it kind of funny they remembered the detail of Axel's (the boy on the left) 80's curly hair! Overall the cover does give me a eerie feeling, mainly because of the background.
Warning, spoilers.
Now actual book time. The plot opens in the future after a vaguely defined environmental collapse, in a underground habitat... namely a shitty one. We are introduced to Amy no last name, a eleven year old who was illegally taught to read (the City discourages the ability as it isn't needed for the mindless drudgery that constitutes its inhabitants working lives) by a former house mate, Janet. Who like all nice old people in dystopian fiction dropped dead one day in somewhat suspicious circumstances several years before. This trait has already pretty much barred her from employment forever so she spends her school days fighting of boredom with daydreams about the "Outside". Through her we meet our other protagonist Axel, a half mad orphan who spends most of his time trying to to shut the world out. He confides in Amy that he is in fact from the "Outside" and the two embark on a journey to escape the City and reach Axel's home.
This is a book I would have adored when I was eleven or so, and despite being nearly seven years out of it's target audience it was to me a very good "knock of in a day" kind of read. It's a book that despite it's age group doesn't pull punches in it's quest to portray a really crappy place to live. The City is described quite vividly and disturbingly and Hoover goes into exquisitely grim detail (despite somewhat simple prose). The daily dangers a child growing up there, like the possibility of being a vent for a passers-by's pent up aggression, or being attacked by the neglected homeless population because they saw you carrying some food, and even molestation are talked about quite bluntly. Yet it manages not to become inappropriate for a reasonably strong stomached middle schooler. The characters are very well done, Amy and Axel playing quite well of each over, and naturally swapping the follower/leader roles as they move in and out of each over's natural environments.
One flaw of the book is a lack of a central threat for the majority of the story. Yes A&A are pursued by the authorities but they never really get close enough to generate dread or suspense. The one time they are caught they end up giving the two what they want, ejection from the City. In fact while the kids' trek through the city is filled with great bits they don't face much obstacle other than what it provides day to day and their own exhaustion. I think an extra forty pages (the book is a hundred and sixty FYI) for the City section of the novel would have helped. This flaw is remedied very well in the "Outside" section.
The ending is deliriously happy but the characters go through enough before that it sits fine with me.
As a final note I find it interesting that the characters don't end the dystopian system, despite their happy ending. Usually in modern dystopia the characters are either taken down or take down the oppressive element. Amy and Axel for the time being are content just to have escaped, which is good enough.
If recommend this book for anyone who has a relative between ten and fourteen and you trust reading about some nasty subjects. And any adult who needs an enjoyable dark romp to last a flight or something.
