Paperback, 222 pages
Langue : English
Publié 22 novembre 2021 par AK Press.
Dimos Horacki is a Borolian journalist and a cynical patriot, his muckraking days behind him. But when his newspaper ships him to the front, he’s embedded in the Imperial Army and the reality of colonial expansion is laid bare before him. His adventures take him from villages and homesteads to the great refugee city of Hronople, built of glass, steel, and stone, all while a war rages around him. The empire fights for coal and iron, but the anarchists of Hron fight for their way of life. A Country of Ghosts is a novel of utopia besieged that challenges every premise of contemporary society.
I always enjoy Margaret's writing. This was a quick and enjoyable read that, for all its brevity, still managed to expand my mind.
Short novel of imagined collective non-hierarchical resistance to imperial war. Reminiscent of For Whom The Bell Tolls, but in this case I wish the central plot were not one of war and violence.
A breath of fresh air. It was extremely healing to read some actual anarchist fiction--something that can make me feel good about myself and the world. If you wanted a inverted, optimistic Dishonored, look no further.
It's definitely a shorter read (by the metrics of my 2-hour-podcast-addled brain) and parts of the prose are surprisingly sparse. Something will happen, or you'll meet someone, and you'll think "Gosh, that was fast! I liked that bit! Why couldn't we have gone into more detail?" The map at the front is a perfect metaphor--the capital cities of Borolia and Vorronia, but the only other fleshed out place is Hron.
Ultimately it makes sense. This is a story written by Dimos, and Dimos is explicitly emphasizing certain parts of his story to explain what the hell Hron is to the people living back in Borolia. Writing any story at all is a massive undertaking …
A breath of fresh air. It was extremely healing to read some actual anarchist fiction--something that can make me feel good about myself and the world. If you wanted a inverted, optimistic Dishonored, look no further.
It's definitely a shorter read (by the metrics of my 2-hour-podcast-addled brain) and parts of the prose are surprisingly sparse. Something will happen, or you'll meet someone, and you'll think "Gosh, that was fast! I liked that bit! Why couldn't we have gone into more detail?" The map at the front is a perfect metaphor--the capital cities of Borolia and Vorronia, but the only other fleshed out place is Hron.
Ultimately it makes sense. This is a story written by Dimos, and Dimos is explicitly emphasizing certain parts of his story to explain what the hell Hron is to the people living back in Borolia. Writing any story at all is a massive undertaking anyway. This story leaves me wanting more, and I was sad to see it end, so I guess you can read all of this as one big backhanded compliment.
Margaret treats death in such a fascinating way--as a sad, unexpected, almost prosaic thing. People don't get long dramatic death scenes. But they are mourned by the author and the reader. I was absolutely tearing up by the end--and I'm so, so happy that it's not a story of doomed revolution. It's a story of a hard fought victory and an uncertain future.
There are some incredibly poignant quotes, memorable characters, and god-tier end-of-chapter cliffhangers. I literally laughed out loud several times when I got to the end of a chapter, thinking "Dammit, I've got to see THIS."
Anyway, I think this book is a really fantastic primer on what the hell a lot of anarchists believe in. It is not a blueprint or a prophecy for the future: it's the picture of a society's spirit, of a kind of place and a way of thinking. Every bit of worldbuilding we see is vivid and fascinating and, well, fantastical.
You can tell it was written in 2013, and in 2013 I think this book would have hit me like a truck. But it's 2023, and I'm already an anarchist. What I personally love about this book is not its exposition on how anarchist societies can work in practice. I love that it it's a fantasy novel, a hope-punk adventure, that I can feel good reading. For a lot of stories, I have this constant tension in the back of my mind as I'm frustrated with the author and the characters for missing the bigger picture, dammit. Having a piece of entertainment that actually reflects my values for once was really, really nice. I am so, so fucking tired of dystopian fiction about how sad it is to be rich and how awful the police are and the woe of our cynical world, guess we just gotta live with it. Give me this over Succession any day.
Also there was some unexpected poly rep that I found really nice.
Margaret Killjoy is a great author and this story is captivating. What a fantastic perspective of anarchist resistance to colonization. I would love to eventually read a prequel about Hron that talks about the influx of refugees into the area and discusses the dangers of projecting Utopian ideals onto a "new country" that is already inhabited by indigenous peoples.
At times a bit didactic, and certainly anachronistic - it's set in the past, in an anarchist community, with a very present sensibility - the story keeps everything going nicely. If you've ever been involved in non-hierarchical, and anarchist, spaces or groups you'll recognise a lot of the underlying organisation and discussions. There's a fair focus on the different ways of doing things, and social verses individualism. Less so some of the other complex interpersonal situations that arise. All more easily solved, and enjoyable to read, with the outside enemy of the expansionist imperialist state.
Cette collection "Black Dawn" est décidément très prometteuse. Après [b:Grievers|58505022|Grievers (Black Dawn, #1)|Adrienne Maree Brown|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633374629l/58505022.SX50.jpg|91886516] qui m'avait déjà beaucoup plu, je crois que le deuxième roman de cette collection m'a encore plus séduit.
Margaret Killjoy nous plonge dans un univers de fantasy inspirée de notre XVIIIe ou de notre XIXe siècle pour nous parler de notre monde. Le protagoniste est un journaliste embarqué au sein de l'armée impériale dans une guerre de conquête coloniale. Sa mission est de suivre le général en chef de cette armée et de livrer à l'opinion publique la propagande attendue par l'Empire.
Evidemment, rien ne va se passer comme prévu et nous allons suivre notre journaliste à la découverte de la population indigène. Loin des sauvages et des barbares décrits par la propagande - celle qu'il était chargé d'écrire - il découvre une société basée sur la liberté, l'autonomie, la solidarité, et l'aide …
Cette collection "Black Dawn" est décidément très prometteuse. Après [b:Grievers|58505022|Grievers (Black Dawn, #1)|Adrienne Maree Brown|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1633374629l/58505022.SX50.jpg|91886516] qui m'avait déjà beaucoup plu, je crois que le deuxième roman de cette collection m'a encore plus séduit.
Margaret Killjoy nous plonge dans un univers de fantasy inspirée de notre XVIIIe ou de notre XIXe siècle pour nous parler de notre monde. Le protagoniste est un journaliste embarqué au sein de l'armée impériale dans une guerre de conquête coloniale. Sa mission est de suivre le général en chef de cette armée et de livrer à l'opinion publique la propagande attendue par l'Empire.
Evidemment, rien ne va se passer comme prévu et nous allons suivre notre journaliste à la découverte de la population indigène. Loin des sauvages et des barbares décrits par la propagande - celle qu'il était chargé d'écrire - il découvre une société basée sur la liberté, l'autonomie, la solidarité, et l'aide mutuelle. Il découvre une utopie anarchiste, en tout cas telle que l'autrice l'imagine.
Ce roman est peut-être l'oeuvre de fantasy la plus politique que j'ai lue, la preuve qu'un univers fictif ne peut être qu'un moyen idéal pour parler de notre société. Ce récit est également l'un des meilleurs romans de fantasy que j'ai lus. Une oeuvre remarquable pour présenter l'idéal anarchiste et le rôle de la fiction pour imaginer des utopies. Les imaginer, pour ne pas seulement les rêver, mais commencer à les construire.
A well-constructed world with real though put into how societies could construct themselves differently, and how they would interact if they did.
Purchasable
Purchasable
Purchasable
https://www.akpress.org/countryofghosts-ebook.html.https://www.akpress.org/countryofghosts-ebook.html.https://www.akpress.org/countryofghosts.html.