I missed Throwback Thursday last week
because I was too busy being ill and feeling sorry for myself. Seriously, I am
the worst sick person ever, I’m pathetic. I did, however, finish my book in
time for the weekend. & a very good book it was too. It’s one that I
mentioned earlier this month in my exciting February releases post and I’m super duper
pleased to be able to say it lived up to my expectations.
I’ve seen The Fire Sermon described as The Road meets The Hunger Games, which, it kind of bugs me
actually how all the YA dystopian books around these days seem to be being
dubbed as the next Hunger Games. I get why,
because look at how successful THG has been, and it’s a surefire way to attract
a shitload of readers - it works; it attracted me - but at the same time it kind of does books like The Fire Sermon a disservice, because this book, fine, it’s
a dystopia and fine, it’s got a strong female protagonist and fine its set in a
world where the ‘government’ hold all the cards, but it’s strong enough to be
judged on it’s own merits; it doesn’t need to be the next anything, because
it’s really good as it is. Let THG be THG and let The Fire
Sermon mark out its own little patch and own
it. I promise you it can.
Basically, we’re 400 years in the future.
The world has survived a nuclear apocalypse referred to as ‘The Blast.’ Since
the blast, all births have been twin births, always a boy and a girl and always
with one ‘perfect’ human (the alpha) and one considered less than (the omega),
most commonly with extra or missing features – limbs, eyes, digits - who is branded as ‘useless’, cast away and
forced to live on Omega settlements as a second-class citizen. Which, well it’s
all a bit shit really, ableism at its extremes. The Omega’s are kept isolated
but they’re not killed because in an excellent plot twist, if the one twin
dies, the other dies too. I love that.
The story is that of Cass and her twin,
Zach. On the surface Cass and Zach are both perfect. Turns out though, that
Cass isn’t; she’s a seer. It takes 13 years for anyone to figure this out –
well done Cass – but her asshat twin eventually drops her in it, Cass is sent
away and, after escaping from the cell said asshat twin has kept her in for
years (to protect himself. If one twin dies then the other dies too, remember),
she quite accidentally becomes involved in a revolution that pits Alphas and
Omegas against each other. That's a really interesting premise in and of its self
because how can you win a war when each casualty of the enemy results in a casualty
for your own side? You never just kill one person, you’re always killing two
and that brings about a really interesting moral dilemma that I hope we see
more of in the rest of the series.
Whilst all this is going on Cass is being stalked by The Confessor,
(another Seer gone rogue and now working for the Alpha Council,) and slowly
developing feelings for Kip, another Omega who she rescues as she makes her
escape and who has no memories of his past. There is a lot going on here, it’s
a roller coaster ride. Fun fact about me: I love a good roller coaster.
This book is very well-written. The thing
about writing a dystopia is that you need to be able to create a world that’s
out of this world and yet still be able to make it believable – imaginable –
it’s something Margaret Atwood excels at (and if you haven’t read her Madaddam
series, or Handmaid’s then you need to rethink your choices) and it’s something
Haig pulls off pretty well; her descriptive abilities are excellent and almost
poetic and the world she’s created whilst far-fetched isn’t so much so that you
feel detached from it, or its characters.
It’s original – I’ve not come across
anything quite like it – and the whole premise of twin births, of alphas and
omegas, of life and of death is really really interesting. The characters are
complex and well-rounded and make some less than great choices - Cass for
example is blinded by this misguided love for her brother to the point that you kind of want to bang
her head against a wall because the guy is an absolute
asshat but you know what, that’s really great because that love that
Cass has for Zach who really doesn’t
deserve it, and the way that colours her choices, it’s what makes you relate to
her, it’s what makes her human: she’s an excellent character because of her flaws
and not in spite of them, because she has this undeserved loyalty to her
brother, because she’s scared, because she’s lacking in a confidence in her own
ability, because some of the time she has no clue what she’s doing. The thing
about Cass is she’s honest: she wants to fight, she wants to do the right
thing, but she’s just not sure she’s brave enough, and how true is that? So
many books paint being a hero as an easy task and so Cass’s fear, and lack of
self-belief were incredibly refreshing as is the portrayal of the Omegas. Lemme
give you an example here: Kit and Piper, the two guys Cass teams up with both only have one arm, yet this is
never shown as being a disability. It’s just a fact of life and I think that –
that they are never painted as ‘less than’ - is really important, even more so
given the messed up view of this particular society that the Alpha twin is
always somehow ‘stronger.’
The story progresses slowly, but it doesn’t
drag; every moment feels relevant and the twists and turns were enough to have
me turning pages even though my poor sick self really want to do some sleeping.
The whole world is really fascinating, even the parts that fill you with rage.
It’s an interesting study of body image and relationships tied in to a
dysfunctional (and that might be the biggest understatement you’ll read here
for a while) society rife with segregation, discrimination and fear, oh, and a
whole mass of ethical dilemmas. There’s also significant twist that might just
blow your mind a little bit.
I really really liked it. In fact, my main problem
is that I reckon there’s going to be quite a wait for the next installment.
Patience has never been one of my virtues.
The Fire Sermon will be published on February 26th by HarperFiction.
