40

June 1, 2022
Same hunger, subtler games. Heathcock's dystopian tale, set in a near-future America decimated by the ravages of climate change, conjures a haunting mood despite an abundance of familiar tropes. These primarily derive from Suzanne Collins' Hunger Games series: Both follow the tribulations of a tough, competent young woman from an impoverished family struggling to survive in a hostile natural setting, plucked from obscurity by a totalitarian system eager to exploit her as a symbol to sway the hearts and minds of a desperate populace. Our protagonist, Mazzy Goodwin, like Katniss Everdeen, is motivated by concern for a younger sister and assisted by a stalwart boy from back home as she navigates the treacherous schemes of an oppressive governing body that cloaks its atrocities in the rhetoric of freedom and salvation. Also like Katniss, who took on the mantle of the Mockingjay, Mazzy embodies an avian theme: She's called the Seraphine, named for the angelic wings that grow from her back. This is where the two works diverge: Where Collins concentrates on realistic worldbuilding and grounds her heroine in a wealth of naturalistic detail, Heathcock crafts something closer to a fable; Mazzy's wings are desultorily explained late in the narrative, and the workings of the sinister Novae Terrae, a militaristic cult led by the enigmatic visionary Jo Sam, are conveyed in fleeting glimpses and evoked in poetically vague descriptions. Miraculous technological wonders and climatological disasters buffet the suffering multitudes who, as ever, are subject to the whims of Mother Nature and human nature, equally destructive forces immune to reason. Mazzy remains a passive character through much of the action, becoming embroiled in a revolutionary plot she doesn't really understand, and her dour, humorless perspective, while understandable, casts a pall over the punishing narrative. Ultimately, though, Heathcock produces striking alchemy from these unpromising elements, as the cumulative impact of elusive, evocative details and a growing sense of moral horror deliver an emotional wallop that leaves the reader feeling unnerved and strangely bereft. The dystopian ingredients are familiar, but Heathcock combines them in a potent metaphorical stew.

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June 20, 2022
A “Great Quake” has exacerbated environmental disasters and divided a postapocalyptic America geologically and civilly in Heathcock’s tepid debut novel (after the collection Volt). Religious organizations are hunted down by the government, which wields the army as its means of civilizing the new world order. Mazzy Goodwin is a soldiers, but when she inexplicably sprouts a pair of wings while standing in a bomb crater, she becomes an unlikely savior. After Mazzy’s mother is killed and her sister Ava Lynn captured, she is inducted into the settlement known only as 40, last bastion of Christian sect the Novae Terrae, led by the charismatic Jo Sam. Mazzy, accompanied by her boyfriend, Dewey Chang, goes in pursuit of Ava Lynn and comes to know the Novae Terrae, including her chaperone Donta; vivacious actor Nalli Sandoval; famous imposter Raja Garbos, seldom dressed without his signature eye patch; and fallen producer Astoria. Taken for an angel, Mazzy questions her loyalties, especially after striking a bargain with a general for help with finding Ava Lynn in exchange for supporting Jo Sam. An engaging setting can’t entirely disguise that this is by-the-numbers postapocalyptic fare, and Mazzy isn’t much of a protagonist. It works as a diversion, but don’t come expecting staying power. Agent: Sarah Burnes, Gernert Company.

Starred review from July 1, 2022
In a near-future America, coast-altering earthquakes, flooding, super storms, and pandemics have taken a toll. When food shortages lead to famine, a mysterious religious fanatic begins preaching of a better world. The disaffected eagerly accept his money, food, and guns and voluntarily offer up their children into his protection. As rebellion ensues, a young, mortally wounded U.S. soldier wakes to find herself not only alive but somehow endowed with wings. With her command base decimated, a thoroughly confused Mazzy Goodwin makes a desperate first flight home to find her mother has been killed and her little sister taken by the insurgents. A chance encounter with a refugee with connections to the rebels provides an entr�e into their fortified stronghold, where a winged Mazzy is immediately accepted as a miracle. Mazzy knows she is no angel but will willingly play the role if it gets her sister back. But as the leader's final plans are revealed, she will need to reconsider every choice she has made. Following his acclaimed story collection, Volt (2011), Heathcock's first novel beautifully captures the seriousness of the questions, posed in sparkling prose. Dystopian fans will relish this compelling, lyrical tale.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

July 1, 2022
In a near-future America, coast-altering earthquakes, flooding, super storms, and pandemics have taken a toll. When food shortages lead to famine, a mysterious religious fanatic begins preaching of a better world. The disaffected eagerly accept his money, food, and guns and voluntarily offer up their children into his protection. As rebellion ensues, a young, mortally wounded U.S. soldier wakes to find herself not only alive but somehow endowed with wings. With her command base decimated, a thoroughly confused Mazzy Goodwin makes a desperate first flight home to find her mother has been killed and her little sister taken by the insurgents. A chance encounter with a refugee with connections to the rebels provides an entr�e into their fortified stronghold, where a winged Mazzy is immediately accepted as a miracle. Mazzy knows she is no angel but will willingly play the role if it gets her sister back. But as the leader's final plans are revealed, she will need to reconsider every choice she has made. Following his acclaimed story collection, Volt (2011), Heathcock's first novel beautifully captures the seriousness of the questions, posed in sparkling prose. Dystopian fans will relish this compelling, lyrical tale.

COPYRIGHT(2022) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.