Cybernetic Wildlife and Cosmic Twists: Part two of my Rabbit in the Moon review
Blazing Reader,
In Fiona Moore's novel, Rabbit in the Moon, North America has shrunk due to rising sea levels, leaving a dwindling population fighting over fertile land and dwindling resources. However, people are still driving around in gas-powered vehicles, so I assume they stopped blaming CO2.
Either way, this flooded future world has a new and mysterious problem beyond how to stop the human race from going extinct. Free-range robots and cybernetic wildlife are appearing across the continent, collecting debris, blowing up people and constructing large pyramid schemes.
The story focuses on Ken Usagi, a journalist from Nunavut, who is investigating this phenomenon, and Totchli, a university graduate in Mexico, living even farther in the future, who has been assigned to solve another mystery.
The two characters' stories slowly start to come together, as more is revealed. That said, the final chapter provided an unexpected twist that suddenly tied both plot lines and characters together — revealing an otherwise overlooked depth to the entire story.
For example, one of my complaints about the novel, as I was reading it, was that the characters of Ken and Totchil seemed way far similar in personality. I felt the author had slacked a little in the character development arena. But, upon reaching the final chapter, I understood why this was and can only applaud the author for having pulled off the two characters the way she did.
The final chapter, too, had an unexpected metaphysical twist along with the surprising plot twist. Here's a small example, where Totchli is questioning the afterlife:
He'd never given it much thought. His mother, with the slightly distracted agnosticism of the Ontario Scots, had told him about heaven and hell, but had admitted that, probably, it was just a myth. He'd heard about near-death experiences, a bright light moving towards you, a spirit guide, but dismissed it as superficial foolishness. Learned about traditional Inuit beliefs in school, but the Inuit kids made it plain they didn't welcome converts, especially not swamp-boys. He'd flirted a little with a New Age group in university, but found the idea of reincarnation as difficult to believe as the idea of an afterlife.
The final pages of the book hint at another afterlife scenario, which I'll avoid spoiling, because I'm sure by now you'll want to purchase for yourself a copy of Fiona Moore's Rabbit in the Moon over at my Blazing Pine Cone Bookshop.
John C.A. Manley
PS If you missed it, here's "prologue" and part one of my book review of Rabbit in the Moon.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
