Amatka

April 10, 2017
Tidbeck reimagines reality and the power of language in her dystopian sci-fi novel. Vanja lives in a world of small colonies where all produced objects revert back to primordial sludge if people do not constantly name them; the failure of one colony in this duty resulted in catastrophic loss of life. To avert similar chaos and destruction, a highly regimented communist collective tightly controls every activity (including recreation, job placement, and child-rearing) and encourages citizens to report any lapse in naming or other inappropriate behavior. The regime, however, has recently allowed some private enterprise, including Vanja’s employer, a producer of hygiene products. Despite her shyness, Vanja is sent to interview the inhabitants of the outer colony Amatka about what products would help them and their underground mushroom farms withstand the harsh tundra climate. In this new environment, Vanja encounters the small subversions of the local librarian trying to save history, her retired-doctor housemate whose questions rattle Vanja, and a famous poet who mysteriously disappeared years before. Emboldened by their actions, Vanja starts to doubt the commune’s motives and rapidly learns that there is more going on than anyone is willing to admit. Tidbeck introduces the mysteries and mechanics of her world slowly while leaving the origins of these pioneers opaque. Her ending takes a turn into much weirder territory, but her tense plotting, as well as the questions she raises about language, control, and human limits make this a very welcome speculative fiction novel.

May 15, 2017

DEBUT Vanja, an information specialist, has traveled to the colony of Amatka on a mission from the central government. She is to survey the residents as to their use of hygiene products, probing their willingness to try new brands. Vanja is placed in a local house with Nina, Ivar, and Ulla, who have little to share. Amatka is a cold, poor place, where the tenets of society have to be obeyed rigidly. Vanja knows these rules well, as does everyone else: mark everything around you, say the name of every object around you, or risk it losing its shape and coherence. But she finds these rules failing her in Amatka and begins to believe there is another way to live. Amatka's dystopian landscape, vaguely Soviet in flavor, offers a fresh twist: everything is made of a fungus-like material that needs to be vigilantly reminded to remain in its form. Vanja begins as something of a cipher but becomes more sympathetic as she questions her assumptions and grows closer to roommate Nadia. VERDICT Tidbeck's (Jagannath) first novel, translated by the author from her native Swedish, is grim, spare, and fascinating.--MM

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