I received a free copy of this book, and I read it as part of the judging effort for the SFINCS3 novella competition. I’m part of Team TBR, but these thoughts are my own and do not reflect the final rating of the team.
Sunbathers
By Lindz McLeod
I had difficulties with this book – not because it’s bad, but because of the future it shows. Sure, there are fantastical, supernatural elements, but that’s just surface – a thin veil draped over an all too plausible real-world future. Maybe I’m being dramatic, or melodramatic, but with everything going on in the world right now, this was not the vision I needed.
Intolerance. Mandatory conformity. Perversion disguised as purity. The society of the sunbathers has it all.
Then again, maybe that’s exactly what I needed? The future’s not looking bright, but it’s so easy to hide away and pretend like everything’s fine.
It wouldn’t be right to say I didn’t enjoy the story, though. The first third hit me hard, but by the time I finished the book, I was glad I’d read it. The way it ended, I’m not sure hopeful is the right word, but it was still somehow encouraging.
So what is this future that distressed me so?
I was going to suggest reading the book description, but after actually looking at it myself, I’m not so sure that’s a good idea. The description gives the impression that the book is about how straight sun-vampires build a giant lamp to destroy humanity, and how a queer woman tries to stop them. Technically, that’s accurate, and I don’t know that I could write a better description myself. At the same time, the description doesn’t do the story justice.
Sunbathers, the book, is so much more than that. It’s deeper, more meaningful, and with a much stronger message. The prose is well written, the story is well told, and it absolutely got me thinking. These are all things I want in a book, and if I had difficulties handling the beginning, it’s because the message is seriously heavy, not because the book lacks in quality.
What I’ll whine about
If that wasn’t clear already, the book made me really uncomfortable with the state of the world and our prospects for the future.
What I’ll gush about
As an allegory of the state of the world and our prospects for the future, Sunbathers hits like a sledgehammer to the face.
Final Words
If you like to bury your head in the sand and pretend everything’s fine, this is not a book for you.
