How High We Go in the Dark

CW: pandemic, child euthanasia, cancer

From the first time I read the premise of this book, I knew I had to read it. I went as far as preordering the audiobook which is something I rarely do. It took me a couple weeks after the release to get to it but I am happy all my anticipation wasn't in vain.

This is not a spoiler because it's mentioned in the blurb but this is a book about the aftermath of a pandemic - not something novel like Covid-19 but an ancient one that gets released into our world when the ice starts melting in Siberia. The symptoms of this disease were very different from the one we are experiencing, so I think that's why I was able to disassociate myself from our reality and enjoy this one purely as a near future sci-fi novel. And it was so fascinating. This is a collection of stories of different people - what each person is going through in the months and years after the pandemic, how their lives and surroundings have changed, what has become important and what has been relegated as trivial in this new world, how communities and philosophies have evolved, and how everyone is coping while trying to survive as well as while making very difficult decisions.

What was surprising was how the author connected each of these stories with some small reference or just a word and it was a marvelous feeling when I could connect the threads from the beginning to the end. And that revelation in the final chapter is a perfect capstone to this unique and fascinating world. Because of the pandemic as the major catalyst of this book, it's understandable that death is a major theme across the board. We see every single character as well as communities and countries dealing with death in different ways, developing new ways to honor the people who have gone and creating some new funerary rituals along the way. And as with any disaster, capitalism is always ready to commercialize even this somber point of humanity. But what really surprised as well as awed me was that despite there being so much death in the book, the author manages to infuse the stories with so much love, family and hope - so, even when you are feeling the immense grief the characters are experiencing, you are also rooting for them to survive and appreciating their efforts to move on and do better.

I had thought this book would take me a while to finish because of its subject matter but I finished it in day. I have to credit the excellent cast of narrators who brought each of the characters to life and let me experience their grief and loss and hope through their narrations. And I know the premise of this book can be a deterrent during our current times, but I would still recommend it because it's a sober and poignant look at the possibilities of humanity's survival in a climate/pandemic ravaged world and more importantly a call to all of us to preserve the only way of life we know.

A euthanasia theme park, a talking pig named Snortorious P.I.G., and a funerary hotel. There is no shortage of dark humor to be found among the increasingly macabre story beats of How High We Go in the Dark. Even so, some sections are just incredibly devastating to read and that's a credit to Nagamatsu's excellent writing. 

Not every vignette worked for me, but the ones that did were awfully affecting. My investment in each small story waned as we moved farther away from the “present day,” but the ever-evolving interconnectedness of the narratives was intriguing to track throughout.

If you're looking for an escape from our current pandemic-ridden world, this is not the right book for you. If you can put that aside, there's some really effective storytelling at work here. 

My thanks to NetGalley for an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

For my true fractional star rating see this review on The Speculative Shelf.