The Annual Migration of Clouds
Ratings24
Average rating3.5
Oooh, fun. So I have inadvertently just consumed TWO - count them, TWO(!!!) - pieces of media that cover almost identical themes: The Last of Us (TV, oh beautiful Pedrito nom nom nom) and this. Both are:
- Post-apocalyptic stories,
- featuring a teenage girl protagonist,
- and a fungal parasite,
- that was caused by climate change, and now,
- infects humans, slowly taking over their human host's brains/behaviors in unhelpful, unsettling ways.
Fine. Fine.
What I liked about this inadvertent comparison was how VERY differently this story can be told - depending on whether you are, ahem, interested in individualistic, militaristic stories featuring lots of violence (Last of Us), or if you're interested in knowledge, community, and survival (this). I also want to shout out that this novella at least acknowledges social justice and climate justice realities, as opposed to completely ignoring them (ahem, Last of Us) - which is another way of reinforcing the status quo, aka patriarchal white supremacy. Plz don't come at me yet, yes yes (1) I know that TV “Joel Miller” is vaguely coded Latino-ish in the show (“adios!”), and (2) that Wyoming commune exists. But, well, come on... Last of Us is kind of a libertarian circle jerk, where those who survive the end of the world are those rugged men who wear Carhartt and carry big guns. I say this with love for the show!!! I did like the show. I love almost all zombie media!
I just... hmm, ALSO like post-apocalyptic stories that don't follow that status quo trope. Cory Doctorow already delighted me splendidly in Radicalized, when he followed a libertarian prepper's actual outcomes after the end of the world... if you took everything to a logical conclusion. I feel like those stories - about an end of the world that isn't all about guns and ammo - are basically what has evolved into solarpunk. Hopepunk? I saw someone use that phrase.
ANYWAY. This book was fun. It's the near future - maybe like 2100 or so. The protagonist, Reid, is a teenage girl living in the decrepit science department building of some Canadian university. Electricity is gone, people, as is most of modern life. The Before Times are called “Back Then” and people mostly scavenge from the ruins to survive, or hunt pigs and rabbits, or grow basic veggies. Two interesting things: The story opens with Reid receiving an invitation to one of the “Domes”, a supposed oasis of pre-collapse life (modernity?!). This whole novella is basically about tearing herself away from her mom, her friends, her community. Second interesting thing: a fungus (“those mushrooms mean business”) has appeared among the human species. This fungus may have come out of the melting permafrost (gawd, I have this fear). The fungus is symbiotic, decorating you with little blue-green tendrils. It sometimes kills you from the inside out (come on!!!). Often it just lightly nudges you towards self-preservation. Reid has lots of arguments in her head with her (silent) parasite, and struggles mightily with understanding her own free will vs. the parasite's. This was fun!
But what was especially fun was - I just really enjoyed the writing. It was fresh. SO CRISPY FRESH. This is how I'd like to write. If I had time to write again. This is how I think I COULD write! (watch out, Premee Mohamed!) Anyway, this is now basically like slice of life solarpunk with a touch of fungus and a touch of Harry Potter, I am very excited to read the next one in the series.
Despite the dystopic future setting, this story is very down-to-earth. In many ways, it's a classic “coming of age” story, about having to grow up too fast and make big important decisions where every option feels like the wrong answer. It's particularly relatable for anyone faced with having to leave behind the world they knew to pursue their future.
Reid's perspective is that of a bright young person who is suddenly excited and overwhelmed with the immensity of the world, and unsure what her place in it will be. Her story and much of the imagery seemed to relate closely to modern tensions about being from a colonized or oppressed group, and being offered a chance to learn or work in one of the colonizer's own institutions. There are feelings of resentment - betrayal even - but also opportunity.
I felt like the ways in which she wrestled with her feelings to be incredibly genuine and touching. How she feels towards her mother and her home, and how uncomfortable she is around people supporting her, even her willingness to doubt what she knows is true; these are all feelings we deal with when making consequential decisions. Too often, protagonists will be sure-headed about doing the right thing, but Reid's emotions felt much more real.
All this is portrayed in a short book with a darkly meditative and occasionally haunting style. If I was disappointed in anything, it's that the story stops so soon. I would have enjoyed more exploration of the world, though I respect the author's choice to stop where she did. Also, some might find the near-future setting was unnerving, and the themes of climate and disease a bit too close to home. But all in all, I will definitely be seeking more from this talented writer.
This is my first experience of the author's writing and I was a bit skeptical right from the beginning. It's an interesting dystopian world and I loved the way the past is mentioned - how the world changed, how people survived, what rich people did. This story is also about the difference between generations - a mom's desire for things to remain the same and her daughter to be close by, a daughter wanting to be on her own, think about life outside of their bubble and just wanting something more - this leads to conflicts and words flung at each other but it's obvious that the love is ever present. But it also doesn't feel like anything happened and the writing style just wasn't for me. The ending was also pretty abrupt and it left me with many questions. Overall, I think this is for readers who prefer more literary speculative fiction than us SFF genre readers.