If you are into dystopian fiction, are looking for something which appears as deconstructed as the world it portrays, that allows you to draw your own conclusion as to time and place, Saturation from William Lane could well be the book for you.
Set in a time when the earth has reached its limits of just about everything, the population has been culled and the remaining people are living by strict rules, librarian Ambrose and Urslua are desperate to have a child, even though it is frowned upon.
They are also desperate to save what remaining books are in the library as the ‘Dictator’ is determined to stamp out all earlier forms of knowledge, thereby being able to influence or manipulate, the people to a specific way of thinking and governing.
The quest to having a child is at times the focus, the lack of knowledge over simple matters and the vague memory of past creatures, is concerning and the daily edicts from the text producing ‘Yoremind’ are also now very relevant in relation to modern day events and lifestyle.
Lack of energy, lack of explanation in some areas, the general confusion that permeates the characters and what remains of the earlier civilisation creates a sense of ennui, which is uncannily easy to understand.
While the plotline tends to wander around somewhat, the similarities with the occurrences in today’s world relating to the deliberate changing or whitewashing of historical facts, the desire to reduce the capacity and availability of Libraries, the dismantling or attempt to dismantle Universities, the rise and rise of ‘Dictator’ style government and the current style of communication of Government policy through alternate mediums, makes this unusual book somewhat prescient.
Is Saturation a clarion call to arms; to wake up and start engaging in the world as it is before it is far too late, or a combination of a raft of other dystopian ‘realities’ cobbled together to create an interesting view of what lies in the future. This question is yours to answer.
