A review by djwudi
Rule of Capture by Christopher Brown
3.0
It is not easy to read near-future dystopian SF set in an America waiting for the outcome of a contested election after the fascist incumbent loses but the Texas Gov. invalidates the electoral votes and it goes to SCOTUS. Complicating matters is ecological, economic, and sociological collapse brought on by losing a war with China, but if you swapped that backstory out and replaced it with a global pandemic....
While that’s background world building, and only tangentially ties to the main plot of a lawyer working to release his client, a young woman branded a terrorist for journalism work among protesters (also hitting pretty damn close to home), much of the book is remarkably uncomfortably prescient.
We came far too close to the state of the country as presented here, and could still tip over into it if the next wannabe fascist dictator is more savvy and less volatile than the last. Definitely an uncomfortable read, and if the sequel wasn’t one of this year’s P.K. Dick Award nominees, I may not have made it past the first few chapters.
That said - it was well written, and there’s an element of fighting for something better against all odds that gives it a faint hope punk feel. It was enough to get me through, and hope that the sequel continues along those lines.
While that’s background world building, and only tangentially ties to the main plot of a lawyer working to release his client, a young woman branded a terrorist for journalism work among protesters (also hitting pretty damn close to home), much of the book is remarkably uncomfortably prescient.
We came far too close to the state of the country as presented here, and could still tip over into it if the next wannabe fascist dictator is more savvy and less volatile than the last. Definitely an uncomfortable read, and if the sequel wasn’t one of this year’s P.K. Dick Award nominees, I may not have made it past the first few chapters.
That said - it was well written, and there’s an element of fighting for something better against all odds that gives it a faint hope punk feel. It was enough to get me through, and hope that the sequel continues along those lines.