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A review by wordsfromvictoria
Nod by Adrian Barnes
3.0
The apocalypse in this novel is not natural disasters induced by climate change, thermonuclear war, a global pandemic or zombies, but a worldwide bout of insomnia, the cause of which remains inexplicable.
Society's downward trajectory as people cease to function normally is a well-worn narrative, but things are kept fresh with the various ways in which the sleep-deprivation induced psychoses manifest themselves.
The author has made the unfortunate choice of peppering the novel with references to social networking media, which will only serve to date the novel in the future. There is one particularly nauseating scene of a sexual nature which could have been safely left out without damaging the narrative. Both of these issues have tipped this from 4 stars to 3.
Society's downward trajectory as people cease to function normally is a well-worn narrative, but things are kept fresh with the various ways in which the sleep-deprivation induced psychoses manifest themselves.
The author has made the unfortunate choice of peppering the novel with references to social networking media, which will only serve to date the novel in the future. There is one particularly nauseating scene of a sexual nature which could have been safely left out without damaging the narrative. Both of these issues have tipped this from 4 stars to 3.