This was a difficult review to write.  I want to laud the efforts of a non-binary young black woman who’s trying to show us something different; but for this reader, it’s always going to be about the storytelling.  Can you tell me a story that will give me a new experience, show me something I’ve not yet seen, or give me insight into people different from myself?  I will say that this young writer, in her debut novel, does entertain me a bit.  The book is a collection of stories, each with a different collaborator.  I wish I knew how much of Monae’s effort was in the actual writing or if it was in the concepts… 

The idea is that the world is governed by an entity called New Dawn.  It’s generally unclear as to what exactly New Dawn is or how it actually governs.  But everything turned on the event of a discovery that enabled peoples’ memories to be rewritten or even discarded.  And New Dawn uses the technology to control the population.  People must conform to the New Dawn standards or risk losing their memories or even their mind.  It’s ugly and gritty and feels hopeless.  One of the things Ms. Monae does well is show us hope.

In the first story we meet Seshet, a Memory Librarian working for New Dawn.  It’s her job to monitor citizens’ memories and recommend those who might need a little…cleansing.  She’s on the hunt for someone who can tinker with the process and is, basically, a fly in the ointment.  I’ll admit that the story lost me a bit so I’m unclear exactly how he is challenging New Dawn.  But in the process, Seshet realizes that she’ll need to monitor one person in particular – her new lover.  Seshet is also haunted by the loss of her mother whom she lost when very young.  Her memory said her mother left on a trip and just never returned.  But that, of course, is the memory New Dawn wanted her to have.  The truth was harder. For someone accustomed to a certain expected story structure, as a result of decades of reading, this story was difficult to follow.  I really wanted world-building to know the world being introduced to me.  I really wanted backstory so I could relate to the people.  I finished the story realizing that I didn’t really pick up everything the author related.  I had to work to fit the scenes into something I could relate to and by then I’d lost some of the thread. 

The second story was better, for me.  The scene is set in a strange hotel out in the desert.  The hotel is far enough away from the big city that New Dawn rarely paid it any mind.  It became a refuge for women and women-aligned persons who couldn’t or wouldn’t live under the eye of New Dawn.  The point of this story, I believe, was to see how a young woman escaped the mind-alterations of New Dawn.  The theme being that so long as someone somewhere keeps their memory or fights New Dawn, then New Dawn will never completely win.  I still longed for better worldbuilding so I could understand the nuances better.

The third story was truly weird.  Two women setup housekeeping in their new apartment.  Each has a different expectation of the relationship; they haven’t yet figured out their differences, which, of course, leads to misunderstandings.  The biggest one is about the pantry in the apartment.  Anyone inside the pantry when the door closes is outside the normal time stream.  The possibilities are endless but the two women approach it differently.  One wishes to use it for the good of all.  The other just wishes to use it to make time for their relationship; time which always seems to be in short supply.  The twist in this story is that the pantry was opened for them deliberately; but they get to choose how to use it.  Unfortunately, the custodian doesn’t agree with their methods.  I am still at a loss to see how this fits into the New Dawn world.

The storyline gets better with number four.  In this story, we get to see the unhappy results when New Dawn wipes someone’s mind.  Two sisters care for their mother who was an activist and ran afoul of New Dawn.  When she was returned to their home, she wasn’t quite right anymore.  But they persevere even though they are ostracized from their community.  One of the sisters rebels and sneaks out to attend illegal parties.  The other follows and tries to save her and her friends when New Dawn finds the party.  There is this special stone bequeathed to them from their long-dead father; a stone that will allow the user one chance to turn back time.  One sister contemplates using the stone to save her rebel sister but then considers how there will always be another party and another party and another.  The stone can only be used once.  When she does finally decide to use it, the result is like nothing she could have imagined.  But it is an avenue for them all to escape New Dawn; if she can figure out the optimal time to engage it.  This was more enjoyable and I felt like I was beginning to understand this world.

And then, finally, there was the fifth story: which made the whole book worth my time.  Bug is a very special seven-year-old child living out in the sticks where New Dawn’s influence is weaker.  Bug may be a bit precocious and he is certainly very artistic.  Bug’s parents were both “dirty computers” and taken from him when he was quite young.  He and his brother live with their grandfather and the illusory hope that their mother will someday return to them.  Their situation doesn’t allow for luxuries like art supplies but Bug can usually find a way to express himself.  One day he wanders into a nearby ghost town and is inspired by the accumulated detritus and junk.  Enlisting the help of his brother and friends, he constructs a piece of art. It’s a small enclosed space that Bug dubs an “ark.”  But the odd woman who appears assures them that it is more an “altar.”  Neither of these descriptors is really explained; we have to journey with each of the children before we understand.  The woman persuades each of the children to enter the ark alone and allow a journey to happen.  Each of them experiences something different, something hopeful, something that is not New Dawn. From the ugliness of the initial stories to this one was a similar journey for this reader. 

In reliving some of the scenes while writing this review, I feel that I understand it a bit better now.  I’m not sure if I hope she’ll write more in this universe or if it would be better to leave these to stand on their own; allowing the reader to draw their own conclusions. In any case, this was a departure from the norm of science fiction; a diversion that wasn’t wholly unwelcome and gave me something new to consider.   ~~ Catherine Book