This Fragile Earth

Do you ever really stop and think about how many ways technology impacts our daily lives? From computer control modules in our vehicles to credit and debit cards to smart phones, smart doorbells, and more, we're a society very reliant on tech. Do you ever think about what the world might look like if all that tech suddenly just....stopped?

In This Fragile Earth, the tech is even more advanced/prolific than in our reality. In a not-too-distant future London, we meet Signy and Matthew and their young son Jed. They rely on technology for just about everything. Plants are artificially grown and pollinated. Agriculture is now an AI function. Medicine, currency, food, transportation, all of it controlled by AI. Signy and Matthew don't seem very happy in their marriage. They're just muddling along, keeping it together for Jed's sake, when one day, the power goes out. And stays out.

Here's a spoiler, but just a little one - Matthew doesn't make it out with Signy and Jed. (The synopsis says so - “A shocking incident sends Signy and Jed on the run, desperate to flee London and escape to the small village where Signy grew up.” Y'all already knew Matthew wasn't with them.) So now we have a woman on her own and her young son, she's frantic to get to safety, and protecting Jed is paramount. Signy comes across as distrustful of almost everyone and everything she encounters, and to some readers, that may make her a less than sympathetic protagonist. But think about it. How would you react if your entire world was turned on its ear, nothing worked like it was supposed to, and you'd already seen others prove that they were only looking out for themselves in this mad new reality? Might it make you a little leery of folks? I think it would me, particularly if I had a young child relying on me for his well-being.

The technology doesn't require extreme suspension of disbelief. Characters and interactions are largely believable (although sometimes Jed seems to talk in ways well beyond his years - there's precocious and then there's, wait a minute, did he really talk like that?). When the reason for everything falling apart is revealed, it's maybe the teensiest bit preachy, but not really, because the book makes an important point. We ARE responsible for taking care of this planet, and good stewardship does matter.

This was an enjoyable read. My thanks to Gollancz and NetGalley for the advance copy.