I read this novel for a book discussion group in March 2024. I first read it many years ago, in 2019. The book was published in 2015.
Many characters in the novel are being used to keep the world in order. They have a power called orogeny that allows them to control aspects of the earth. They have power over tremors and earthquakes and can move subterranean masses. There are other manifestations of their abilities. Their power is feared, and they are tutored from a young age in the use of their powers.
The inability to control themselves can result in punishment and a form of death. The main characters discover that children have been sent out to inhabit devices set across the landscape that take control of the children’s bodies. If they cannot control themselves, then they are controlled by devices and technology so that they can fulfill a useful role for the civilization. None of these characters own their bodies. They are slaves, and they have an assigned role to play in this society.
There was a time in the story when a society established itself on an island. They had escaped and removed themselves from the larger empire and were away from the people and civilizations of the mainland that treated them unjustly. Two of the main characters came to live here. This island society brought back the memory of a small story in the first book of the Memory of Fire trilogy by the Uruguayan writer Eduardo Galeano. Enslaved Africans escaped and formed their own society far away from their oppressors deep within the rainforests of South America. They defended themselves from attacks and incursions by the Spanish or the Portuguese. And they held out for decades. Eventually, they were defeated and recaptured for enslavement. The small island where the characters had found safety reminded me of that historical settlement and their dream of freedom.
The possibility that it was preferable to kill a child rather than allow the child to be enslaved and its body used for the benefit of others was brought up in this story. Many times, conquered people killed themselves and their children to escape the cruelty of slavery. They knew it was a dehumanizing experience. When it was no longer possible to resist and fight then death was preferable.
Killing a child is also something that one parent did to their offspring because they regarded their child to have been born a monster. The child had inherited and exhibited the power of the people who were feared and enslaved. The mother escaped and searched for her other child, a daughter.
I appreciated the characters' displays of power, the mysterious technologies, the author's description of that world's history, and the story's reflections on ourselves, history, and society. These are a few thoughts on a complex story.
After the book discussion, I felt that there were things I missed. The discussion added to the experience of the book, and I appreciated the perspectives of the other group members. I did get a feeling that maybe I should read the book again, but I am going on to books two and three.