Vox

This was a great concept book. It had a wonderful premise, but was let down by poor execution. It does Margaret Atwood a terrible disservice to describe Vox as “A Handmaid's Tale 2.0”. The commonality lies in the conception of a near future where religious fundamentalists dominate and women are repressed. In Vox, their speech is restricted: talk over 100 words a day and you receive an electric shock. With curtailment comes rebellion. This figures, but Vox ends up becoming a brash page-turner, high on implausibility and interspersed with steamy sex scenes, characterised throughout with a heavy-handed use of simile. Atwood is in a different league when it comes to effortless grace in her prose. The notion of inalienable rights and what one might do to protect them is great; it just needs more development. In the now fortunately passed era of Trump, the debate about political bigotry is a good one. Speculative fiction naturally has a place; there are locators for Dalcher's future vision in the present day. However, to reiterate, the major issue in Vox is one of poor execution. 6/10.

By Christina Dalcher