Scarlett y Browne

Well. Wow. That was pretty much what I expected in a bad way, and so much better in a good way.

So. It's an adventure-y story about tons of stressful and horrific stuff, that has enough cartoon-y distance to still be more on the light-hearted side. It pulled me right in, I got invested in all the characters and what was going on with them right away, and didn't stop caring ever.

It's about weirdos in a very normative post-apocalyptic world, travelling to a lagoon that used to be a city, where they've heard supernatural neurodivergencies might be accepted, as well as any other kind of weirdness. So that's a cool vibe.

Just don't expect any subtlety. The writing of social inequality feels very heavy-handed to me. The way sexism is used to characterise a place almost made me sigh. It's mentioned that there are black characters, but the way this is done I wasn't so sure about. I also really don't get anything out of the zombie-ish folks but they are definitely meant to be a lesson on something. The way fatness is invoked to describe some chaterters quality way beyond body shape is on a different level of shitty, I think the author simply didn't question his bullshit there at all. So that's the bad part.

More of what I enjoyed though: The villain is perfectly hateable, a representative of an oppressive institution who personally loves to abuse weirdos. I was impressed by the negotiation of violence and self-defence, which is quite prominent since one of the villain's manipulative tactics is to shift blame, which is very clearly challenged.

And here I mention the really grim stuff: This is a world where eugenics are a widespread everyday principle. There's nowhere to hide between the towns with all their rules about what normal people look and behave like, and the wilderness where people get eaten unless they get very good at not getting eaten (or team up with someone who is). There's a torturous asylum-ish place, too. So that's a bit heavy despite the catoonish-ness. But the characters we follow are outcasts who don't subscribe to that bullshit at all, and there's detailed descriptions of how it hurt them, but more as backstory than as an educational "look! they suffer". It felt very good to read a story where "saving humanity" by killing folks who aren't normal enough is very clearly painted as a bad thing without making a big deal of that standpoint. Which is such a low bar! What is fantastical fiction even doing to make this stand out as noteworthy!

I found this by checking for Jonathan Stroud audiobooks at the library expecting to maybe find Bartimaeus to listen to again, and I'm definitely not disappointed to have found this instead.

I'm a big fan of Stroud from the Bartimaeus days. This could be his best series since that ground-breaking epic of a djinn and his human. Stroud's humour and the accessibility of his writing put him in the confectionery aisle of the literary supermarket, but there's a lot of mental and cultural nutrition mixed in with his sweet booky treats.

First up, the characters. Scarlett is a robber and an assassin, a total bad-arse heroine with a dark past. Just one line should dispel any worries from those who felt a bit let down by the self-doubting lovesick Lucy from "Lockwood and Co".

Albert, the Browne of the title, is a kind of autistic superhero, the opposite of Scarlett, but charming and lovable in his youthful innocence and uncontrolled power. There is an impeccable balance in this dynamic duo. They seem to reflect the potential and the challenges faced by young people today, reminding me of Todd and Viola in Patrick Ness' "Chaos Walking".

The post-apocalyptic setting also works beautifully. It is part "Riddley Walker", part "The Chrysalids". From the latter, it also inherits a future world of dangerous and oppressive religious extremism. Stroud conjures a multi-faith theocracy, where Islam, Hinduism, Christianity and the rest join forces in a nasty cabal of murderous oppression, with Scarlett and Browne sharing the podium as its its public enemies number one.

There are obvious references to westerns in the title and the story, but this is English to the max. Calling the post-apocalypse Britain "the seven kingdoms" is also a cheeky swipe at that preposterous yank George RR Martin.