posted on 27 Dec 2016

Ways of the Doomed by Moira McPartlin

This is the second YA novel from this talented Scottish author whose first book ‘The Incomers’ was nominated for the prestigious Saltaire Society First Book Award.

I suppose that the more one reads the more one recognises and makes links with characters in previously read books. This often helps me to adjust to unfamiliar territory as is in the case of this story, as I am not usually a fan of fantasy dystopian fiction. So when the first page introduced me to the voice of the main protagonist, Somhairle (known as ' Sorlie') I searched around my mental library of stroppy self- centred fictional teenagers. At first I thought of Holden Caulfield from ‘Catcher in the Rye’ but by page five I had settled on Mary Lennox from ‘The Secret Garden’.

This choice was partly influenced by the context of Sorlie being another very privileged spoilt child left in the care of native servants whilst his parents were busy. But other than this similarity, there are huge differences between the two stories as this one is set in 2089 in what appears to be the remnants of Scotland. His often absent parents are military personnel working under what we soon learn is a repressive regime controlled by the ‘Purists’. When we meet him Sorlie is obsessed with playing electronic wrestling games and this aspect of control and power at first compensates for what he doesn't know and understand about history and politics. But this becomes very frustrating as even his family has many dark secrets that seem to be tied to the regime. He realises that things are changing because his mother is now restricted in where she is allowed to live and travel and has recently learned that she has received instructions to be a ‘Hero in Death’. This status means that she is no longer allowed to speak to her husband and Sorlie begins to reflect that this is rather puzzling. 

By chapter three I started to recognise character parallels with ‘Noughts and Crosses’ and other dystopian novels by Malorie Blackman. As with Blackman there is engaging set of characters but they operate in a very different landscape. I also started to warm to Sorlie and feel a bit sorry for him, it is quite important that the reader empathises with him because he goes through some testing times.

More secrets are revealed when his dad takes him on a mysterious trip into the wilderness the day after his sixteenth birthday. While they are out of range of surveillance he tells him all about the past when society was relatively free and tolerant and when and why it all started to go badly wrong. The author includes disturbing echoes here of the real world as Sorlie learns all about the rapid growth in unemployment, population increase, lack of natural resources throughout the world, inequality, the increase in competetive nationalism, racism and subsequent hatred where ‘neighbour turned on neighbour, families fought among themselves …’ As the story unfolds there are even hints at historic tensions between Scotland and the rest of the United Kingdom.

His dad also reveals some secrets about direct ancestors but tantalisingly, and in time honoured storytelling tradition, not everything. Sorlie is told that his maternal grandfather lives on an island penal colony and this soon becomes his destination and only hope of survival. Without spoiling the plot I can tell you that this cold, intimidating grandfather, known as ‘Davie Boy’ is a cruel bully. Whilst living there Sorlie learns more about on-going genetic experimentation that exploits and tortures the native population in the name of progress. He is never really sure who is trustworthy as there seem to be a number of double bluffs going on with him unwittingly at the centre of the action

Apart from the gruelling and lonely experience of imprisonment and the frustrations of not really understanding the purpose of the penal colony, Sorlie is allowed to spend time exploring his grandfather’s library. This allows the author to show how important books are as an escape and a means of intellectual liberation whatever the circumstances. On one of these precious occasions he randomly selects and enjoys reading ‘Brighton Rock’ from ' a strange rainbow collection called Penguin Classics. The brand was legendary and forbidden'

McPartlin is a prolific writer and is the editor of a mountaineering magazine which perhaps contributes to the gorgeous writing, particularly when describing the harsh environment and weather, both of which contribute to Sorlie's feeling of abandonment:

‘The seascape was grey, rods of rain stabbed landward. Flecks of sunsheen struggled to get to grips with the day as night-time chased it under the horizon and a faint moon hovered just above the tossed sea. The wind was almost visible as it bowed and buckled the monochrome waves’

After several more revelations Sorlie begins to piece together the reasons behind his precarious and complicated situation. Throughout his life he has been told that ‘Memories are the one thing the State can't take from you’, and he is puzzled that his grandfather repeats this mantra. He finds that he himself is at the centre of a long planned revolution and so has to play his part. The nail biting final chapter has plenty of jeopardy along the way - I felt quite exhausted when I put the book down.

So much to my surprise, this was rather a thrilling reading experience that I would definitely recommend.  I am also delighted to find out that this the first of a trilogy and so look forward to the next episode. 

Karen Argent

December 2016