posted on 31 Jul 2017

Wants of the Silent by Moira McPartlin

If you read my review of Ways of the Doomed, the first book in the exciting dystopian Sun Song trilogy, you will see that I enjoyed it and was very much looking forward to the next one. I am pleased to tell you that it is equally splendid. The first few pages pitch us straight into the action as we pick up the thread of the final few pages of the first story with the dramatic escape of the slaves who have been released from their terrible prison on Black Rock Island.  The energetic pace never wavers as the two strongly drawn main characters, Ishbel and sixteen year old Sorlie, navigate their way through danger and try to make sense of the impending revolution with its various factions.

Be warned that this is not a relaxing read because Mc Partlin succeeds for much of the book in making the reader experience distrust and disappointment along with the physical discomfort of the cold and wetness of a bleak and dangerous world. She does this because she is an excellent writer who can paint vivid landscapes and people them with really complex and interesting characters. We have met most of them before but here she digs much deeper into their background and motivation exposing everyone to be flawed, and therefore more human. I particularly liked the way in which she adds layers to the extraordinary Vanora, the revolutionary leader who is Ishbel’s long estranged mother and Sorlie’s truly terrifying grandmother.  This character has a nighmareish quality because, whilst Vanora favours Sorlie as her eventful successor and sometimes craves his affection she is mostly calculating and sadistic. For example he is understandably confused by her grandmotherly smell of lavender when set against witnessing her coldly shooting an insubordinate at such close range that she is spattered with his blood.  She is definitely up there in the ranks of charismatically evil fictional women with Cruella DeVille and the Queen in Snow White.

I would describe this as a political book because the links with our present day reality are never far from the surface. The broken society of this fictional world came about because of the collapse of civilisation which is  remembered by Scud who had once been a noted historian before his long imprisonment and torture:

‘The signs were there; the mounting hatred of the immigrants, the growing wealth gap, the total disregard for people’s human rights, the media… why didn’t I believe they would go so far as tae imprison the academics, the writers? Had it not happened before, many times?

The author certainly doesn’t flinch from describing the darker side of life but she also weaves in plenty of rays of hope and humour along the way. Although he is traumatised by his recent experiences, Sorlie learns to see a kinder society when he is taken to the strange reservation of Steadie, a place beneath the radar of The State where people are allowed to be individuals, eat tasty home cooked food, grow old and follow traditions that bind them as a community.

The story kept me completely engrossed on a long transatlantic fight because it is so packed with intrigue. I needed to find out the identity of The Prince, a charismatic leader who is referred to with awe by many people throughout and when it was finally revealed – I was genuinely surprised! I strongly recommend that you set aside a few hours to immerse yourself in this wonderful fantasy that will make you as keen as I am for the final book in the trilogy.  

Karen Argent

July 2017