Nod

Product Information

NOD is about what happens to the world, when for some unknown reason the vast majority of the worlds population can now, suddenly, no longer sleep. The deterioration of Vancouver society happens very quickly, as expected, but everything that comes with it is just depressing and nonsensical.

Instead we have a single flame of consciousness, struggling and guttering as the darkness spreads around it. Nod is a piece of speculative fiction about what would happen if nearly everyone in the world stopped sleeping. The first few days very clearly outlined what was happening for Paul, who could sleep, and his partner Tanya, who could not, and the bar was set for absolute mayhem and trauma to come. Not only is that revolting and unnecessary, but that and other instances like it throughout the book give disturbing insight into the author's view of women. Maybe if some attempt had been made to flesh her out before her pointless death-- aside from the offhand mention that her uncle had abused her as a child, which is brought up exactly once and promptly forgotten-- then maybe I would have cared for her as a character.

I didn't really connect with Paul that much--he's pretty detached and rarely experiences strong emotions about what is happening around him.

But Nod was also a very worthy contender and if you feel like reading an apocalyptic novel with something more than just a survival tale, it's definitely worth your time and money. Vancouver is the place for Paul to try and think his way out of the problems he faces after the event has occurred.It's not that often that I find myself writing a completely negative review, but I can honestly say that I can not find anything about this book that I liked. Although in fairness Barnes, unlike Anthony Ryan, actually has some understanding of how punctuation works. To quote from Nod: "The hard thing when reading a Dickens novel is to keep faith with the normal, not to be seduced and swept away by the freak show". By the time she died (the protagonist slit her throat with a box cutter to Save Her From What The World Had Become and What Was Happening to Her), I'd stopped giving a damn.

Factual Inaccuracy, Part Two: Sometime in Chapter 2, Paul describes a scene from Star Wars (Episode 4) where Princess Leia “receives news” of the destruction of her homeworld (Alderaan) by “Darth Vader’s Death Star”, only to be flirting with Han Solo “two scenes later”. The second half of this novel seemed to switch in direction and take the reader on a more abstract and fantastical journey.The descriptive story telling of the author is one of the best I've come across as he paints a bleak, scary and yet familiar world to us. It may be November but I’m glad I finally chanced upon a good Halloween novel after a month of so-so spooky books. I was born in England but grew up in Canada buried in suffocating suburbia, which made me angry and fueled my flight, first to the city and then to the bucolic rural climes of the West Kootenay region of British Columbia where people mostly live like human people. January 13, 2018 October 2, 2023 whatrebeccasread 3 Stars, Book Reviews, January 2018 3 Star Reviews, Adrian Barnes, Arthur C.