cover image Stone Seeds

Stone Seeds

Jo Ely. Urbane, $14.95 trade paper (320p) ISBN 978-1-910692-87-5

Ely’s mediocre debut reads less like a speculative fiction novel and more like a clunky thought experiment or allegory of despair. The isolated nation of Bavarnica is ruled by the nigh-omnipotent General, whose tactics include memory erasure, environmental control (including the barely viable seeds of the title and a deadly forest perimeter), and military attacks. The general trusts no one, not even the elevated but still miserable group known as the 1% OneFolk, or the genetically altered military Egg Boys. Lowest in this strange caste system are the disenfranchised workers, former rebels, and slaves. Jengi, last of the Digger tribe, endeavors to gather representatives of multiple oppressed groups to help him foment rebellion. The dispassionate narration and inconsistent point-of-view shifts keep readers from ever engaging in the characters or investing in the outcomes of their actions. (Jan.)