Cover: Dan Mumford
So far so (very) good
Alastair Chisholm has already given us two fine Sci-Fi fantasy novels for older children/teens. Both Orion Lost and Adam-2 come with my strong recommendation. Like the best of this genre (for any age) they are exciting stories which explore challenging ideas. Adam-2 is also distinguished in that it prominently features a non-binary character, introduced in what to me is exactly the right way for many young readers, not as an ‘issue’ but as a natural accepted and valued member of their society.
However, I found The Consequence Girl to be his best book yet. Here is another fiction from Alastair Chisholm is as thoughtful as it is exciting, without the one ever distracting from the other. The whole plot is even tighter and structured in a particularly masterful fashion; the questions it asks are more complex, more probing. It compels the reader relentlessly forward, gripped inexorably with fascination and intrigue. Set on what could be an alternative planet, but equally could be a speculative future of our own, he involves scenarios and tropes that have been used before (as most fiction does) but combines these with original elements and ideas and creates a totally credible and involving world. A comparatively impoverished society, ruled by a corrupt autocracy, masquerading as democracy and supported by militarised enforcers, lives with remnants of high tech from a earlier ‘Glory’ people. These ‘Glories’ now seem, to have disappeared completely and are regarded as ‘gods’ by many of the remnant population.
For the present
The particularly original and clever invention of this new book is its main character, Cora, the eponymous girl, who can see the consequences of minor changes in action and alter events in the present, at least in small, particular ways. Cora, however, seems to be some sort of orphan, brought up by a ‘guardian’, Seleen, who is determined to keep her hidden from the rest of society. Cora does not really know who she herself is, who Seleen is, or indeed much at all about her world or what is going on it it. Before long a third main character, a boy, turns up. Who exactly he is also gets held back from Cora - and indeed from us as readers. In fact, it is this intrigue as to who characters are and what exactly is going on that provides the compelling driver of the plot. Although hints and clues are scattered throughout the narrative, and more elements of the plot gradually revealed, Alastair Chisholm maintains, and indeed builds, these tensions in masterly fashion, with many twists, surprises and, indeed, shocks.
Along the way he vividly evokes both his characters and the half-alien, half-familiar world in which they move. Yet he does so without ever disrupting the momentum of the narrative or dissipating its tension. In fact his wonderfully conjured picture-painting only adds to overall involvement in his narrative. Here is writing that demonstrates considerable skill, without ever showing itself off.
However, what makes this book so very special is that this is not just a thrillingly told story, but is very much a book of ideas too. It is a book about changing the world, and there can be no more important theme for today’s young people.
For the future
Unlike many a fiction about changing the past, it does not fall foul of the time travel paradox, rather it excavates the actual ramifications for the present of an artificially altered past. As the complexities of the narrative spiral into a vortex of possibilities, it thoughtfully (and at some stages terrifyingly) explores the idea of consequences, of ‘the butterfly effect’. At the same time as keeping us on the edge of our readerly seats, it really makes us think. Cleverly, subtly, it makes us think about how we need to change our world, about what we can and can’t change, what we should and shouldn’t change. And more than anything what little (or much)we as individuals might be able to do.
The Consequence Girl is up with the very best of what science fiction has to offer. Through wild speculation about alternative or future worlds, it makes us look carefully at own world, about who and what we are and what it is down to us to do about changing things - and changing ourselves.
Another captivating cover by Dan Mumford not only ties Alastair Chisholm’s three sci-fi books cleverly together, but perfectly captures the allure and potency of this latest one. It will help attract readers to a very special book. Hopefully, many of them will, like the girl in the splendid image, look strongly, boldly forward.
‘We can’t remake the past. We have to fix the future.’ (p 318)
