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This novel envisions a distopian society beset by frequent revolutions and characterised by cruel bureaucracies. Heroine Neila becomes an enemy of the state (the Complex) because she believes her parents were killed as resisters. Placed in a household of ultra-orthodox Complexers, she hides her true thoughts, even after falling in love with foster brother Lak. But things are not as they seem: her foster family is arrested and disappears; Neila's dissident companions (evil, voluptuous Serena; powerful Wils, who briefly becomes Neila's lover) may or may not be double agents. Neila herself ends up as Acting Minister of Information for the Complex; in which capacity she risks her own freedom, hoping to undermine the system, release political prisoners, and find Lak. Her adventures take her to the different territories of the Complex, including the Mountain (inhabited by a distinctive ethnic group from which Neila is in part descended) and the Island (the penal colony where resisters are dumped).
Neila, a young woman living in a volatile dystopian society, navigates a treacherous path of political intrigue after discovering the suspicious circumstances surrounding her parents' deaths. Driven by a desire for truth and the recovery of her lost foster brother, Lak, she infiltrates the upper echelons of the state bureaucracy known as the Complex. Her objective is to dismantle the oppressive system from within, a task complicated by shifting alliances with enigmatic figures like the manipulative Serena and the influential Wils. The narrative follows her through a landscape of constant revolution, where the physical boundaries of the state—from the remote Mountain to the desolate Island penal colony—serve as both obstacles and potential sites of liberation.
Kirkus Reviews noted the novel's ambitious scope, highlighting the intricate world-building that defines the Complex and its various territories. Critics observed that the narrative effectively captures the paranoia and instability of a society defined by perpetual revolution. The prose is recognized for its focus on the psychological burden of the protagonist as she attempts to navigate a labyrinthine political structure. While the plot is dense with shifting allegiances, the work remains a notable exploration of individual agency within a rigid, authoritarian framework.
Page Count:
150
Publication Date:
1982-01-01
Publisher:
Angus & Robertson
ISBN-10:
0207146241
ISBN-13:
9780207146244
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