Book Review: Science fiction, but with echoes of recent real-world events

Humanity has responded to the pandemic in weird and wonderful ways, including a perverse theme park, where sick children ride a roller coaster to a joyous end; so-called ‘elegy hotels’ that serve as luxury hospices; and, of course, sending out space crews to find new worlds.

Rather than following one protagonist, which might limit the scope of exploration, Nagamatsu has formed his novel using connected short stories, each delving into different responses of everyday people to the existential crisis facing humankind.

How High We Go in the Dark (shortlisted for the Waterstones Debut Fiction Prize) is labelled science fiction, but the echoes of recent real-world events.

Its focus on the personal and societal, mean it will appeal to readers who aren’t normally drawn to sci-fi.

The arts have always been a lens through which humanity examines its current hopes, fears and desires.

In the literary arts, there is often a time lag because novelists are slower to complete and publish their responses to world events; therefore, it’s likely that ‘pandemic literature’ will not reach its zenith for a few years yet.

The reason Nagamatsu’s novel is so soon out of the gate — too soon for some readers, perhaps — is that this book was, in fact, 10 years in the writing.

Likely edited for greater relevance in the year prior to its release, this book nevertheless shows how literature can be both reflective and cautionary.

Like Orwell’s 1984, Nagamatsu’s How High We Go in the Dark could very easily become a novel that, in 50 years’ time, we look back on and wonder why we did not do more to stop its narrative becoming prophecy.

There are many beautiful and touching moments in this well-written book, but this novel is perhaps most suited to readers who are brave enough to spend time exploring the probable grim future of humankind.

Readers might not be uplifted by the experience, but they will be enriched.​​​​​​​