"In the beginning, God created man. And it was pretty much downhill from there."
The world is dying, and we're the murderers. Wars, viruses and hatred has infected every corner of the globe. The greed and ignorance of our ancestors has suffocated Mother Earth, and left the young people of the world to live on dying planet devoid of hope.
But now, people are rising up and demanding not only action, but accountability. A government form from the young and angry, who force everybody over the "age of responsibility" into exile - leaving behind their lives, their homes and being thrown into the harsh wastelands of their own creation.
David and May find themselves in this exile, despite their son being a powerful figure in this world. But the more they learn about their new prison, amongst the rich and poor, the regretful and the righteous, the more they realise they need to escape while they still can.
But the world around them is dangerous, and the people they might have to cross are even more so. The world is ending all around them, but as society collapses along with the ice caps, it's clear that if anyone survives, nothing will ever be the same again.
"Chaos can take many forms, of course, and destroy in infinitely many ways. We chose but one."
The Forcing is a sharp, divisive speculation about the very real dangers of climate change and the horrific fate that awaits us if we don't take action, but also about the frightening fragility of humanity; drawing us close to show us how we really are only one fascist dictator or devastating disaster away from the Doomsday Clock striking midnight.
It's a searing indictment of not only those responsible for catastrophes but those who simply do nothing, raising uncomfortable moral questions for us to think about. Are those who do nothing just as culpable as the perpetrators? Is revenge ever justified? Is it okay to do one bad thing for the greater good? This book will make you think about our responsibility to our fellow humans, what we owe to each other (Scanlon won't sue me for saying that, right?) and what connects us. And honestly, it might give you an existential crisis but it's worth it.
The setting was striking - Hardisty creates an eerily familiar world that is vividly descriptive. We are transported to hellscapes and paradises in the most engaging ways, the world around us almost acting like another character brought to life on the pages.
Our main narrator, David has a clear and distinct voice throughout - at times he's a bit distant and monotone towards the reader, expositing although he's thinking out loud - but that kind of works when we learn more about who he is as a person. Immediately, we find him in the heart-breaking moment of saying goodbye to his life, giving us just a glimpse of his 'before' so we know what he's leaving behind. He's a complex character - he's aware that he's played his part and tries to accepts his fate, but his regret and self-awareness makes me hope for his redemption.
With the biting intensity of a thriller and the majestic world-building of a classic dystopian tale, this story is perfectly paced with peaks and valleys, never spending too much time in one place and blending the moments together like some strange dream - allowing us little reprieves in retrospective accounts and various looks life from before The Forcing.
This is a cataclysmic call-to-arms - a powerful warning about a world that could be.
"Beyond the threshold, the unknown beckons. Rules no longer apply. Convention is upended. All that you think you know about how things work turn out to be wrong. Once you cross the line, there is no return."
Thank you to Anne at Random Things Tours and Karen at Orenda Books for inviting me to take part in this tour. I was gifted an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.
cw: violence, murder, death, disaster, swearing, infidelity.
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