The Doomsday Book of Fairy Tales
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- €7.99
Publisher Description
An astounding tale of a dangerous quest, a talking dog, and fragmented fairy tales in an eerie post-climate collapse future.
A long time ago, the Vanderchucks fled the growing climate disaster and followed their neighbours into the Underground. Jesse Vanderchuck thought it was the end. Of the world. Of life. Eventually, Jesse’s little sister, Olivia, ran away and Jesse started picking through trash heaps in Toronto’s abandoned subway tunnels. Day in, day out.
Now, years later, Jesse meets a talking dog. Fighting illness and the hostile world aboveground, Jesse and Doggo embark on a fool’s errand to find Olivia — or die trying. Along the way, Jesse spins a series of fairy tales from threads of memories, weaving together the past, present, and future into stories of brave girls, of cunning lads, of love in the face of wickedness, and of hope in the midst of despair.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
Even in a science fiction dystopia, hope can find a way. Jesse has lived in the ruins of the Toronto subway system since he was 15, when an apocalyptic climate disaster ended life as everyone knew it. Solitary, desperate, and near death, Jesse meets Doggo, a talking mutt who gives Jesse the courage and companionship he needs to return to the surface and search for his lost sister. As the duo embark on this quest, Jesse tells Doggo bewitching, dark fairy tales he half remembers and half concocts, like the story of a young girl with striped scars who’s adopted by a man-eating tiger and the tale of a fisherman who meets a river troll that claims all the fish are his wives. Emily Brewes’ novel has the same harsh poignancy as Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but there’s an added layer here, a focus on the restorative power of storytelling and our need for community. That gives The Doomsday Book of Fairy Tales unexpected warmth.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Brewes's solid, genre-bending debut opens on a near-future Earth that's been destroyed by the ravages of climate change. Food scarcity, extreme weather, and dwindling options drove the Vanderchuck family into the Underground when Jesse Vanderchuck was 15. Thirty-five years later, Jesse makes his way to the surface again. With Doggo the talking dog by his side, he sets off in search of his long-lost sister, Olivia, who ran away when she was 12. Olivia was never able to forgive their mother for leaving their father behind on the surface, and with that knowledge, Jesse follows the suspicion that Olivia has headed back to their childhood home. Along the way, while battling his age and hunger, Jesse tells a series of charming fairy tales to his dog companion, and the tales intertwine with Jesse's journey until what's real and what's part of his imagination become blurred. Though the ending is shockingly abrupt, Jesse's introspective narration successfully draws the reader in. Dark and a little absurd, this will appeal to fans of intimate postapocalyptic tales.
