Pod
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION
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- $16.99
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- $16.99
Publisher Description
SHORTLISTED FOR THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION, 2023
'Knocked my socks off . . . it is set entirely in the ocean. It's not science fiction. It's realistic. It's set in the here and now . . . And it's fascinating' Barbara Kingsolver in the New York Times
'A pacy, provocative tale of survival in a fast-changing marine landscape' Daily Mail
Bestselling author Laline Paull returns with an immersive and transformative new novel of an ocean world - its extraordinary creatures, mysteries, and mythologies - that is increasingly haunted by the cruelty and ignorance of the human race.
Ea has always felt like an outsider. She suffers from a type of deafness that means she cannot master the spinning rituals that unite her pod of spinner dolphins. When tragedy strikes her family and Ea feels she is partly to blame, she decides to make the ultimate sacrifice and leave.
As Ea ventures into the vast, she discovers dangers everywhere, from lurking predators to strange objects floating in the water. But just as she is coming to terms with her solitude, a chance encounter with a group of arrogant bottlenoses will irrevocably alter the course of her life.
In her terrifying, propulsive novel, Laline Paull explores the true meaning of family, belonging, sacrifice - the harmony and tragedy of the pod - within an ocean that is no longer the sanctuary it once was, and which reflects a world all too recognisable to our own.
'Laline Paull succeeds splendidly in rising to the most important literary challenge of our time - restoring voice and agency to other-than-human beings' Amitav Ghosh
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Paull's third "humanimal" novel (after The Ice) is unabashedly anthropomorphic, didactic, and YA in its vibe, despite graphic content that, Paull admits, makes "some people want a trigger warning." Ea, a newly mature spinner dolphin, is deaf to the ocean's music, the spiritual lifeblood of her kind. Sulky and nervous, she avoids her cheerful, amorous peers. The Rorqual is a lone humpback whose family was wiped out by the oblivious passage of a single ship. Devi is the devious First Wife in a bottlenose megapod organized in harems. And then there's mad Google, another bottlenose and former military asset. All are prodded to action by their awareness of an impending storm, but these character introductions take eight slow chapters. The pace picks up when a remora latches onto Ea, whispering corruption into her ear and impelling her to flee her pod, but this may be too late for many readers. In addition to the expected ecological themes, Paull substitutes the word race where scientists would say species, apparently to underline the sociopolitical dimension of the fable but really only muddying the waters. Readers will struggle to emotionally connect to this.
