In this blog series, I’m writing about books I’ve enjoyed and learned from both as a reader and as a writer, with a focus on Canadian and indie fiction authors.
Today’s read is Cascade by Toronto-based author Rachel A. Rosen, the first novel in The Sleep of Reason. (The sequel, Blight, is currently up for an Aurora Award for Best Novel.) I picked this one up at last year’s CanCon in Ottawa after hearing Rachel do a wonderful reading of Blight that highlighted her lyrical prose, and then I shelved it for a future time when I could do the story justice. (At the time, I was avoiding any hint of the dark, but I’m back to enjoying a variety of narratives.) I’m glad I waited, because it’s even more relevant than it was last year.
Synopsis
In the wake of a worsening climate crisis, magic runs rampant and demons roam across the Canadian prairies. A long-dead god stirs in the Pacific Ocean, while the wilderness is choked by invasive, screaming grass.
The Cascade has shattered political stability, leaving a scandal-plagued government clinging to power in Ottawa. As catastrophe looms ahead, a precognitive rainman, Ian Mallory, stands between run-of-the-mill corruption and a nightmarish, dystopian future. It is up to a diverse and unlikely band of activists, scientists, journalists, and one underpaid, emoji-spell wielding intern to save their beleaguered country from its own worst impulses.
Reader Review
Cascade is a multi-POV slow build of a narrative that remains gripping despite its primary focus on dire political machinations rather than the magical threats loosed into the world (which do surface at certain key points—one memorable scene featured a literal surfacing that had me at the edge of my seat—but generally remain a background source of tension). It’s the story of humanity confronting an existential crisis and a federal government that acts exactly how you might expect based on what we’re seeing Canadian politicians (not) do today in the face of climate crisis.
Throwing magic into the mix adds an intriguing layer of complexity to the various character motivations and interactions, while also throwing into stark relief a thematic throughline of social injustice, including the conservative takeover of the media, the marginalization of immigrants, Indigenous peoples, and those who are “other,” and the fascist militarization of institutions.
If this all sounds grim, it is, but there are also moments of humour and complex and relatable characters to root for within the grey. The story ends on a note of optimism that makes me look forward to reading the sequel. As someone who continues to have challenges enjoying stories that are “too dark” (subjective, I know), I found Cascade had an excellent balance that left me thoughtful rather than depressed, and motivated to be more of an activist for causes that matter.
Writer Review
What I learned from this story: Action isn’t everything. We’re surrounded by advice that stories need fast pacing, predictable beats, and a Save the Cat!-type plotting structure (which actually was a useful reference when I was writing my novel Fortune’s Shadow), and yet here is a story which is about inaction and grappling with bureaucracies and resistant ideologies, and it works. The longer it progresses, the tenser it gets, with a low level of dread constantly infusing the background – when will someone be able to do something to save the day? And by having the magical threats hovering in the background, it highlights how distant the characters are from the immediacy of dealing with them, until you want to force them to stand in the screaming grass. It’s a Jenga build of conversational skirmishes, petty grievances, and incremental pushing, until it’s not, and then everything comes together as it all falls apart. I’ll be studying the structure on this one to see how the tension is built bit by bit!
You can buy Rachel’s book through several retailers. She also designs book covers and is part of an artists collective called Night Beats.
On to the next story in my speculative stack…or will it be a different genre this time? Guess we’ll find out! Thanks for reading, and let me know if you have other dystopian faves to recommend!
~ Sue
Previous post in this series: The Flaws of Gravity by Stephanie Caye
Sue Archer 