How to predict the future when the world is over? – “Sakhalin Island” book review

What does it look like?

Speaking of the cover, it should be mentioned that the edition is very nice, and the cover itself has just been prepared in a minimalist way, at the same time so that it conveyed a lot of content, because it shows the title island. Its outline shows the stops in the protagonist’s journey. Everything is slightly obscured by a gas mask through which a human skull can see. The font is also interesting, as it fits perfectly into the whole picture. The chapter titles are provided with the same font as the title on the cover, which nicely binds the visual whole of the book.

About what?

Reading the pages of novels, of which there are quite a few, about five hundred, we follow the fate of a young futurology student whose task is a research expedition to the island of Sakhalin. And there, on the basis of what he sees and visits, he must learn to forecast the future and examine the changes that have occurred since the war. The latter ravaged the world we know, leaving only Japan partially viable for humans. To the north of it, the title Sakhalin is a buffer zone between Japan and the rubble of the rest of the world. It functions like a purgatory, a prison for the most dangerous criminals or exiles or newcomers who wanted to get to the Japanese paradise.

Who?

A young futurologist named Lilak visits the island for research, sent by her department’s chair. He intends to make his dream come true and write a work as a travel report. Everything goes smoothly for the first half of the stay. The girl gets a companion-guide who, like her, is Russian. They visit together, talk to people they meet, often taking advantage of their hospitality. At some point, however, the situation gets out of hand and is reversed by one hundred and eighty degrees. The reader is fond of a great plot twist, which makes the novel, boring so far, gains momentum, and the history of blushes. Even though the first half is not very busy, it is worth sticking to this point. It turns out that the two main characters are forced to face all the dangers of the island.

As?

Wierkin accomplished the almost impossible. Among the many post-apocalyptic positions on the market, I managed to create something new, something unusual. The theme of the Third World War, of course, had appeared before, but the author of the Sakhalin Islandshe set the plot of his novel in an innovative place, in the Japanese archipelago. The first half of his book is a great introduction to this world. Descriptions are a real treasury of knowledge, a kind of handbook for those who will want to create their stories in this universe. Unfortunately, not much happens because of this, because we mainly read dialogues and long and flowery descriptions. Anyway, the entire book is written in a fairly high style. Feel that the author had something important to convey. The above-mentioned descriptions are prepared so meticulously and so precisely that at times we have the impression of reading a report or a travel report, not a novel. Hence the comparison to Lem, who presented the events in an extremely meticulous manner.

For whom?

Wierkin, colloquially speaking, don’t fuck in dance. The book, especially its other half, is brutal, bloody and uncompromising. The author describes without any embarrassment what could happen after the third war in fine detail. So we read about the incredible amount of dead bodies. About making money by catching corpses on the seashore, about burning them in the furnaces of power plants. About the festival called torture of a Negro, shooting people for entertainment or clashes straight from the Roman Colosseum. The ease and accessibility with which Wierkin writes about death, killing, serving punishments or mutilated people, makes Sakhalin Island should have the PEGI 18 category. Everything is blunt, strong and thought-provoking.

Defects?

Are. First of all, the uneven distribution of events. Half a book made of descriptions and with almost no action taken can easily be put off. The reader is tired of long streams of spiritual words, often constituting philosophical treatises. It causes us to lose interest in the right story. This is, of course, a great guide to the universe, but it could be done separately or neatly combined with events. At first, it is difficult to understand what, where and why is happening. At least a shortened introduction to the events is missing. It also manifests itself in flashbacks that are hard to separate from the actual action. The reading is also not made easier by very long chapters without cutscenes, which makes it difficult to take a break without losing the plot. In the plot, the flaws appear in the form of a few unreliable coincidences and rather vaguely related threads, especially in the memories of the heroes. The language used by the author is also difficult. Stay focused all the time while reading.

What at the end?

If we grind up the inconvenience, an interesting story of escaping the island paralyzed by an earthquake awaits us. Despite extreme situations, the characters try to remain themselves, Lilak still has her journey and her research at the back of her mind. However, he feels that he is fulfilling a more important mission there than being accepted for college. The whole journey takes on a personal meaning for her, especially as she takes care of a crippled child and wants to smuggle it to Japan. He wants to, but knows that it is not allowed there, which further aggravates the hopelessness. The reader is able to feel her emotions and actively accompany her in her struggles.