Bukes L.

Zoocity / Translated from English by A. Krovyakova.

Moscow: Tsentrpoligraf Publ., 2011, 349 p. 4000 copies. (p) ISBN 978 - 5 - 227 - 03109 - 9

"It is proved that cases of so-called "revivification" took place in the mid-80s of the XX century. The latter view is supported by data collected by anthropologists in New Guinea, Mali, and the Philippines. The earliest recorded case relates to the infamous Australian murderer Kevin Warren. Along with Warren, his pet kangaroo wallaby Bayat was also shot."

Lauren Buckes ' book is good because, unlike most science fiction novels, it is written not from the outside, but from the inside. A similar effect was achieved by Frank Herbert in Dune: It's not like you're reading a description, but an eyewitness account. In addition, the sophisticated reader will suspect that Zoocity also has a tradition of "Dark Beginnings" by Philip Pullman, who described people accompanied by essential animals-daemons. In short, Ms. Buckes ' novel is set in a vast plateau of fantasy literature traditions. But if it was just a matter of following traditions, Zoocity would not have gained such deafening popularity. After all, Bukes 'previous novels - "Maverick" and "Moxie Land" - went almost unnoticed. And Zoocity has an impressive track record. He is a recipient of the Arthur C. Clarke Award, shortlisted for BSFA awards, World Fantasy Award, University of Johannesburg Creative Writing Prize, M-Net Literary Award, Nielsen's Booksellers' Choice Award-the list is impressive.

So what is this very "revivification"? If you are a law-abiding citizen, or at least a simple corrupt official, it does not threaten you. But if you managed to kill someone-get ready for the fact that now you will have a companion. It won't be Pullman's daemon, or the familiar of a medieval witch - it will be your Cain seal, showing the world your sin. At the same time, there is no correlation between the severity of the crime and the type of animal: a cold - blooded gangster can get a ferret, and a young lady who killed by negligence can get a hyena. Attitudes to the" animated " - or, in a politically correct version," aposymbiotics " - are different in the world. In China, for example, they are simply shot, and in the Republic of South Africa they are only driven into ghettos. By the way, the fact that this book was written by an author from South Africa is remarkable. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was right a hundred times when he said that the Boers should not have been given power. The result is apartheid, and then, on the contrary, black racism. It's the same with aposymbiotics. In addition to the ghetto already mentioned, there is another side: like any forbidden, indecent, sometimes even obscene topic, "zivotnenie" gave rise to a subculture. The Internet is filled with messages like "I love the animated ones" or "I want you and your pet." The porn industry makes films on the verge of bestiality. But this is true, by the way. The point is also that while receiving the "beast", the sinner sometimes simultaneously gains some useful skill from the category of "supernatural". So, Zinzi Leletu, a former journalist who shot her brother in a drug-induced delirium, along with a sloth acquired the ability to find things lost by people. She just sees something like the aura of a lost person around her. And, of course, he makes it his new profession.

There is, by the way, in the book and mysticism, something like voodoo. The fact is that you can get rid of the "revivification", like, with the help of a gloomy ritual, coupled with blood and other unappetizing details. This is exactly what the local oligarch intends to do. How it all ended - read it. But it ended very romantic and scary at the same time.

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