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Today, "Mirial" by Alex Sol published on March 12, 2021 in self-publishing.
Edwige, contributor to the 20 Minutes Books reading group, recommends “Mirial” by Alex Sol, winner of the Unknown Authors Prize in the “Imaginary” category, published on March 12, 2021 in self-publishing.
His favorite quote:
After all, what is madness?
If this is not an atypical way of behaving outside the paths built by society?
Many find me strange, I find others strange.
Why this book?
Because this book won, on December 15, 2022,
the Unknown Authors Prize in the "Imaginary" category, which is a guarantee of quality for a novel that was not widely distributed at the time of its release.
The jurors particularly appreciated the sequence of twists offered by
Mirial
.
Because although the novel is written in the third person,
it is by following Lena, the heroine, that we discover this world, its intricacies, the political games that direct it, the abuses, the solutions.
And her gaze is special, because Léna is a Sapiens: a little more than a “classic” human, she has overdeveloped abilities and intelligence.
Driven by logic rather than emotions, her relationship to others is reminiscent of autistic traits, which is confirmed by the book's dedication phrase: "To all women with Asperger's."
Because the universe is well constructed and described.
Each detail plunges the reader into a future that could very well resemble ours if we became immortal.
If the systems put in place are chilling, they nevertheless seem realistic in view of human behavior.
This is also one of the strengths of this dystopia: it is totally believable.
Because the plot of the story is developed with enough skill
to hold the reader in suspense from the very beginning of the story.
It's hard not to want to follow Léna in her investigation and her discoveries, as striking as they may be.
And, it must be admitted, the surprises follow one another at high speed leaving no respite to the reader who has no choice but to let himself be carried away and carried away to the conclusion.
The essentials in 2 minutes
The plot.
Léna, a Sapiens, discovers that her best friend committed perjury by ending her eternal life.
Unable to believe that this gesture was voluntary, Léna embarks on a breathless and surprising investigation to understand what could have happened.
Characters.
They are complex.
The antagonists aren't totally vicious;
the protagonists not totally irreproachable.
Each of them brings depth to the story and leads Léna to question herself and to progress in her reflections and her perception of the world.
Places.
A privileged country closed to the rest of the world.
The time.
A future where births have declined to zero and where the population has been maintained by making the living immortal.
The author.
Passionate about new technologies, Alex Sol searched for herself for a long time until the moment of her diagnosis: she has Asperger's autism.
It was the trigger for her to rebuild herself through a two-year trip to Canada and lead a decision: to become a writer.
This book has been read with
great eagerness to discover every ins and out of this story.
But also a lot of amazement at the many twists and turns that dot this story.
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Book sheet 20 Minutes
Books
Imaginary
Literary prize