We meet Kavanagh, a new Defender, straight out of his initial training, and follow him as he navigates his new existence on the Wall. Defenders who fail, and allow the Others to traverse the Wall, will be put to sea and exiled. So the stakes are high, and Kavanagh must not let down his Captain, the Sergeant, and his fellow Defenders.
The Wall (2019) by John Lanchester has been longlisted for this year's Booker Prize. It is a quick and easy read, with the story moving at a good pace, particularly in the second part. He captures the droning boredom of the Defenders, then the sudden shift in to action. I am not sure it is Booker-worthy, as the writing is not exactly literary, but it is a compelling novel for readers who enjoy dystopian fiction.
It is a cautionary tale in many respects. There are shades of Trump's wall along the Mexican border and his racist demonisation of immigrants. There is also the isolation of Brexit, with Britain literally walling itself in to separate itself from the world. But the overriding caution is related to climate and the global failure to act to slow/reverse the effects of humans on our planet. Lanchester perfectly captures the resentment young people do and should feel towards our current political leaders for failure to act. For example, when a politician comes to speak to the Defenders, he describes the Change as follows:
'...The Change was not a single solitary event. We speak of it in that manner because here we experienced one particular shift, of sea level and weather over a period of years it is true, but it felt then and when we look back on it today still feels like an incident that happened, a defined moment in time with a before and an after. There was our parents' world, and now there is our world.' (p110)The 'our world' Lanchester portrays is bleak and hopeless, with limited opportunities for young people. Let's hope he is wrong.
For those interested in speculative fiction, I would also recommend Margaret Atwood's Oryx and Crake (2003) trilogy.