Alex James's Blog: AlexJamesNovels Blog - Posts Tagged "dystopian"

The third book in Tales of Nevaeh, David Wind’s Epic Fantasy series, focuses a lot more on magical realism by taking paranormal psychic warfare to the next step. This opened speculative possibilities about what would be real unless psychic-warrior partners Areenna and Mikaal took action to prevent the Dark Masters’ conquest of Nevaeh. This is made difficult by the fact that both Areenna and Mikaal become increasingly distrustful of The Eight sorceresses and other grand supposedly benevolent natural forces, who they must rely on to prevail. The Dark Masters know who Mikaal and Areenna are and plan to use their fondness for one another against them both. However, what the Masters’ don’t know is that there is a mysterious third person giving the psychic-warriors the edge in battle that could well thwart their conquest of Nevaeh.

As with Born to Magic, the first book, Areenna and Mikaal must contend with a witch; this time the witch’s (Lessig) background and relative importance as an evil rising power is made clear at the outset. I liked the visions provided by The Eight, which showed what would happen if Lessig was tackled in different ways. Trinity is split into two parts, Book One and Book Two, the latter being where the adventure really began for me and it did so with astounding revelation of Nevaeh’s past and present. The last 25% was rife with raw anticipation, as the final battle looms and strategy meets counter-strategy. Through third-person omniscient point-of-view and ever reliable mutant-animal aoutems such as the flying Gaalrie; we experience the glorious battles and impending fate of Nevaeh. The extremely well-conceived epic battle at the end had excellent build-up and delivery of outstanding writing.

Criticism: The language ‘I know not how’, though sounding authentic, was done a bit too often and gave a stilted effect. Some common themes slowed the progression of the plot: the movements of the numerous characters and the devotion between Areenna and Mikaal sometimes didn’t represent change in their relationship. Entering forests, discovering deception, and then aiming for a resolution repeated often. Admittedly this could be because this is the third book in this series I have read and the themes are becoming very familiar. Born to Magic #1 and Dark Masters #2 had evil coupled with great journeys of discovery, but I felt Trinity was a psychic game of chess until the battles commenced.

Overall, there was much in Trinity to applaud. There was revelation about the state of Nevaeh, and possibilities about what evil plans could befall it as the forces of good and evil prepare for a final clash. I immensely enjoyed the final battle, which is comparable in impact to the one at the culmination of the Lord of the Rings. My reservations about Trinity were because of its focus on psychic powers and preparation than on adventure. However, if you’re into this series as I am then there isn’t a compelling reason to not read Trinity.

The Hunger Games is a controversial young adult dystopian novel that is a highly competitive death-dealing game, and a fight for survival. I couldn’t watch the film – there wasn’t enough to grab my attention – but the book was bought as a gift and was the only dystopian one on my shelf. As a result, I didn’t begin reading with much expectation that I would take to the novel: I’m not a fan of the young adult genre in general, with some exceptions.

The novel had quite a potent political message, especially early on. It illustrates simply and yet strongly how inequality can lead to resentment between the starving and the better-off, even if both groups know better on a full stomach. It’s a clever ploy of the Capitol’s system to divide the people so that their hold on power is relatively undisrupted. The Capitol uses official excuses for those who have starved to death, burying their guilt and complicity at ridding many of the districts of their inhabitants. The population are not fooled, but what can they do to act against the Capitol when the Treaty of Treason is an intimidating warning to those who would oppose them, in the form of a reminder that past uprisings have bitterly failed. It’s at this point the reader must wonder how accurate this history is, and if it is, why do the Capitol need to remind the districts not to rebel if there weren’t weaknesses?

Let’s start with the positive. There were more than a few lengthy passages that sustained my interest, mostly between Katniss and Peeta’s struggle to understand and trust each other before they entered the Hunger Games as the two Tributes representing District 12. The battle for survival in the arena started off very well, capturing my interest and impressing upon me the severity of Katniss’ predicament. The conclusion as well, was well written, emotionally tense, and with enough peril to make it impressive. First-person point-of-view worked well at intervals, bringing Katniss’ personality, likes, and dislikes to the fore and engaging the reader.

Katniss’ voice did bother me, rendering her emotionally numb to any related or past events. This is where first-person point-of-view didn’t work well, and the switches were occasionally noticeable. Katniss and Peeta’s mostly passive and tolerant attitude to following rules irritated me. I know why they did it – to protect their families – but it almost seemed to justify the need for a sycophantic totalitarian regime, bloated by wealth and superficiality. It made the characters sick, and it made me feel sick, but the characters still went along with it more often that I would have liked. I’m obviously only commenting as a reader/observer here and not a participant in the Hunger Games; maybe that would make a difference to my opinions.

Katniss’s boundaries were pushed once or twice, causing her to act in rebellion, but her actions only really made a difference where it concerned the Capitol’s perception of her and to me reinforced the idea that if you have enough talent you can become popular enough that it doesn’t matter that most districts are starved and oppressed. The bottom line is that Katniss and Peeta were absolutely helpless, and had to do as they were told. I didn’t think this philosophy did much to encourage young adults in life, even if the suspense and gory deaths were appealing to some.

I don’t know what my expectations were for The Unlucky Man – I was looking for something dystopian, dark, and that I hadn’t read before – and believe it or not that’s what I got! I’d classify it as an urban dystopian fantasy with supernatural and thriller elements. Ultimately, it’s about ordinary man John Hesker who is talking with best friend Corg when a body smashes on top of their car. They’re questioned by an investigator called Whimsy, who is a man only half-interested in what they are saying and seems to ask his questions ‘on a whim’, so he was well-named. However, it’s not long before the dark elusive organisation called Control will send its most accomplished assassin Wychelo (like a witch with dark unnerving pools for eyes) to kill Jon and therefore hide its secrets. When a disturbing supernatural force is injected into Jon, he goes on the run, over Old Links bridge where there is no law and only savagery awaits.

Well, HTG Hedges has an eye for atmosphere and setting, which places the reader into a three-dimensional world that brought clarity and richness to every description of setting, and was applied consistently throughout. I’d say this was the best feature of his writing, and made me feel as if I was reading something new or rare. The writing from 76% captured me fully, immersing me into complete disorientation, which was the intention, into a graphic hell that was also somewhat pleasant on the senses to witness.

Criticism: it took me a while to remember who the villains were, especially their names and what distinguished them, because they had small parts and mainly from the point-of-view of Jon. Closer to the end there was a touch too much background information on the villains, which though missing before to add mystery, was inserted a little late in this relatively short novel. Third-person omniscient was used to re-shine a light on the villains at 67%, which though I worried the plot was crumbling at this point it did actually put things back into perspective where they had been missing in the car-chases and well-directed action scenes. Third-person and first-person point-of-view was mingled, which lent the story inconsistency and did become more noticeable as it progressed. On that same note, the author was adept at using first-person to add depth, colour, and contrast that I haven’t seen before when reading from first-person POV, but his use of third-person omniscient from 76% was a display of incredible writing. It seems the author needs to decide on where his strengths lie and how to use point-of-view with consistency to deliver maximum impact. I would have enjoyed this more if it was better balanced as well: two-thirds action and one-third background/conclusion didn’t move events forward in a way that I had hoped.

Overall, I don’t think HTG Hedges’ readers will be disappointed by his writing. The atmospheric descriptions, combined with metaphor, worked consistently well throughout. I was often curious where the plot was going, and when things turned chaotic I was utterly absorbed, with mouth agape. Piecing together the sub-elements of the plot didn’t come immediately to me, but when parts did they made sense and piqued my interest. There’s some terrific writing in this.

What was remarkable about Augmented Reality was the ideas and how they evolved throughout the book, changing society in new ways and giving the characters new problems to tackle. As a science fiction reader, I felt I got more out of it than just any dystopian society with characters fighting the status quo. Events run at a fast pace in first person, present tense. The story reads a bit like a film, based on fast-moving description with events brought to Joe’s eyes in real time or moving so fast that each chapter is relevant.

Joe is being manipulated, for the reason that the Central Authority is trying to rid itself of enemy subverts. He’s given a job position predicting stocks and a suite in a prestigious block, and is acquainted with beautiful women. Joe is shocked at his newfound success, but he keeps having dreams about coming to the rescue of a young woman and her daughter. Learning the truth about human society and the past will bring Joe revelations he could only have imagined. Acting on what he finds, with the help of many talented people, is the real challenge if they are to escape the augmented reality they were brought up believing in.

Unlike most dystopian society science fiction, author James Jackson lets us know from the first chapter that hiding the truth is normal, almost hinting that there will be no conspiracy or betrayal to come, as in Philip K Dick novels. Why is the truth being hidden? Most science fiction blames a government or corporation, but we don’t often hear the reasoning, with a mind to accept it for its virtues. At first Augmented Reality seems to be about how happiness and perfection in society is just an illusion, but there is so much more to the book than illusion. The hidden truth may be the literal opposite to happiness and perfection.

I took a lot of pleasure from reading this book, and I couldn’t stop reading the last third to see how the characters would end up because their situations kept changing in response to new problems. That being said, I especially liked the scenes with Joe, Miranda, and Gordon earlier on because they brought out Joe’s innocence and I got a good sense of what was at stake. I suppose I was curious where the story would take me. I got more out of Augmented Reality than I expected. Author James Jackson is full of surprises in his fiction.

*Initial impressions*

Some of the initial impressions from EITA were that it was a young-adult dystopian story set in a fantasy world that resembles Roman times, but with the focus on the Martial training academy called Blackcliff, where young promising cadets are trained to one day replace the Emperor, whose dynasty is foreseen to perish. As you can imagine, things can get brutal at such a place and the Commandant is the worst; a sadist who inflicts pain on even the main characters. The Commandant’s own son, Elias, despises her.

*Characters*

I found Elias to be a complex and interesting character, running away from the misdeeds of his past, and his blood, to find freedom from a tyranny he’s part of, in his capacity as a Martial ‘Mask’. He sees his female friend Helene as a companion always forcing him to fit in and obey, but he sees more sides to her as the story goes on and they are tested. It could be that time spent with tribal elders has made Elias sympathetic to the plight of people.

The poverty and slavery class are the Scholars, ruled by the Martials. Daughter of Scholars, Laia, seeks to save her brother Darin from Martial prison and along the way fights doubts about her inadequacy, fear of Martial punishment, and how she feels about the reputation of her courageous parents in order to get information. She doesn’t know that she’ll have to deal with male attention, torture, and a more daring side of her nature. Her point of view was a unique contrast to Elias’, seeing Martial rule from a slave’s perspective. Though consequences could be dire, she was watched less than Elias and had the opportunity to learn more.

*The Story*

Just as the characters are complex and with depth, so the story is. There are events occurring outside the perspective of the characters, such as foretelling Augurs, supernatural demons, an Emperor riding south, and Laia’s older brother’s attempts at defying the Martials. I liked when more of the background to these was given, in conversational exchanges, and the reader develops a connected picture of the world. For me, it meant I got more from the story than what could have been, in another story, a narrow viewpoint.

The emotions among the main characters came off a bit strong about three-quarters through, until the end, and I found the story a touch too tragic for my taste. Perhaps it was inevitable after the suppressed emotional feelings. Elias came across as a rebel and so I would have liked him to have fought more against the Augurs and Trials than succumb amid everything else that happens. Elias didn’t entertain any further thoughts of escape after the beginning and I found the nature and conclusion of the Fourth Trial, about three-quarters through, to be disappointing. I think I understand that author Sabaa Tahir’s intention was to show him to be just as powerless as Laia.

*Conclusion*

EITA was immersive, capturing my attention every chapter, and it was what I felt to be an accomplishment in storytelling. I’d go as far to say that it’s the best young adult dystopian story I’ve read in years. This review was long, and there was much to think about.

How I attained this book?
In HMV there was a sale. Dozens of dystopian books surrounded me, and I took time choosing which I wanted, to my family member’s chagrin. I thought I’d settle with a Philip K Dick book alongside another that had been recommended to me – Fahrenheit 451. I could trust Philip K Dick could write a good novel from when I read much of him in 2010 and 2011.

How does it start?
When Nick Appleton’s son, Bobby, finally takes the civil service test, and fails, as everybody told him he would because they’re biased, we don’t even know what he’s truly feeling, but he’s changed. His wife is now an agent of conformity bent on using Nick to perpetuate their family’s survival instead of the notion of real love.

Is OFFF8 typical Dick?
In some ways, yes, it’s typical of author Philip K Dick. Main protagonist Nick Appleton loses affection for his wife, distrusts her even, and then goes looking for a rebellious young female who can teach him something new about life, allow him to be a bit naughty, and explore his ‘human’ side and the revolution-in-works. In this sense it’s a bit like Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.

In other ways, it’s not so typical. There aren’t any conspiracy theories, and the tables don’t turn on the main protagonist in quite as dramatic a way as they do in Total Recall or Minority Report. We’re looking at a fight against a dystopian system, but it’s not one that can be sought from the protagonist searching for clues, as in Paycheck. Instead we’re anticipating news from the character Thors Provoni who had abandoned Earth on a ship and seeks to elude destruction, before deciding to make a return and change things for the better, this time accompanied by a giant protoplasmic slime alien. As far as the establishment is concerned, Thors Provoni is a villain, and I’m sure the medication-reliant majority on Earth agree, except those daring enough to sell rebel preacher material.

What flavour of dystopian are we in for?
Our Friends From Frolix 8 (OFFF8) shows what happens when those in power are victim to the fear and pressure they exert on the population on a daily basis, and likens those certain people to children in their eagerness to possess, and proclaim the absolute certainty of things.

Very much a vision of a future where population control, enforced conformity, ‘relocation camps’ as punishments, surveillance, and biased two-party political systems are the norm. It makes you appreciate that from a time long ago authors such as Philip K Dick could see disadvantages with the current political model. We see news broadcasters underplaying revolutionary events to support the system in power, and their paid positions, twisting fact with fiction in a way that’s reminiscent of every time there is a real election.

I was beginning to get the feeling I was reading the solution to a problem we’re seeing emerge in modern day of increased surveillance and infringement of privacy that comes with technological advancement, and of severe measures taken against minorities or any who don’t conform to the standard majority mode of living.

Is it good?
OFFF8 is possibly the best PKD book I’ve read, and the most relevant to read now. Though it bears similarity to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep, there isn’t anything much more original than a protoplasmic slime alien, and it was fun reading how the tyranny struggles to react to this. I kept talking about the book. Must read!

‘Hope is a vein of gold, faith makes the weakest soul bold, and loving kindness warms those lost in despairing cold.’

Corona-related quotes

‘The Xuan Wu district is under quarantine. Citizens, return to your homes.’ An unseen stealth drone booms its lie as it tries to prevent those infected by the Blood Plague pushing towards a closed-off bridge. ‘A vaccination is ready. Return home and prepare for immuno-psyberware code upload. Please comply or stunning and imprisonment will follow ... Misery goes viral.’

What’s it about?

‘Chaos, let our wills collide, and in the moment between two thoughts decide the dream equilibrium of Dragonland.’

The Moment Between Two Thoughts (TMBTT) is a battle between eco-terrorist group CHAOS and the spaceship New Hope’s psychic authority and guide Gaia, who leads the survivors of the human race to new planet Dragonland, which represents humanity’s last hope after we’ve ruined the planet. ‘Ruined the planet’, you may ask. There is a deadly virus called the Blood Plague, neo Nazis, and governments that pretend to care for the environment as a way of protecting their interests. All the while, it’s spelt out that ordinary people are consumers, too hacked in to the system and reliant on … upgrades, technology, entertainment, and fantasy.

But CHAOS doesn’t want the (privileged?) survivors to survive, ahem, instead wanting them to suffer for their crimes on Earth. Thereafter, we’re introduced to a battle of wills, mostly represented with symbolic good vs evil extravaganza – you’ll have to read it to see how awesome it is – but which is actually occurring in the consciousness of those aboard the ship!

How does TMBTT compare with other science fiction and fantasy?

When I started, I felt it was reminiscent of Neuromancer and Blade Runner. There is certainly that cutting-edge feeling, of high-economy and low morals, but with an ecological twist. The author does this, at first, by taking consumerism to what reads like its natural extreme.

There are many ideas and links he makes, which would be especially interesting for people living in the high-tech society we do live in, of how past belief is similar to present marketing, and the fear of fire in Christian religion may be, through cultural osmosis, the psychic equivalent of hell in the network of devices called ‘psyberware’ that people are connected to – though I didn’t feel I knew exactly what psyberware was. ‘Work hard, party hard, and let your psyberware cook you up something illegal. It’s the only way to survive times like this.’

Conclusion

I was sucked into a world of author Nick Crutchley’s imagination, and when it ended, I felt I’d taken it with me. TMBTT is addictive – the best quality, and not the only one of the author’s writing, having also read Nick Crutchley’s Deadweight. In TMBTT, there was certainly that feeling of having lived through an epic and momentous conflict.

‘Dyspheria is, always was, and always will be, the greatest threat to humanity.’

Liberty Farm (LF) is a prescient dystopian novel of a future Earth that has been saved by the ‘Writer’ after a mass outbreak of the VIRUS, dyspheria, ended what was left of human civilisation. People are safe now they’re in Liberty Farm but something is amiss when the Writer is ready to step down from his position and allow a politician clone Dean Perish to replace him, making systems monitor Christopher deeply uncomfortable ... The virus has never been under control, but it’s getting worse, and a mysterious red-haired woman keeps appearing to leave Christopher clues. Is there more behind the rumours of hacking, and Liberty Farm itself, than life as he knows it?

As with comparable classics by George Orwell, Ray Bradbury, and Philip K Dick, Liberty Farm is about hiding the truth; and the relentless uncompromising search for a solution to the inconvenient human individual’s freedom, love, creativity, and imagination.

Same as the classics, but how is LF different?
Liberty Farm transcends time, linking outdated ideas of the human being’s ideal appearance and performance to the ideal resident – not citizen – who is completely reliant on external technology in the farm and is expected to support the most popular electoral candidates; and this compliance is enforced through intrusive surveillance in public areas and regular internal assessments. I mean, residents are basically hooked into the mainframe that monitors their behaviour. Christopher can’t get too excited, or probably even fart, without his bosses knowing about it.

The idea of perfection of the rehabilitated resident is the driving force in life for dormant and lower-class symptomatic residents, to become ‘the emune’ who are entitled to material privileges. You’ve got to work for your future, the dream, to become the emune. In this sense, I felt LF was a criticism of modern-day meritocracy, of chasing the out-of-reach dream that is presented to us.

LF is a dystopian novel of severity:
Technology has advanced to regulate behaviour with audioprogramming feeding nonsense sensations and emotions into our ears to help with work performance while holographic screens circulate before our eyes. Every time Christopher is in the public bar Body, he’s exposed to the ‘libervision’ news.

Our BRAINs are not our own:
1) They’re downloading updates to and from the mainframe.
2) ‘BRAINs released small doses of reward chemicals during the shopping experience itself as well as larger amounts after purchases.’
3) The media plays strongly on the threat to BRAINs hackers pose from those lower-class symptomatic residents – where dyspheria is prevalent.

How did all this happen? It started with a virus: ‘Lived to this day by all its residents, still affected by the disease more than a century after the Outbreak’. And it really is still lived to this day: ‘Residents are politely asked to finish their drinks and return to their homes by nine for hibernation. Return to your home by nine for hibernation.’

Overall
LF has a strong foundation in psychiatry and lucid dreaming, as well as the science fiction dystopian genre itself. For readers who want to read what Earth could be like in so many years, LF is a plausible account, original in its construction. I’d say it’s for readers who like to be intellectually challenged, to see the world from different angles and immerse themselves in the dimensions and texture of the farm. The feeling throughout is one of calm gentle curiosity, and though LF can be compared to classics in quality and genre, you finish realising you haven’t read a book quite like it.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/5...

First impressions
I thought it was to be taken for granted that the story was about burning books, after hearing about Fahrenheit 451 (F451) and reading the description, and upon reading the first chapters I wasn’t impressed with the beginning of the story, feeling it was a touch simplistic, and nothing I’d not covered before in dystopian fiction. The main character, Montag, works as a fireman burning books, and his eyes are immediately opened as to how happy he is by a young (flirtatious?) girl, who is too young for the married fireman yet represents the youth he’s left behind himself. She’s spontaneous, curious, and energetic; everything he’s not allowed to be.

I was wrong – excellent story!
From humble beginnings, the story circulates around Montag’s daily life and everything wrong with it: his wife’s suicide attempt, the blaring intrusion of wall screens in his living room, his fear of the Hound, an ongoing internal and external war, and the burning of zealous innocent readers who hoard away books.

The Hound: ‘Light flickered on bits of ruby glass and on sensitive capillary hairs in the nylon-brushed nostrils of the creature that quivered gently, gently, gently, its eight legs spidered under it on rubber-padded paws.

But there is far more wrong with the world than even what’s before Montag’s eyes. Most notable is his antagonist and boss Beatty, a book-burning fireman who spouts quotes remembered from when he did read to mentally challenge any possible counter-argument Montag may think to conjure. In this way Beatty is a hypocrite, seeing himself as having superior knowledge to any who may read, in his justification of the status-quo:

‘Whirl man’s mind around about so fast under the pumping hands of publishers, exploiters, broadcasters, that the centrifuge flings off all unnecessary, time-wasting thought.’

‘There was no dictum, no declaration, no censorship, to start with, no! Technology, mass exploitation and minority pressure carried the trick, thank God.’

Some impactful quotes:

‘But remember the captain belongs to the most dangerous enemy of truth and freedom, the solid unmoving cattle of the majority. Oh, God, the terrible tyranny of the majority.’

‘We cannot tell the precise moment when friendship is formed. As in filling a vessel, drop by drop, there is at last a drop which makes it run over, so in a series of kindnesses there is at last one which makes the heart run over.’

Overall
F451 is a story you need to read if you’re into dystopian fiction. It takes you to the roots of humanity and compares it solidly with a plausible version of those who represent what could be deemed its opposite: the mindset of the silent conforming majority coupled with the zeal of book-burning firemen. It has that feeling Philip K Dick books have, of putting you in the shoes of a character who has to fight his or her way through an oppressive system, and there were interesting characters and groups in society Montag comes across. Highly recommended.

‘What with so many public service vehicles being hijacked during the travel crisis, but I think they were more concerned for the protection of government property.’

A dystopian novel
These Unnatural Men (TUM) was not the novel I was expecting. Many, but not all, dystopian novels I’ve read are influenced by cataclysmic events occurring during the novel itself, whereas in TUM the characters are already trapped by past circumstances, so it falls into the ‘trapped dystopia’ category in my mind. TUM was character based. I found this style refreshing and new, taking the reader out of the tried-and-tested formulas for dystopia, and what’s marvellous is that it also plays with the reader’s mind, dipping into preconceived notions of psychiatric institutes and blending them with a euthanasia focus.

Fascinating characters
Nieve Hindeman is the protagonist, an up-and-coming euthanasist bent on advancing her career at Boar House and doing euthanasia the right way. She’s very much a product of the present in TUM, but a more extreme version who wants to prove her theory to hope it will change euthanasia for the better. She’s not a ‘doctor’, as the patients still get confused what to call them; I liked this link to the past. Her character was fascinating and disturbing.

And though I disliked Nieve’s cruelty, zealous approach, nosiness, and her blatant disrespect of privacy, I came to feel sorry for her at times when flashbacks were given into her past and when older characters criticised her lack of knowledge of the real world. It’s as if she was groomed to be a euthanasist and she’s as trapped as the patients are: ‘You should have applied and received your civilian money by now, but if you haven’t you can borrow some from the petty cash box.’

Author EJ Babb did expand well on the rigorous assessment process for acceptance into the euthanasia program. There is a lot of red tape preventing cases from going forward, and by the time the patient is through with all these tests, like David, they’re impatient and they just want to die.

The character Logue and his dynamic with Nieve was worth reading:
‘Logue smiled at her – a rarely seen expression on him. It made his big, droopy eyes shrink inwards as the folds on his face bunched together. He looked subhuman, almost lizard-like.’

‘His watery eyes were boarded with prominent blood vessels and his thin top lip curled inward as he spoke. “Everyone has secrets.”’

Criticism
I’d like to have learnt more about what had happened in the past, what this travel crisis was, and to delve deeper into the technologies used at Boar House for the purpose of euthanasia beyond a particular drug.

David, Nieve’s case, was intentionally boring, and the point was hammered home how little of his true reasons for being at Boar House was divulged. It makes the reader wonder, is it David who’s not forthcoming or is Nieve imagining things from too much pressure? He wasn’t interesting after the beginning and the story, true to its form, was more about Nieve.

Overall
TUM was a novel that kept me reading. I wanted to know what Nieve would discover to be the truth and I wanted to know what sort of character she was. Page after page we learn about the fictitious dystopian world author EJ Babb has created, and even after finishing you still feel you want to learn more.