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Hive
In near-future Britain, climate change has led to food shortages and civil unrest, and pollinating insects are in steep decline. Commercial bee farmer, Victor, travels around the farms of Kent with his hives to pollinate fruit trees and crops.
Research entomologist Annie is devastated when she’s ordered to give up her captive bee colonies – her life’s work – and reluctantly joins forces with Victor to ensure a harvest. But the bees are dying. Their only hope seems to be an experimental alternative to insect robot pollinators called nanodrones.
But why does the drone designer seem so familiar? And who is behind the shadowy organisation intent on sabotaging their vital work? Can Annie and Victor win their battle to save the bees… or is it too late?
Research entomologist Annie is devastated when she’s ordered to give up her captive bee colonies – her life’s work – and reluctantly joins forces with Victor to ensure a harvest. But the bees are dying. Their only hope seems to be an experimental alternative to insect robot pollinators called nanodrones.
But why does the drone designer seem so familiar? And who is behind the shadowy organisation intent on sabotaging their vital work? Can Annie and Victor win their battle to save the bees… or is it too late?
345 pages, Kindle Edition
Published March 6, 2024
1 person is currently reading
45 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews
August 26, 2022
Hive is a powerful and emotive story with an important message at heart. I loved the fascinating details about the bees lives and work and it shows that the research undertaken must have been so detailed.
Annie and Victor are great characters- so knowledgeable and passionate about the bees and the support they have from the others is really heartwarming in such a difficult time. It’s scary to think how close we could be to this dystopian future if we’re not careful and I think April has written this perfectly to show what might be. A clever and well written story - definitely worth a read.
Annie and Victor are great characters- so knowledgeable and passionate about the bees and the support they have from the others is really heartwarming in such a difficult time. It’s scary to think how close we could be to this dystopian future if we’re not careful and I think April has written this perfectly to show what might be. A clever and well written story - definitely worth a read.
February 11, 2022
April Doyle's hugely accomplished debut novel skilfully folds contemporary concerns into a longstanding tradition of British eco-SF. Its exploration of climate change, loss of biodiversity, social collapse and predatory capitalism feels all too relevant to today's readership, but seasoned readers will also see echoes previous generations of British writers like John Wyndham and, especially, John Christopher.
Doyle's taut narrative (the book is under 300 pages) focuses on a small number of memorable and sympathetic characters as they navigate their way through a world in which survival is increasingly challenging. The plot engine is the decline in bee population and its knock-on effect for pollination and food supply. It's an effective way of bringing a subject that can seem too large to grasp into clear focus with a real emotional punch.
All of the characters' lives, but especially the protagonists Annie and Victor, are defined by their relationship to bees in a way that's compelling and wholly believable. And by the time you've finished the book, you won't look at our buzzing friends in the same way either.
Highly recommended!
Doyle's taut narrative (the book is under 300 pages) focuses on a small number of memorable and sympathetic characters as they navigate their way through a world in which survival is increasingly challenging. The plot engine is the decline in bee population and its knock-on effect for pollination and food supply. It's an effective way of bringing a subject that can seem too large to grasp into clear focus with a real emotional punch.
All of the characters' lives, but especially the protagonists Annie and Victor, are defined by their relationship to bees in a way that's compelling and wholly believable. And by the time you've finished the book, you won't look at our buzzing friends in the same way either.
Highly recommended!
February 13, 2022
Hive is and excellent book, and an important one. It is an excellent story, well crafted and beautifully written, with well rounded and empathic characters. I really felt I could relate to Annie, but all the other people populating this desperate vision of the future are equally engaging.
This is a book with an important message, and yet, it doesn’t come across as messagey at all. The power of the story dominates. Hive is very well researched and informative, but also you can sense the author’s passion for the countryside and nature. It’s a delight to read something so well attuned to the world around us.
Five stars from me.
This is a book with an important message, and yet, it doesn’t come across as messagey at all. The power of the story dominates. Hive is very well researched and informative, but also you can sense the author’s passion for the countryside and nature. It’s a delight to read something so well attuned to the world around us.
Five stars from me.
May 3, 2022
Both a beautifully eloquent warning and an engaging elegy for our declining natural world, Hive hums with a sweet note of hope that lifts the story into something very special. Doyle's writing is sublime, and if you didn't love bees before you read this, you will now. A compelling story for our time.
September 6, 2022
An impressive debut with an important message at its core. The writing flows so well giving a good pace to the narrative and the mounting tension had me racing through the chapters. It’s a well researched, timely book told through the captivating lens of a collapsing society and the characters’ fight for survival.
We go on an eye-opening journey in this terrifyingly plausible dystopian world where climate change, capitalism and political manoeuvres have drastic repercussions. The dying bee population leads to food shortages, riots and a dangerous place for all. Victor and Annie are determined to help; Victor shares his hives with farmers so they can pollinate their crops. I loved that some of the locations were local to me making it feel all that more real. Annie’s dedicated her life to her research on bees and trying to make a difference. Victor and Annie must bravely work together to try and save the day and I really enjoyed the community feel they have with the farmers as everyone pulls together and the family dynamic they adopt. However, ominous forces are at work who will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister goal – it’s a race against time to see who will triumph!
This insightful story shows the vital role bees play in our lives and the wonder and appreciation of the natural world all around us. The fascinating characters who you grow to care about and engrossing plot bring this emotive tale of loss, survival, and hope perfectly to life while putting our relationship with nature in to sharp focus.
I highly recommend, you’ll never look at bees in the same way again!
With thanks to @aprilcdoyle for my gorgeous copy to read and review.
We go on an eye-opening journey in this terrifyingly plausible dystopian world where climate change, capitalism and political manoeuvres have drastic repercussions. The dying bee population leads to food shortages, riots and a dangerous place for all. Victor and Annie are determined to help; Victor shares his hives with farmers so they can pollinate their crops. I loved that some of the locations were local to me making it feel all that more real. Annie’s dedicated her life to her research on bees and trying to make a difference. Victor and Annie must bravely work together to try and save the day and I really enjoyed the community feel they have with the farmers as everyone pulls together and the family dynamic they adopt. However, ominous forces are at work who will stop at nothing to achieve their sinister goal – it’s a race against time to see who will triumph!
This insightful story shows the vital role bees play in our lives and the wonder and appreciation of the natural world all around us. The fascinating characters who you grow to care about and engrossing plot bring this emotive tale of loss, survival, and hope perfectly to life while putting our relationship with nature in to sharp focus.
I highly recommend, you’ll never look at bees in the same way again!
With thanks to @aprilcdoyle for my gorgeous copy to read and review.
April 6, 2022
Hive is set in a near-future Britain where bees have all but died out. The consequences are food shortages and society that is rapidly disintegrating while a small band of people fight to prevent the extinction of bees. It switches between protagonists. We have Victor who travels the countryside using his carefully nurtured bees to pollinate fruit trees and crops, but their numbers are dwindling and we have Dr Annie Abrams who has devoted her life to trying to find ways to stop the bees dying, only to be forced to give her hives up to save the harvest. It might be fiction, but I found the world the author created so real and compelling that it chilled me. The flashbacks that document how we got into this situation add to the realism of the novel as does the dilemma of relying on a technological solution to the problem. Well-rounded and relatable characters and a really cracking plot means this novel never veers into preaching territory. The message that we need to protect nature to survive is subtly woven into the story. I finished it thinking I’d read a great book, but an important book that should be required reading.
May 7, 2023
I was a bit dubious about whether I would like this book; it was given to me by a friend after she had seen the reviews online. Indeed, it started out quite slowly, but I got to enjoy it more and more as it went on, despite the pretty gloomy nature of the book. In fact, my worry about it was much worse as I can see that it might not be that far from the future we are creating - loss of pollinators and drought from climate change causing a lack of food, rationing being brought back, hunger driving violence and desperation, whilst those in power seem to not really lack for food.
This book tells the story of Annie, a bee researcher, and Victor, who travels round Kent with his bees pollinating the various crops. However, the bees are still dying, so Annie has to surrender her colonies.
Throw in some dubious behind the scenes work, a bit of a love back story, murder, and the philosophical and moral arguments for and against the use of artificial nano drones and you have an interesting read that perhaps shows what is to come.
This book tells the story of Annie, a bee researcher, and Victor, who travels round Kent with his bees pollinating the various crops. However, the bees are still dying, so Annie has to surrender her colonies.
Throw in some dubious behind the scenes work, a bit of a love back story, murder, and the philosophical and moral arguments for and against the use of artificial nano drones and you have an interesting read that perhaps shows what is to come.
March 16, 2022
A frightening and all too real look at the near future where climate change has gone unchecked. All the pollinators are dying due to the weather and poisonous insecticides, so there is no food being produced and people are starving. Violence is common as the streets and towns fill with mobs.
Also brings in modern technology to aid the lack of bees. In some ways quite a light book but a real thought provoking backdrop by a local author.
Also brings in modern technology to aid the lack of bees. In some ways quite a light book but a real thought provoking backdrop by a local author.
August 19, 2022
Wow just wow. Full review to follow shortly
September 3, 2023
Chillingly foreboding!
September 23, 2022
Full disclosure here — April and I follow each other on Twitter, we’re Facebook friends too, we have many mutual friends, and we even live near each other but we’ve never met in real life. When Hive came out I was thrilled and recommended the novel to my Book Club.
The novel is set in a near future dystopia where the bees have almost been killed off and the planet has warmed to an alarming temperature. It’s set in the South East of England, where April Doyle (and I) live, so although there are fictional towns and villages, it was fairly easy to recognise places. For me, that made the story far more chilling and prescient, certainly in the opening few chapters. It begins with Victor, a man whose job is to take his bee hives around to local farmers where they do their pollination work for a few days and then he moves them onto the next farm. He leaves his wife and two young daughters for weeks at a time to do this job and it’s not without danger as food has become scarce. Alongside this is Annie, a scientist who is working to protect and encourage bee numbers in the ‘simfields’ which are fields covered with a dome to ensure regular temperatures and biosecurity. Annie, under pressure from the local civil defence, takes her precious hives together with her small team of two assistants on Victor’s rounds as he and his family move into the old college buildings around the dome as his daughter grows weaker from malnutrition.
It’s a bleak story, and I won’t lie — I did have to start this novel twice because the first time I picked it up I couldn’t keep going as it was far too close to home, quite literally. However, I’m very glad I did pick it up again and keep going because all is not lost in Annie and Victor’s world. I won’t reveal the crucial plot-point that changes things, but Annie is forced to make contact with an old boyfriend who is working on tiny drones that can carry out the same work as the bees. Then it becomes a gripping race against time as an evil professor wants to stop them and capitalise on this amazing technology that could provide a timely stop-gap until bee numbers have recovered.
I’ve said this in my reviews before, but this is another great read that could so easily make a brilliant mini-series for television, and I urge the BBC (or a streaming company) to buy the rights and get on it immediately! Hive reminded me of the BBC’s 2008 sci-fi drama, Survivors but, unlike Survivors, this has a lower death count, and it’s probably more gritty and terrifying because our future is in the opening chapters of this book unless we begin to make real changes to our lives. If nothing else, do all you can to encourage bees, wasps, and other insect pollinators by growing flowers in your gardens, on your balconies, in your window-boxes. Support re-wilding projects that encourage native wildflowers, leave out saucers of water with a few stones in there so insects can safely get a drink, have grass instead of a plastic lawn (I mean, who on earth even allowed them?!).
Bees and wasps are our friends — the wasps just need a bit of extra personal space. Even horrible horse-flies have their place, which is anywhere so long as it’s not near me. I do want to see and hear buzzing in parks and gardens though, and this novel reminded me of how crucial those pollinators are to our own continued existence.
I bought my copy of Hive from Hive, funnily enough , but you can also get it from Bookshop.org too , or your local independent bookshop, or library, if you’re lucky enough…you know the drill.
The novel is set in a near future dystopia where the bees have almost been killed off and the planet has warmed to an alarming temperature. It’s set in the South East of England, where April Doyle (and I) live, so although there are fictional towns and villages, it was fairly easy to recognise places. For me, that made the story far more chilling and prescient, certainly in the opening few chapters. It begins with Victor, a man whose job is to take his bee hives around to local farmers where they do their pollination work for a few days and then he moves them onto the next farm. He leaves his wife and two young daughters for weeks at a time to do this job and it’s not without danger as food has become scarce. Alongside this is Annie, a scientist who is working to protect and encourage bee numbers in the ‘simfields’ which are fields covered with a dome to ensure regular temperatures and biosecurity. Annie, under pressure from the local civil defence, takes her precious hives together with her small team of two assistants on Victor’s rounds as he and his family move into the old college buildings around the dome as his daughter grows weaker from malnutrition.
It’s a bleak story, and I won’t lie — I did have to start this novel twice because the first time I picked it up I couldn’t keep going as it was far too close to home, quite literally. However, I’m very glad I did pick it up again and keep going because all is not lost in Annie and Victor’s world. I won’t reveal the crucial plot-point that changes things, but Annie is forced to make contact with an old boyfriend who is working on tiny drones that can carry out the same work as the bees. Then it becomes a gripping race against time as an evil professor wants to stop them and capitalise on this amazing technology that could provide a timely stop-gap until bee numbers have recovered.
I’ve said this in my reviews before, but this is another great read that could so easily make a brilliant mini-series for television, and I urge the BBC (or a streaming company) to buy the rights and get on it immediately! Hive reminded me of the BBC’s 2008 sci-fi drama, Survivors but, unlike Survivors, this has a lower death count, and it’s probably more gritty and terrifying because our future is in the opening chapters of this book unless we begin to make real changes to our lives. If nothing else, do all you can to encourage bees, wasps, and other insect pollinators by growing flowers in your gardens, on your balconies, in your window-boxes. Support re-wilding projects that encourage native wildflowers, leave out saucers of water with a few stones in there so insects can safely get a drink, have grass instead of a plastic lawn (I mean, who on earth even allowed them?!).
Bees and wasps are our friends — the wasps just need a bit of extra personal space. Even horrible horse-flies have their place, which is anywhere so long as it’s not near me. I do want to see and hear buzzing in parks and gardens though, and this novel reminded me of how crucial those pollinators are to our own continued existence.
I bought my copy of Hive from Hive, funnily enough , but you can also get it from Bookshop.org too , or your local independent bookshop, or library, if you’re lucky enough…you know the drill.
December 14, 2022
April Doyle @aprildoylewriter very kindly sent me her debut novel, Hive for review - thank you so much! Therefore, this book is #gifted but opinions and thoughts are all my own.
April is a local Kentish author, and Kent is where the book is set, and is also my home county, which made my reading experience very unique and very ‘real.’ Which added a whole layer of alarming value regarding climate change and global warming concerns.
If you didn’t know, Kent is known for its large presence in farming and agriculture. We grow a lot of fruit here for the UK, and it’s very well documented how much our crops are failing due to the climate changes and lack of sustainable resources.
“Hive is set in a not so distant future-Britain; climate change has led to food shortages and civil unrest. Pollinating insects are in steep decline.”
The bees are dying and so are we, local hive farmer Victor is on the frontlines, monitoring his bees every move. Etymologist Annie has to close down her captive bee research lab. Victor and Annie join forces to try and battle the decline and to keep harvests producing. They come up with a solution: robot pollinators called nanodrones.
I thought this novel was excellent, there was intense, very claustrophobic, appropriate anxiety throughout. It felt very real because we all know that the bees are facing extinction and it is terrifying. I particularly enjoyed the bee facts that were sprinkled throughout that I found informative. I thought the conversation around nature vs nurture incredibly important. The plot itself was captivating, heart-breaking, and very emotionally charged.
In my opinion, this novel is a must read and gets a star rating from me.
April is a local Kentish author, and Kent is where the book is set, and is also my home county, which made my reading experience very unique and very ‘real.’ Which added a whole layer of alarming value regarding climate change and global warming concerns.
If you didn’t know, Kent is known for its large presence in farming and agriculture. We grow a lot of fruit here for the UK, and it’s very well documented how much our crops are failing due to the climate changes and lack of sustainable resources.
“Hive is set in a not so distant future-Britain; climate change has led to food shortages and civil unrest. Pollinating insects are in steep decline.”
The bees are dying and so are we, local hive farmer Victor is on the frontlines, monitoring his bees every move. Etymologist Annie has to close down her captive bee research lab. Victor and Annie join forces to try and battle the decline and to keep harvests producing. They come up with a solution: robot pollinators called nanodrones.
I thought this novel was excellent, there was intense, very claustrophobic, appropriate anxiety throughout. It felt very real because we all know that the bees are facing extinction and it is terrifying. I particularly enjoyed the bee facts that were sprinkled throughout that I found informative. I thought the conversation around nature vs nurture incredibly important. The plot itself was captivating, heart-breaking, and very emotionally charged.
In my opinion, this novel is a must read and gets a star rating from me.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews