Rise & Shine

by Patrick Allington

Each morning, the last humans start their day with graphic footage from the front. This is what sustains them - literally.

In a world where eight billion souls have perished, the survivors huddle together apart, perpetually at war, in the city-states of Rise and Shine. Yet this war, far from representing their doom, is their means of survival. For their leaders have found the key to life when crops, livestock, and the very future have been blighted - a key that turns on each citizen being moved by human suffering. The question is, with memories still bright of all the friends they've lost, all the experience they'll never know, will compassion be enough? Or must they succumb to, or even embrace, darker desires?

Rise and Shine is a tale that speaks to our troubled times, a Kafkaesque fable of hope from the imagination of Miles Franklin nominee Patrick Allington.

Genres: Fiction, Dystopia, Audiobook, Australia, Science Fiction, Adult, Book Club

224 pages, Paperback

First published June 2, 2020

Reviews

[Marchpane · Rating 4 out of 5]

Two city-states, one called Rise and the other Shine, house the remnants of humanity in a post-apocalyptic world—a world so environmentally toxified that there is no such thing as food. Instead the survivors get their sustenance from the televised footage of a perpetual war.

That’s right, they consume violent media—they ‘eat’ it—in order to stay alive. Actually, it is their emotional responses that nourish them—which becomes a problem as some people have become desensitised; as they can’t muster an appropriate emotion, they literally begin to starve to death.

The contrived war between Rise and Shine rages on amid annual peace talks (an obvious charade with the perpetual slogan: ‘PEACE: not this year, maybe next year’), and meanwhile a small resistance is secretly, illegally, growing plants—that they hope will be non-toxic—as an alternative food source.

This novel has the vibe of Golden Age sci-fi and classic dystopian fiction like 1984 or Fahrenheit 451, mixed with the surrealism of Kafka or perhaps Jesse Ball. I must confess I kept trying to work out the underlying message/allegory and coming up confused. Despite that, Rise and Shine is an entertaining, darkly funny read. 3.5 stars.

[Michael Livingston · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strikingly original book, utterly stuffed with ideas. The satire is sharp and it's packed with vivid moments. I'll be mulling over the idea of people sustaining themselves on others' suffering for a long time. I didn't find the characters particularly fleshed out, but that's not really the point of this book.

[Tash · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a weird little book but well worth your time!!!

Patrick Allington's "Rise & Shine" is a dystopian novel that takes place in a world ravaged by an ecological disaster. The remaining humans live in two city-states, Rise and Shine, that are perpetually at war. The conflict, however, isn't just about survival; it's the very thing that sustains the people. They literally feed off the emotional response to the violence, a macabre twist on the concept of vicarious living.

The novel is a blend of satire, social commentary and eco-fiction. Allington's writing is sharp and witty, and he doesn't shy away from exploring the darker aspects of human nature. The characters are complex and flawed, and their motivations are often ambiguous.

Rise and Shine is a thought-provoking and disturbing read that raises questions about the nature of humanity, the role of violence and the value of empathy. It's also a love letter to nature and how humanity must take care of the earth so it can keep taking care of us. It's a challenging but rewarding book that will stay with you long after you've finished reading it.

[Robert Lukins · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is: good. Very good. Very, very good.

[Bram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Set forty years after an unspecified apocalypse, Rise & Shine follows a small group of survivors who, in creating twin warring cities, have saved what's left of humanity. Highly reminiscent of the works of Karel Capek - hands down my favourite spec-fic novelist of all time - it sparkles with creative flair and humour while also saying many deadly serious and profound things about the dire state of our world. I could crap on for ages about how much I love this book, but suffice to say, it is quite possibly the most perfectly realised work of speculative fiction I've read in years.

[Scribe Publications]

You never knew fiction could do this.
Jane Rawson, author of From the Wreck

A novel of rare visionary brilliance, Rise & Shine blew me away.
Bram Presser, author of The Book of Dirt

Fiercely imaginative and astonishingly written.
Robbie Arnott, author of Flames and The Rain Heron

It should be of interest to fans of satire, surrealism and magic realism. Rise & Shine is clearly inspired by texts such as Brave New World, Catch-22 and even Waiting for Godot. It is an able critique of reality TV, media manipulation, personality politics and ecological catastrophe.
Books+Publishing

Richly imagined and described and close enough to our own world to feel scarily possible. FOUR STARS
Good Reading

Unputdownable.
ANZ LitLovers

An astonishingly imaginative work of speculative fiction.
Elizabeth Flux, Kill Your Darlings

Rise & Shine is a piece of timely, suitably intriguing speculative fiction.
Ben Adams, Herald Sun

[Rise & Shine] could easily be an episode of Charlie Brooker’s Netflix series Black Mirror … Rise & Shine does not shy away from the complex moral terrain of political agency. Carefully, subtly, Allington lets the tension between multiple propositions build: that law and order form a part of collective survival; that service of the people can easily slip into control of the people; that people want a leader; that effective leadership requires multiple perspectives; that people can change; that some people don’t. Allington sustains the tension until the final pages, where he offers a thought-provoking ending worthy of his imaginative take on dystopia.
Naama Grey-Smith, Australian Book Review

Patrick Allington’s Rise & Shine, drops up headfirst into a future in the wake of an ecological catastrophe that claimed the lives of more than eight billion people … The novel strikes a balance between the absurd and the horrific that feels reminiscent of George Saunders’ science-fiction work.
Jack Rowland, The Saturday Paper

There is a definite Kafkaesque air to Allington’s writing, as well as echoes of 1984 and Brave New World … The dialogue is one of the great strengths of Rise & Shine: buoyantly paced, drolly comic and easily absorbing … Rise & Shine is apt reading for our current atmosphere of environmental, societal and economic precarity. It is an undeniably imaginative and engrossing fable.
Jack Callil, The Age

In his first novel since the Miles Franklin-nominated Figurehead in 2009, Adelaide writer Patrick Allington again vividly paints a dystopian future that pushes the reader to explore the human condition … This is a Day of the Triffids for our times.
Kylie Maslen, The Adelaide Review

[T]he novel is certainly effective in highlighting contemporary issues of government surveillance, political manipulation and the pervasive impact of fake news.
Colin Steele, The Canberra Times

[A] witty piece of thinking from the Adelaide-based author, reminiscent of the thought play found in spec fiction authors such as China Mieville … Rise & Shine is an intriguing addition to a series of recent speculative Australian authors whose work eschews the dominant realism of Australian literature.
Ed Wright, The Australian

Allington’s debut is set in a future Australia devastated by climate change and nuclear war ... An interesting novel that looks at a society that struggles with the effects of ecological and nuclear disaster and that clamps down on any dissent from what has helped humanity survive. Fans of dystopian science fiction will find this tale, from a new voice from Australia, of interest.
Booklist

[Tundra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars
Take home messages:
1. Don’t feed on the news and media
2. Appreciate and feed on fresh water and fruit and vegetables

Speculative science fiction is not a favourite genre as I often find it frightening and not really a pleasurable escape. This does have a message(s) and Allington has created a world and it’s people to deliver it.
Thankfully there is also some hope and optimism. An original interesting read despite my own preferences.

[Calzean · Rating 4 out of 5]

Quite a different sort of a dystopian novel. It's a satire on politician speak, the need to control and the harm done to the ecology.
Humanity has nearly been wiped out by wars, famines and ecological disasters. The survivors mainly live in two cities Rise and Shine. The cities are in perpetual war although no one usually gets killed. Instead the action is played into homes where the population feeds on the pain of the soldiers.
But everything is controlled by two people who each run one of the two cities and stay in communication with each other. The purpose is to keep the people alive for long enough that the Earth can recover.
In the meantime the leaders and their inner circle take fake news to a new level, politely send people to life sentences for stepping outside the allowable norms, and pull the strings on their mouthpieces.
The book is short for a dystopian, the satire works okay and the various messages are clear. Conspiracy theorists would love this one.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

★★★★½

Rise & Shine is a brilliant examination of what humans need to thrive, and the conflict inherent in our existence. Allington brings readers right inside the political leadership of a post-apocalyptic city-state to play with ideas around the environment, war, rebellion, safety, shame and eating. Readers should note triggers for graphic descriptions of shootings, violence, incarceration, starvation and illness.

As humanity is dying out following dramatic climactic events, visionaries Walker and Barton discover humans can live on something other than food. We then skip ahead to when they have established two city-states, Rise and Shine, which they rule respectively, and staged (literally, with cameras and all) a perpetual war between them to feed their citizens on the compassion they experience watching graphic war footage. I know it sounds farfetched, but the premise is hugely effective - people are fed simply by watching soldiers suffer, as a reminder that humanity requires compassion to survive. This harmonious existence starts to be disrupted when murmurs about an alternative source of sustenance begin to surface, and the annual Peace Talks seem the perfect cover for change.

Allington tackles so much in such a short novel, and I revelled in his intelligent approach. He strips back the difference between the public and private lives of public figures (often public foes get along well behind closed doors) and unpacks how social change is instigated. At the same time he's probing our contemporary lack of compassion, environmental destruction, our complex relationships with food, and the absurdity of war. Yet all of these big ideas are well-scaffolded onto the frame of a tight cast of characters, each of whom I grew attached to. I also enjoyed Allington's small nods to Australian political history in using the names of former Prime Ministers Barton and Curtin.

We mostly follow Walker, who is succumbing to a mysterious wasting disease where he cannot feed from war footage. He's manipulating developments in his city of Rise, while his staff prop him up and await his succession plan. Yet we also follow the career of Sergeant Sala, a young women from Rise who is discharged from the war with Shine after being shot in the face - creating heroic footage that has fed people for months. She is sassy and quick, seeing through things designed to deceive the public (beginning with the true state of Walker's health), and this serves her well as the next phase of life in Rise begins. Indeed, the women of Rise & Shine are generally the more capable and astute figures - Barton devises the new phase of life, while Curtin capably keeps the city-state running, and the unseen Cleave collates environmental data to keep humanity safe. We also get insights into less eminent citizens, to sketch out the picture of this world and how it works.

Allington's writing is simple and effective, mirroring the military precision characters like Sala and Holland exhibit. This sparse approach gives the novel a fable-like quality, although it does flesh out the world more so than the only other novel I can think of that compares, The Diver's Game by Jesse Ball. I must admit I sat down to read Rise & Shine and didn't do much else until I finished it a couple of hours later. The narrative tension is expertly developed and the plot is paced so well that it's easy to devour. I can definitely see myself re-reading it down the track, to pick up more of the nuances I might have missed gulping it down.

While not quite at the sublime level of The Diver's Game, Allington's take on the future is more optimistic and intimate, making it a less confronting and more hopeful read. Yet it is no less intelligent, probing important questions about our society and future in a deeply engaging way. One of my favourite books this year.

I received a copy of Rise & Shine from Scribe Publications in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

[Paul · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish I could better articulate my feelings about this book. I think, overall, it was "fine". This isn't to say it was bad, or a waste of my time, but I see the bones of a much more effective title underneath this one.

This book has a wonderfully bizarre premise, but one it doesn't unfortunately live up to. I'm reminded of Super-flat Times, which also has some strangeness built around an undefined apocalyptic event, and a drastic change in diet (this time to meat instead of feelings). In Super-flat Times, the shift in lifestyle is the focus of the stories, from shifting to a diet made entirely of meat, to the stress of growing old in a society where youth equates to competence, a world where last thoughts can be extracted from bubbles of air left by dying people in concrete, and soldiers carry a massive sound gun across a jungle landscape, fighting a war mostly against their own boredom.

Rise & Shine, on the other hand, does not revel in its strangeness in the same way, and suffers for it. The rapid changes in society to save humanity are touched upon, but seem to have left little lasting effect on those who went through it. We're reminded of their tumors and skin lesions, but overall they act in a similar way to rather befuddled Englishmen; polite, cheerful, and willing to please (often to a fault). People watch videos of a fake war to eat compassion, but it's not demonstrably different than a shallow mix between reality TV and food the way we currently know it. Some people starve due to a lack of compassion, but they don't seem unsympathetic, or really any different to other characters. I suppose this is meant to be a metaphor for clinical depression, but it just doesn't hit the mark when the story seems to focus more on conflict, intrigue, and the fight against this strange illness.

As mentioned by another reviewer, the characters are quite one-note. The broody hero who lives only for war, the dedicated leader hiding his crippling illness to save his people, the caring doctor burning the candle at both ends to save her patient, the brilliant but crazy scientist, who locks herself away to dedicate herself to her work.

Overall, I think Rise & Shine suffers from two things: a lack of commitment to the setting, and a lack of focus. Certain plot points show up and disappear depressingly quickly (the photograph degeneracy, the dog as a cure for Walker's illness), and seem to have been added as a quick way to address issues proofreaders may have brought up. That is to say, they're there so the author can point and say "that's why this thing happens," or "no, I talk about that on page xx!" And again, the setting is touched upon, poison rain, domes over everything, nothing alive anymore except humanity, but the way the characters carry on, they may as well live in a small city anywhere in Europe, since they have apparently free health care, free or subsidized housing, plenty to eat, schools, healthy children, and no indication that the world is going anywhere but up.

So with all that, it's hard to buy into the premise: that these are the last shreds of humanity, eking out a meager existence against the backdrop of a ruined Earth, changed and strange to survive, with their new food source rapidly running out, along with their time. As the book reads, some people got kinda sick of watching war movies, so there was a miracle that let veggies exist again, and so people can just get a watercress sammich and they'll be good as new in a couple days.

This is a book that I really wish I'd liked more, but it just never made it over the bar for me. I hope Mr. Allington tries his hand at weird dystopian fiction again, as he had quite a good idea, but in future, he should not be afraid to go all in with the strangeness, and focus on that rather than using the strangeness to prop up the plot.

[Lisa · Rating 4 out of 5]

Back in 2010 when my blog was still very young, I reviewed Patrick Allington's first book, Figurehead which had been longlisted for the Miles Franklin Award. It remains in my memory as an outstanding novel which tackled some complex moral issues in an entertaining way. (Which is mostly what I like my books to do).

Ten years later comes Rise and Shine which—though set in a dystopean world after an apocalypse—again wrestles with complex issues. Amongst other things, it's about leadership, and how it can lose its way, even when it's motivated by the common good.

'Rise' and 'Shine' are two cities on what's left of the earth after the catastrophe which left it bereft of animal and plant life, and subject to toxic rain.

No one who survived could really say whether it was a single big catastrophe, or a series of smaller messes, or if it was just the slow grind of excess. Probably it was all of that. Maybe Russia dropped a bomb on San Francisco. Maybe it didn't. Maybe the Nile became poisoned. Maybe it didn't. Maybe the last of the ice caps turned yellow. Maybe they didn't. Maybe Vitamin C turned out to be carcinogenic. Maybe it didn't. Governments of all brands, the UN, the anti-UN, the World Bank, FIFA all spoke loud and long about what needed to happen, but by then no one could tell information from lies.

The details hardly matter now. The earth, pushed past its limits, began to eat its own. Most of the eight billion victims died over a period of a few months. Quickly, slowly: these things are relative. Living another day, and another, depended on who you were and where you were. (p.1)

Drones and robots have established that there's nothing left in the barren landscape, only these two cities, founded by the charismatic Barton and Walker and their four offsiders, Cleave, Hail, Curtin and Holland. Thirty years after they found each other in extremis, they are still alive, though sick, in the way that everyone is.

Cleave lives in self-imposed isolation, and is the Chief Scientist in Rise. With the assistance of Malee, who collects and analyses information for her, Cleave interprets data for toxicity, pathogens and salinity in the precious water supply, and she observes the environment far and wide for any signs of emerging plant or animal life. So science has been elevated to an important and respected position in this society.

Curtin is the Chief Medical Officer, tasked with keeping the population alive. But increasingly her time is focussed on the health of Walker, attending to his tumours and sores. Minions help him dress in garb that conceals his wasted frame, because it is important that the figurehead looks the part. But Walker thinks it's more important that she attend to others. This is a society whose leader is focussed on the common good.

To read the rest of my review please visit https://anzlitlovers.com/2020/05/31/r...

[Cade Turner-Mann · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thanks to Scribe for the ARC.

This will surely be one of the books of the year. A novel that takes the conventions of dystopian fiction and twists them into something far more interesting than your stock-standard post apocalyptic tale. A fantastic effort that should be on everyone's watch list.

[Mark Booth · Rating 2 out of 5]

An interesting idea but really didn't keep my interest - I felt the characters were not well developed and were very one dimensional which really distracted from the story.

[Jennifer (JC-S) · Rating 5 out of 5]

‘The end, when everything seemed lost, turned into the beginning.’

Two city-states are all that have survived after eight billion people have perished. The world is now so environmentally toxic that there is no longer any food. So how do the survivors, living in the city-states of Rise and Shine survive? By watching televised footage of their perpetual war. Their emotional responses to violence sustain them. Except that, once a survivor becomes desensitised and can no longer respond with appropriate emotion, they begin to starve to death.

The two city-states have annual peace talks:
‘PEACE: not this year, maybe next year.’

But it is all a charade. In the meantime, a small group is secretly (and illegally) trying to grow food from seeds. They are hoping to establish a non-toxic alternate food source.

We do not know what disaster befell the world. Everyone has a theory or two about what happened, but who can you trust? All we know is that the world is almost entirely bereft of animal and plant life, and there is toxic rain. Nothing is simple: if you cannot trust your leaders, who can you trust? Survival becomes a matter of existence from one day to the next.

‘Each of them had taken a city and declared a war of survival on the other.’

But thirty years later, amidst the carefully orchestrated appearance of a new normality, dependent on a perpetual war between the two cities it is not clear how much longer long the current state can survive. Science is important, as is medicine. But maintaining the status quo is the point, and that hardly facilitates any progress. Is there any hope for the future?

Mr Allington packs an entire world into fewer than 250 pages, and it is very unsettling. Why? Because aspects are believable. Look at the damage we are doing to the world, look at the disinformation that surrounds us. Look at our reactions to the current COVID-19 pandemic. What
is ‘the common good’? And who can we trust?

Unsettling reading. A brilliant novel.

Jennifer Cameron-Smith

[Michael Finan · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book lacked any real storyline and failed to explain the abstract concepts in the book. I was waiting for this book to engage me with a plot twist and it never did.

[Pamela · Rating 3 out of 5]

A dystopian world thirty years after the catastrophe. A few people found a new way to live and started a new community, two cities one named Rise and the other Shine. They are perpetually at war and this footage feeds their people. Growing plants is now a crime. It's an odd book for sure. Not sure I really liked it, but it was short.

Book rating: 2.75 stars

[Emily (booksellersdiary)]

One of the most creative pieces of literary speculative fiction I have read in a good while.

Set in a post apocalyptic version of our world, 8 billion people have died. Those who remain huddle together but apart, in their respective city states of Rise and Shine. Perpetually at war, the leaders of the two cities have found the key to life - not through crops or livestock, but through film of human suffering.

This world is almost obscenely polite, human rights are forefront even for traitors and dissenters. Rise & Shine explores what leadership really means, what it could look like and offers readers a timely comparison to real life politics - on climate, immigration and other issues - practiced in the world today. It’s a story of sacrifice, propaganda and the hunt for the truth.

[Victor · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well written and interesting concepts but very predictable. Someday they'll make well written genre fiction that actually has a plot that isn't utterly hackneyed in both conception and execution again, but this isn't it.

[Tales Untangled · Rating 4 out of 5]

In this post-apocalyptic world, a group of leaders has divided the survivors into two cities. These leaders knowingly do what they must for survival even if it includes lying. This is what I would call an idea book instead of a character-driven story, and is a social commentary.

Here are some of the themes I saw, but these are not comprehensive because there's so much to unpack.

Violent media.

How are we consuming media in our culture? When violence is part of our entertainment, we are feeding on it. In the city of Rise, the people literally sustain themselves by eating footage of the ongoing war.

This was a hard one for me to wrap my head around because I was being too logical and thinking we needed real food to survive. Once I figured out the violence was their meal, I tried to suspend my disbelief to go with the story.

Propaganda.

How are we influenced by our government? What about fake news? Foreign powers are continuing to try and influence other countries as seen through Brexit and the US presidential elections. (And yes, I'm aware some people also deny these allegations which is another side of propaganda.) In this way, Rise & Shine reminds me of Orson Well's novel 1984.

Environment.

How are our actions affecting our environment? We talk about our carbon footprint, climate change, oil spills, protecting the oceans, and renewable energy as a few examples. This subject is a moving target. In this novel, Allington has created a world that seems to have been destroyed by acid rain and possibly other catastrophes. The common man is frightened by the sight of vegetables.

When the conflict is changing between Rise & Shine, the two cities, the leaders approach it through manufacturing a new war. Even though this war is a parody of the real thing, people will die for their cause, and the side that will win is predetermined. How mixed up is that? How different is our world from this satire?

Relationships.

Do we value the veneer of acceptance for others but hide our true feelings? This might be something that others don't agree with as being part of Allington's commentary. I noticed when an individual was arrested, the police force was excessively polite. So polite that their feelings were hurt when the accused called their conversation an interrogation instead of something more sedate. Do we hide behind a veneer? Are people becoming unnecessarily upset? There are cases of social injustice that we want to root out, but where does politeness come in? I'm not sure there is a solid answer to the questions I've posed here, but I do think the author is trying to make a point.

Rise & Shine gave me the opportunity to consider the state of our world. Allington's vision is one I hope to never see, but he does a masterful job of highlighting problems. Your interpretation is open when the author doesn't spoonfeed you every answer. What you see may be different than what I saw.

I felt like it took to the 50% mark of the book to get a solid handle on what was going on. Hopefully, this review will give you a leg up to know what to expect. This book is written for adults and reflects adult themes, relying heavily on politics and violence (though surprisingly, little violence is on the page). There is no graphic sex, but plenty of F-bombs.

If you enjoyed Rise & Shine, you could try reading The Gray House by Mariam Petrosyan, another book that delves into society's ills.

[Iwasaplatypus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rise & Shine is a strange book. It is set somewhere in a future where most living things on earth have perished. 8 billion people have died and the remainders are huddled together in the twin cities of Rise and Shine.
In a world where sustenance has been blighted, the inhabitants of Rise and of Shine live off human suffering, the feelings that human suffering brings to them.
The two cities are at war with one another, orchestrated by the leaders, Walker and Barton. The war is recorded and played to the inhabitants of each city, as nourishment. Some of the combatants are stars, such as Sergeant Sala, who has half of her face blown off. Still shots of her injuries sell for a premium.
This is only half the story. The people are riddled with tumours and sores, which break through despite the sustenance of suffering. Some people, like Walker, now seem to be immune to human suffering. Their health is failing. Others are defying the edicts and trying to grow vegetables, as blighted as they are. They are venturing into these blighted zones to collect water and seeds. The times are changing.
I read Rise & Shine in a state of constant questioning. How could they survive on feelings alone?? What caused the tumours? Why do we humans follow the leader no matter how ludicrous the terms?? And why do we get off on watching others suffer??
Rise & Shine was a book that made me think, long past the end of the last page.
Thank you to Scribe Publications for the advanced reading copy.

[Houna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I would’ve given it a 5 star rating had I understood what’s the ‘morale’ behind it. All post apocalyptic / sci-fi have some sort of ‘morale’ in the end right? Like a fable ?
I liked the authors writing very smooth and easy to read.
The book remind me a bit of Fahrenheit 451 but it’s a bit less clear and more ambiguous.
I didn’t understand if Walker was a ‘good’ guy or ‘bad’ guy - a bit of both probably. An antihero.
Saved the people and gave them a substitute to food by watching war videos of a fake war.
A war that the two leaders Walker and Barton created. Why? Because they believed they needed enemies to survive. It’s all a farce really
Reminds me a bit of the situation of Lebanon now (2020 mid economic crisis) the fake propaganda, people starving and the leaders giving the people footage of themselves defending their parties and vowing to their people that they’re defending their rights - their religions and beliefs.
Though Walker was a better man doing what’s best for his people - what he thinks is best for his people and it ended up killing him slowly. The propaganda he knows is fake will never satisfy his hunger.

[Pen]

Two stars but I’m going to just assume this wasn’t for me, rather than pan it and then bring down its overall rating. That wouldn’t be fair.
I thought this one had potential and a very clever, original concept. Unfortunately it fell short, it simply didn’t deliver. There could have been more of an exploration of society and its need for conflict/hostility/negativity/drama and also its dependence on technology. This book could have highlighted the beauty and essence of life, the little things, the natural world. It didn’t.
It was also missing the world building that could have really drawn me in. This could have been a cool sci-fi/futuristic/apocalypse novel with a bit more attention to detail and background. It didn’t provide that. It also didn’t offer any kind of back story for the characters, so I didn’t feel anything for them, either.
Sigh. No beautiful prose, no scathing examination of society, no character development, no world building. What exactly did this book offer me?! Oh dear. Sorry to the author.
The acknowledgements were moving though and I love the cover artwork by Hilma af Klint!

[the overstuffed bookshelf · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thank you to NetGalley and Scribe UK for this copy of Rise & Shine by Patrick Allington.

Rise & Shine is the title of this book as well as the name of the two warring city-states featured. The book features the citizens of Rise primarily, with a few short, but important appearances from the leader of Shine, Barton. Most of the book captures the turmoil in Rise as a mystery illness crops up among it's citizens and leaders. Rise's leaders scramble to find a solution before they lose their own leader, Walker, along with many others.

I found Rise & Shine to be a very interesting and original premise, one that I can honestly say was very original and intriguing. I can't say that I completely understood the meaning of the plot but it was still very interesting. I felt like Patrick Allington was trying to make a point about the world that I was missing. That didn't necessarily detract from my enjoyment of the book overall, I just wish the meaning had been clearer.

All in all, a good read. Not too long, kind of sci-fi if you're into that. If not you can still enjoy it for the wholly original plot.

[Whimsy Dearest · Rating 4 out of 5]

In the post-apocalyptic future, toxic rain has eradiated all food and crops, so the leaders of the two remaining city-states came up with an unusual solution: to sustain their populations with a manufactured war.

Each morning, the remaining survivors of humanity watch graphic war footage. They consume propaganda. Literally.

However, this whole system is threatened when a small rebellious faction is secretly trying to grow crops from seeds.

Rise & Shine by Patrick Allington presents a clever and thought-provoking allegory about climate change, our dependence on war, and human nature itself.

Even though the story dives into abstract concepts, the writer still grounds its readers with a compelling cast of characters. We see the inner moral conflict as characters like Holland realize that the world they created isn’t sustainable.

All in all, in this little 240-page novel, Allington manages to create a complex and memorable dystopian sci-fi that glimmers with a seed of hope.

Thank you, NetGalley and Scribe, for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

[Neil · Rating 2 out of 5]

Mixed feelings on this one. A relatively easy read and compelling enough to make me happy to read through to the end.

On the positive side, I liked the conceit that an original group of survivors of an apocalypse had worked out a way to get people to survive the post-apocalyptic horror by engaging in a continuous, choreographed war. I particularly liked the way in which Sergeant Sala was written: she knew she might be permanently crippled by the war, accepted this as a risk, but then hated the way she was used subsequently.

However, I could not get past the conceit that somehow human beings were being nourished by watching videos of others' suffering. It is physically impossible to survive without food and, with zero explanation of any mechanism for how this worked, the entire story fell apart for me. I could not suspend my disbelief and I was disappointed that the author didn't even attempt an explanation of some sort of mechanism for how this works.

[Rob O'Hearn · Rating 5 out of 5]

If I told you this was a post-apocalyptic sci-fi tale of urban rebellion, battle and disease, you might yawn and think it’s all been done. But it hasn’t been done quite like this.
Allington’s stylish and surreal novel is both a moral tale of ethics and suffering, and a philosophical study in memory and consciousness. Weaving many influences from cyberpunk to manga, Kafka to the classics, Rise & Shine is visceral and gritty, and immediately enthralling.
With its themes of fragile mortality and parasitic desire set amongst the debris of post-consumerism, this is a satire for the anthropocene, post-liberalist world. If you’ve been reading Daniel Defoe in your lockdown, this will follow up nicely.
Timely and provocative for sure, but not heavily so, leaving your quick read with long afterthoughts

[Krystelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book has a lot to offer, but at the same time it falls short of the mark. It tries to speak of broad, sweeping dystopias fed by the concept of violence and the present society’s necessity for the spectacle. There’s a lot good in the bones of this, but the fleshing out leaves little but a skeleton. There’s a stab at the weird, disjointed dystopian novel, but it ends up perhaps too vague in the end.

The characterisation is interesting but not fully explored, and I think my biggest issue is just the fundamental exploration of the issues. I really wanted there to be a comprehensive world building experience in this book, but it floats along amorphously, never quite committing. I feel like I could have done with a couple more drafts and rewritings to reach the level of the great dystopian novel.

[Toni Kely-Brown · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was OK - it was well-written and there was some funny scenes that I guess would be described as satirical BUT it was just to implausible for me.

I understand this is meant to be an allegory exploring human behaviour and leadership. I THINK it was trying to say that no leader is exempt from losing their way even when they are motivated by good will and the common good. Or that leaders have to "look" the part to be credible and trusted which is why Walker has to be prepped everyday to look "healthy" and "sustained".

But the staged ongoing warfare between Rise and Shine which was their sustenance was not realistic and I think as a practical person I couldn't buy into it - like I said just too implausible.

[Denise · Rating 4 out of 5]

A intriguing novel. A post apocalyptic world destroyed by, it is inferred, climate change or something similar and rebuilt. This new world is polite and thoughtful yet it sustains or feeds themselves on the suffering of others. And yet, people start dying, their bellies become distended, in what I took to signify malnourishment. That idea is one that will stay with me and I shall mull on and chew on it for some time. The characters were not fully formed and the New Time world only had a hazy image. But the ideas jumped out.

[Mary Camilleri · Rating 3 out of 5]

I’m not really a fan of dystopian fiction. I think it an be all too real at times. The irony of the title kept me going and the Klimt artwork. Not sure about it’s connection to the story still? Characters plagued by tumours who thrive on war footage for sustenance, living in two city states Rise and Shine, at times display some leadership skills, not my cup of tea, but read in preparation for Adelaide Festival Writers Week 2021. Allingtin is a local, but the improbability of the story left me cold.