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The Annual Migration of Clouds
A novella set in post–climate disaster Alberta; a woman infected with a mysterious parasite must choose whether to pursue a rare opportunity far from home or stay and help rebuild her community
The world is nothing like it once climate disasters have wracked the continent, causing food shortages, ending industry, and leaving little behind. Then came Cad, mysterious mind-altering fungi that invade the bodies of the now scattered citizenry. Reid, a young woman who carries this parasite, has been given a chance to get away — to move to one of the last remnants of pre-disaster society — but she can’t bring herself to abandon her mother and the community that relies on her. When she’s offered a coveted place on a dangerous and profitable mission, she jumps at the opportunity to set her family up for life, but how can Reid ask people to put their trust in her when she can’t even trust her own mind?
With keen insight and biting prose, Premee Mohamed delivers a deeply personal tale in this post-apocalyptic hopepunk novella that reflects on the meaning of community and asks what we owe to those who have lifted us up.
The world is nothing like it once climate disasters have wracked the continent, causing food shortages, ending industry, and leaving little behind. Then came Cad, mysterious mind-altering fungi that invade the bodies of the now scattered citizenry. Reid, a young woman who carries this parasite, has been given a chance to get away — to move to one of the last remnants of pre-disaster society — but she can’t bring herself to abandon her mother and the community that relies on her. When she’s offered a coveted place on a dangerous and profitable mission, she jumps at the opportunity to set her family up for life, but how can Reid ask people to put their trust in her when she can’t even trust her own mind?
With keen insight and biting prose, Premee Mohamed delivers a deeply personal tale in this post-apocalyptic hopepunk novella that reflects on the meaning of community and asks what we owe to those who have lifted us up.
159 pages, Kindle Edition
First published September 28, 2021
128 people are currently reading
8797 people want to read
About the author
Premee Mohamed
81 books756 followersPremee Mohamed is a Nebula award-winning Indo-Caribbean scientist and speculative fiction author based in Edmonton, Alberta. She is an Assistant Editor at the short fiction audio venue Escape Pod and the author of the 'Beneath the Rising' series of novels as well as several novellas. Her short fiction has appeared in many venues and she can be found on Twitter at @premeesaurus and on her website at www.premeemohamed.com.
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October 21, 2023A lovely, literary SF novella about a post climate change future, with humans scavenging the past (our present) to survive. It's got strong Riddley Walker vibes for me, which is an unalloyed good. More exploration of the situation than anything: there's a lot of questions and plot elements that aren't resolved but that's kind of the point. It's an exploration of what do you do when your future is set in stone by things beyond your control, and you can only control your immediate acts.
Beautifully written, and haunting ideas. A small gem.
Beautifully written, and haunting ideas. A small gem.
May 21, 2021
This clever and moving novella is set in a post climate disaster, civilisation collapse world. Reid, the young woman who is the main character, has just been accepted into Howse university. She currently lives in a self sufficient town/community where only the oldest remember a time with electricity. The University would’ve been domed and enclosed when disaster happened, Reids people have survived nonetheless. Reid also has a disease called Cad for short. It’s a fungal infection that lives in a symbiotic relationship with its host, so much so that it can protect the host from danger.
With this as the basis of the story it becomes an exploration about survival, friendship, memory and regret, fear and anger. Fear of an unknown future, and anger at the previous societies that lived so carefree and carelessly. But the story is told with hope and courage and I found it well written and an interesting read.
With this as the basis of the story it becomes an exploration about survival, friendship, memory and regret, fear and anger. Fear of an unknown future, and anger at the previous societies that lived so carefree and carelessly. But the story is told with hope and courage and I found it well written and an interesting read.
May 18, 2021
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for a free copy.
I did that thing which reviewers probably shouldn't really do, which is go through and read other reviews before writing mine. However, in this case, I did so for a very specific reason: I had a suspicion about how this book would land, and I think I was mostly right.
A good friend of mine who is very much a litfic fan once gave me a beautiful definition for literary fiction (the genre) as opposed to commercial fiction with a literary quality. She said that both litfic and commercial genres ask certain questions, but genre fiction must provide an answer to the questions it asks within its story, whereas litfic tends to be more concerned with the exploration of the question itself. The endpoint is less important than the journey, and so on.
That tendency sometimes gives litfic its reputation for books that meander, have unusual structures, or end without concluding (the narrative seeming to trail off or finish abruptly.) More commercially oriented readers are sometimes put off by those aspects, and if you're used to other genres then it can be genuinely frustrating. (I found Handmaid's Tale frustrating, for example: it just stops at a semi-random endpoint.)
Migration of Clouds is a beautiful, thoughtful, and eerie musing, and I'd feel comfortable classing it as literary fiction (a tag it won't get labelled with in all likelihood because of the highly speculative setting.) I realise there's a degree of subjectivity there, but that's my take on it. A lovely, evocative, sensory, thoughtful, and multi-layered novella.
But I think it might get a slightly cool reception from the SFF crowd because of its litfic structure, and might not suit genre fans looking for a more tangible, more 'defined' grasp on those speculative elements. I didn't mind the structure but did find myself wishing it was a little bit longer, because I was quite interested in knowing whether the university was real. Hopefully the author will put out more novellas in the same world some day.
I did that thing which reviewers probably shouldn't really do, which is go through and read other reviews before writing mine. However, in this case, I did so for a very specific reason: I had a suspicion about how this book would land, and I think I was mostly right.
A good friend of mine who is very much a litfic fan once gave me a beautiful definition for literary fiction (the genre) as opposed to commercial fiction with a literary quality. She said that both litfic and commercial genres ask certain questions, but genre fiction must provide an answer to the questions it asks within its story, whereas litfic tends to be more concerned with the exploration of the question itself. The endpoint is less important than the journey, and so on.
That tendency sometimes gives litfic its reputation for books that meander, have unusual structures, or end without concluding (the narrative seeming to trail off or finish abruptly.) More commercially oriented readers are sometimes put off by those aspects, and if you're used to other genres then it can be genuinely frustrating. (I found Handmaid's Tale frustrating, for example: it just stops at a semi-random endpoint.)
Migration of Clouds is a beautiful, thoughtful, and eerie musing, and I'd feel comfortable classing it as literary fiction (a tag it won't get labelled with in all likelihood because of the highly speculative setting.) I realise there's a degree of subjectivity there, but that's my take on it. A lovely, evocative, sensory, thoughtful, and multi-layered novella.
But I think it might get a slightly cool reception from the SFF crowd because of its litfic structure, and might not suit genre fans looking for a more tangible, more 'defined' grasp on those speculative elements. I didn't mind the structure but did find myself wishing it was a little bit longer, because I was quite interested in knowing whether the university was real. Hopefully the author will put out more novellas in the same world some day.
December 31, 2021
The Annual Migration of Clouds is a dystopian sci-fi novella that packs a punch. Set in Canada after a climate disaster, a young woman is infected with a mysterious sort of parasite that has taken over a segment of humanity. When she is accepted to a university that would offer new possibilities, she must grapple with whether to leave her community and the mother who wants her to stay.
This book is literary and character driven, with beautiful prose. It paints a bleak picture of what climate change and environmental disasters could eventually bring, but is also a portrait of the human determination to survive, come what may. Definitely worth the read and the audio narration is lovely. I received an audio review copy from Libro. FM, all opinions are my own.
This book is literary and character driven, with beautiful prose. It paints a bleak picture of what climate change and environmental disasters could eventually bring, but is also a portrait of the human determination to survive, come what may. Definitely worth the read and the audio narration is lovely. I received an audio review copy from Libro. FM, all opinions are my own.
March 30, 2024
An interesting and beautifully written piece about the transition from teen to adulthood in a post-climate disaster world. The trappings have changed but the issues surrounding that struggle to separate from parents, to find your own identity as an adult, remain unchanged and universal.
January 2, 2022
This book wasn’t quite like the synopsis paints it out to be.
Is this a prequel? If so I’d say 3 ⭐️.
If it’s a stand alone novella it’s lacking far too much to be on its own in my opinion. In this case I’d say 2 ⭐️.
So, for now 2.5 ⭐️.
Full review to come.
Thank you to Libro FM for my #gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review. This book is now available.
Is this a prequel? If so I’d say 3 ⭐️.
If it’s a stand alone novella it’s lacking far too much to be on its own in my opinion. In this case I’d say 2 ⭐️.
So, for now 2.5 ⭐️.
Full review to come.
Thank you to Libro FM for my #gifted ALC in exchange for my honest review. This book is now available.
October 30, 2021
3 5 Stars
This was an enjoyable sci fi novella that provides an optimistic view of a post apocalyptic future. There is very little action in this one. Instead the tension arises as the young protagonist must choose between her responsibility to her family and advancing her education. The story is simple, yet compelling. I would recommend it to those who enjoy character based soft science fiction.
This was an enjoyable sci fi novella that provides an optimistic view of a post apocalyptic future. There is very little action in this one. Instead the tension arises as the young protagonist must choose between her responsibility to her family and advancing her education. The story is simple, yet compelling. I would recommend it to those who enjoy character based soft science fiction.
May 30, 2022
A girl from a remote community gets an acceptance letter from a college, yet her mother thinks it's a fake to lure her away.
This story set in a dystopian future is all about self determination written in a lyrical prose that flows with the thoughts of the protagonist and her actions in the balancing act of trying to find her way while attempting to please everybody.
I loved the writing style of this slow going intimate POV. An author I will look out for.
This story set in a dystopian future is all about self determination written in a lyrical prose that flows with the thoughts of the protagonist and her actions in the balancing act of trying to find her way while attempting to please everybody.
I loved the writing style of this slow going intimate POV. An author I will look out for.
January 10, 2022
This review can also be found at https://carolesrandomlife.com/
I thought that this book was slow, although slow-moving at times. If you have been following my reviews for very long, you probably already know that I just can’t seem to pass up a good end of the world story so I jumped at the chance to listen to this novella. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of this future world that has been forever impacted by climate change.
Reid lives in a community where everyone works to contribute to the group’s survival. She has just received a letter that she has been accepted to a university which she feels is a huge honor. Her mother is not convinced and thinks that Reid needs to stay and do her part for the community. Living is hard and resources are scarce. Electricity is a thing that only a few remember. Reid and her mother also deal with the challenge of an infection that can not only take but have an influence on their lives.
For the most part, this was a slower character-driven story. I enjoyed spending time in Reid’s head as she works to make the decision that will set the course of her life. She wants to take the chance but she also wants to make her mother happy. There was a little bit of action before the book drew to a close and those scenes really helped to illustrate just how difficult life can be.
I thought that the narrator did a great job with this story. I believe that this is the first time that I have listened to her work but I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of her work in the future. I liked her voice and thought that did a great job with the characters.
I would recommend this book to others. This was a wonderful shorter listen set in a very interesting dystopian world. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this audiobook from ECW Press via Libro.fm.
Initial Thoughts
This was good although a little slow moving at times. Reid lives in the future where the world looks quite different due to climate change. When she receives the opportunity she must decide if she should take it or stay with her mother and the rest of the community who need every hand available. The narration was very well done.
I thought that this book was slow, although slow-moving at times. If you have been following my reviews for very long, you probably already know that I just can’t seem to pass up a good end of the world story so I jumped at the chance to listen to this novella. I enjoyed getting a glimpse of this future world that has been forever impacted by climate change.
Reid lives in a community where everyone works to contribute to the group’s survival. She has just received a letter that she has been accepted to a university which she feels is a huge honor. Her mother is not convinced and thinks that Reid needs to stay and do her part for the community. Living is hard and resources are scarce. Electricity is a thing that only a few remember. Reid and her mother also deal with the challenge of an infection that can not only take but have an influence on their lives.
For the most part, this was a slower character-driven story. I enjoyed spending time in Reid’s head as she works to make the decision that will set the course of her life. She wants to take the chance but she also wants to make her mother happy. There was a little bit of action before the book drew to a close and those scenes really helped to illustrate just how difficult life can be.
I thought that the narrator did a great job with this story. I believe that this is the first time that I have listened to her work but I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up more of her work in the future. I liked her voice and thought that did a great job with the characters.
I would recommend this book to others. This was a wonderful shorter listen set in a very interesting dystopian world. I would not hesitate to read more of this author’s work in the future.
I received a digital review copy of this audiobook from ECW Press via Libro.fm.
Initial Thoughts
This was good although a little slow moving at times. Reid lives in the future where the world looks quite different due to climate change. When she receives the opportunity she must decide if she should take it or stay with her mother and the rest of the community who need every hand available. The narration was very well done.
July 11, 2022
Reads more like a prequel than a self-contained novella and so the ending is unsatisfactory. There's leaving things open-ended and ambiguous and then there's not giving any sort of conclusion - this did the latter. We spend most of the story wondering if something is real and what it's like and then never told or shown the truth. Way too much time was also spent on talking about the "Before Times" instead of developing the world and characters in the present.
Bit of a letdown, this was.
1.75
Bit of a letdown, this was.
1.75
November 12, 2021
4.5*
The Annual Migration of Clouds follows Reid, a woman infected with a parasite called Cad - it kills others, it leaves others, and Cad also chooses to stay in the bodies of certain people, not only living off them but making its carriers do (or not do) certain things. Reid lives in a community that is attempting to survive after civilization has collapsed due to a climate disaster (and Cad). She knows all her neighbours because no one that has left the community has ever come back, and no one really knows what is outside of it for certain. One day, she receives a letter - written in real paper! - offering her a place at Howse University (what is left of civilization) as long as she can make it there in two weeks time. Reid is then conflicted by the decision of abandoning her community that needs rebuilding to go to a place that may not even exist.
I thought the novella was incredibly well written, thought-provoking, and (while not necessarily fun) interesting. I usually hate reading short fiction because I like getting to know the characters I am reading about, and I feel novellas don't quite let me do this. Mohamed managed to write her characters perfectly and explore their relationships even when the whole plot was going on.
I'll just bullet point why I think this was an awesome read because I'm out of brain juice and can't write:
- Well-crafted and eerie dystopian world,
- Great characters,
- The parasite is creepy,
- The characters are aware they lack critical information (is the parasite sentient? does the university exist? what happened to those people who left? etc.) and thus there is no such thing as easy choices,
- The cover,
- The audiobook narrator, Eva Tavares, was really good,
- It's a novella but it packs a punch.
*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The Annual Migration of Clouds follows Reid, a woman infected with a parasite called Cad - it kills others, it leaves others, and Cad also chooses to stay in the bodies of certain people, not only living off them but making its carriers do (or not do) certain things. Reid lives in a community that is attempting to survive after civilization has collapsed due to a climate disaster (and Cad). She knows all her neighbours because no one that has left the community has ever come back, and no one really knows what is outside of it for certain. One day, she receives a letter - written in real paper! - offering her a place at Howse University (what is left of civilization) as long as she can make it there in two weeks time. Reid is then conflicted by the decision of abandoning her community that needs rebuilding to go to a place that may not even exist.
I thought the novella was incredibly well written, thought-provoking, and (while not necessarily fun) interesting. I usually hate reading short fiction because I like getting to know the characters I am reading about, and I feel novellas don't quite let me do this. Mohamed managed to write her characters perfectly and explore their relationships even when the whole plot was going on.
I'll just bullet point why I think this was an awesome read because I'm out of brain juice and can't write:
- Well-crafted and eerie dystopian world,
- Great characters,
- The parasite is creepy,
- The characters are aware they lack critical information (is the parasite sentient? does the university exist? what happened to those people who left? etc.) and thus there is no such thing as easy choices,
- The cover,
- The audiobook narrator, Eva Tavares, was really good,
- It's a novella but it packs a punch.
*I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
January 3, 2022
Why you may not like this novella: It's a novella! It's my favorite kind because it manages both a sense of completion and leaves a little something left open. That sort of ending, though, may not be for everyone. We definitely are left with just a snapshot of this world and our main character's future is uncertain.
Why I loved this book: I love stories that really manage to capture a character's narrative voice and that feel conversational. This did that and also was just smart and beautifully written. I love the world that Mohamed created and I fell for her characters quickly and easily.
January 6, 2025
An interesting post-climate disaster novella about a young woman at a crossroads in her life. I did find the world fascinating, especially as I am so used to read apocalyptic novels set during the event or very shortly after. This, though, is decades after. The oldest survivors being the only ones to remember electricity.
How does one make a life in these circumstances? And how do you even conceive of the future when survival in the present is most pressing?
How does one make a life in these circumstances? And how do you even conceive of the future when survival in the present is most pressing?
October 12, 2021
3.5!
Thank you ECW for providing me with a finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
This little book definitely packs a punch. I like that the dystopian setting wasn’t constantly shoved down our throats. It wasn’t eerie or creepy as I thought it was going to be, so that was a nice surprise. (Sometimes these sorts of settings are hit or miss for me, but this was a hit!).
I enjoyed the characters and getting to know them. I feel like as a novella, they weren’t as fully developed as they could have been had this been a novel.
Definitely a book that you need to take your time with - I feel like I have to go back and reread it to catch references and other things!
Thank you ECW for providing me with a finished copy in exchange for an honest review!
This little book definitely packs a punch. I like that the dystopian setting wasn’t constantly shoved down our throats. It wasn’t eerie or creepy as I thought it was going to be, so that was a nice surprise. (Sometimes these sorts of settings are hit or miss for me, but this was a hit!).
I enjoyed the characters and getting to know them. I feel like as a novella, they weren’t as fully developed as they could have been had this been a novel.
Definitely a book that you need to take your time with - I feel like I have to go back and reread it to catch references and other things!
March 15, 2022
2022 Mar: 4 stars.
I enjoyed this book all over again, but this time could really concentrate on the world described by Premee Mohamed's fantastic prose. There's something both horrifying about how much has been lost since various massive calamities years earlier, and something so hopeful about people finding ways to live and the communities they forge.
I am also super curious about what Reid encounters when she eventually makes it to the university.
2021 Sep: 4 stars.
It’s many years after a planet-wide climate collapse, and people are in small communities, and finding ways to live with what they have. There’s also a mysterious fungal disease that infects a portion of the narrator’s community, including her mother and herself. She knows it’s a death sentence no matter what, but one which she can live with, until one day it kills her. In one of a few horrible ways.
One day Reid receives an acceptance letter from a university several days travel away. She’s thrilled, but there are some, including Reid’s mother, who are reluctant for Reid to leave her home. It’s becomes a big internal debate, with Reid wrestling with her unexpected choice:
She, along with everyone in the community, have skills and roles in the community, and leaving would mean potentially harming, or hampering others in the group. This is not an insignificant concern, as everyone is living at a subsistence level, even many years post-worldwide climate collapse.
Reid can also see opportunity for her and the community if she accepts the university, as there could be new methods and practices she could bring home.
This is a story that grapples some big questions:
-our lack of responsibility for our destruction of the planet, and how will this affect our future generations
-can one do something for oneself when community survival depends on everyone?
I was intrigued by this post-apocalyptic society, and its characters, and wished I could find out what Reid encountered at the university.
Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for a review.
I enjoyed this book all over again, but this time could really concentrate on the world described by Premee Mohamed's fantastic prose. There's something both horrifying about how much has been lost since various massive calamities years earlier, and something so hopeful about people finding ways to live and the communities they forge.
I am also super curious about what Reid encounters when she eventually makes it to the university.
2021 Sep: 4 stars.
It’s many years after a planet-wide climate collapse, and people are in small communities, and finding ways to live with what they have. There’s also a mysterious fungal disease that infects a portion of the narrator’s community, including her mother and herself. She knows it’s a death sentence no matter what, but one which she can live with, until one day it kills her. In one of a few horrible ways.
One day Reid receives an acceptance letter from a university several days travel away. She’s thrilled, but there are some, including Reid’s mother, who are reluctant for Reid to leave her home. It’s becomes a big internal debate, with Reid wrestling with her unexpected choice:
She, along with everyone in the community, have skills and roles in the community, and leaving would mean potentially harming, or hampering others in the group. This is not an insignificant concern, as everyone is living at a subsistence level, even many years post-worldwide climate collapse.
Reid can also see opportunity for her and the community if she accepts the university, as there could be new methods and practices she could bring home.
This is a story that grapples some big questions:
-our lack of responsibility for our destruction of the planet, and how will this affect our future generations
-can one do something for oneself when community survival depends on everyone?
I was intrigued by this post-apocalyptic society, and its characters, and wished I could find out what Reid encountered at the university.
Thank you to Netgalley and ECW Press for this ARC in exchange for a review.
January 5, 2025
Plot, world-building, concept, and overall ambience are all five stars for me. Sadly the characters barely rated a 2. I just didn’t care about any of them. I know our leading girl and her POV is a teen who wants more, and so I should offer her some slack for being annoying; but I just couldn’t find it in myself to like her enough. Additionally I really disliked her friend. Their whole dynamic was awkward, and unrealistic. It’s truly sad as everything else about this story is amazing!!
As always, I love stories set in my own area. This one is in my province and my own city (Calgary) is referenced a couple of times; which is always fun! It’s funny as I don’t think the book ever says it’s Edmonton but anyone who is familiar with the city could know right away from the opening description of the old university next to the river in Canada. It has to be either Edmonton, Saskatoon, or Montreal. As soon as Calgary and Red Deer are mentioned then it’s clearly here in Alberta.
I do love when Canadian authors use our own country as their setting. We have so few books set here and it’s always nice to feel a tiny bit of home; even in a post-apocalyptic story.
Trivia note: the first season of Last of Us (also a fungus post-apocalyptic story) was largely filmed in Edmonton and Calgary.
I’m going to read the next book that recently came out in this novella series. Again it’s short, like this one, and I do genuinely want to spend some more time in this world. Even if I’m unsure I care about our leading gal.
As always, I love stories set in my own area. This one is in my province and my own city (Calgary) is referenced a couple of times; which is always fun! It’s funny as I don’t think the book ever says it’s Edmonton but anyone who is familiar with the city could know right away from the opening description of the old university next to the river in Canada. It has to be either Edmonton, Saskatoon, or Montreal. As soon as Calgary and Red Deer are mentioned then it’s clearly here in Alberta.
I do love when Canadian authors use our own country as their setting. We have so few books set here and it’s always nice to feel a tiny bit of home; even in a post-apocalyptic story.
Trivia note: the first season of Last of Us (also a fungus post-apocalyptic story) was largely filmed in Edmonton and Calgary.
I’m going to read the next book that recently came out in this novella series. Again it’s short, like this one, and I do genuinely want to spend some more time in this world. Even if I’m unsure I care about our leading gal.
March 25, 2022
The story is underdeveloped and over written. It reads like the pretentious, weird, and rambling diary of a teenager, who is trying to write poetically deep thoughts.
November 11, 2024
The idea behind this had the potential for a full novel, but the actual book could have been four pages long. There is barely any action. The plot does not expand beyond what is described in the blurb/summary/thing. Almost none of the questions raised in said blurb are answered.
I think the intention is to focus on the protagonist's (Reid) internal conflict and relationships with her community rather than give her an Epic Science Fiction Adventure Thing. The author probably wanted to use the dystopian setting to explore how people react to challenging circumstances. People interacting with people > Scary Future Things. You get it.
That would have been fine, but so much time is spent talking about nothing that the message gets lost. Reid spends almost all 150-ish pages complaining about how “maybe I shouldn’t go to the university thing :( :(“ or else waxing poetic about clouds and her dead friend’s cat and how there is no God (for almost half a chapter for crying out loud) and other things no one really cares about. I spent most of it internally screaming “Get to the point! Tell us something that matters! You know, something that will move the story forward!” But that never happens, and I still cannot name a single personality trait that fits this girl, because there are none, because she has no personality.
I did like the idea of the world ending gradually due to climate change and humans neglecting the state of the planet. It scared me a lot more than a sudden asteroid or explosion or deadly plague would because it’s far more probable. All we really need to do to make it happen is keep doing what we're doing. The concept of Cad (a.k.a. the fungus that can think for itself) was also interesting, especially because it’s supposed to force people to seek safety rather than killing them right away. That is until a scene near the end where it does the opposite and made me incredibly confused.
And then it ended in such a weird place and for such a weird reason? Again, no closure, almost no questions answered. We find out what Reid ends up deciding to do, but I still have practically no idea why, or why the preceding events suddenly get her to make up her mind? Isn't figuring out why Reid does what she does the point of this entire thing? Actually, is there a point at all?
If you are my English teacher, please take this out of the curriculum for next year's students. Please.
tl;dr: Cool idea, boring-as-Hell execution with a strange ending that felt incomplete. It would have been better if it were actually about clouds. Or birds. Or anything else.
I think the intention is to focus on the protagonist's (Reid) internal conflict and relationships with her community rather than give her an Epic Science Fiction Adventure Thing. The author probably wanted to use the dystopian setting to explore how people react to challenging circumstances. People interacting with people > Scary Future Things. You get it.
That would have been fine, but so much time is spent talking about nothing that the message gets lost. Reid spends almost all 150-ish pages complaining about how “maybe I shouldn’t go to the university thing :( :(“ or else waxing poetic about clouds and her dead friend’s cat and how there is no God (for almost half a chapter for crying out loud) and other things no one really cares about. I spent most of it internally screaming “Get to the point! Tell us something that matters! You know, something that will move the story forward!” But that never happens, and I still cannot name a single personality trait that fits this girl, because there are none, because she has no personality.
I did like the idea of the world ending gradually due to climate change and humans neglecting the state of the planet. It scared me a lot more than a sudden asteroid or explosion or deadly plague would because it’s far more probable. All we really need to do to make it happen is keep doing what we're doing. The concept of Cad (a.k.a. the fungus that can think for itself) was also interesting, especially because it’s supposed to force people to seek safety rather than killing them right away. That is until a scene near the end where it does the opposite and made me incredibly confused.
And then it ended in such a weird place and for such a weird reason? Again, no closure, almost no questions answered. We find out what Reid ends up deciding to do, but I still have practically no idea why, or why the preceding events suddenly get her to make up her mind? Isn't figuring out why Reid does what she does the point of this entire thing? Actually, is there a point at all?
If you are my English teacher, please take this out of the curriculum for next year's students. Please.
tl;dr: Cool idea, boring-as-Hell execution with a strange ending that felt incomplete. It would have been better if it were actually about clouds. Or birds. Or anything else.
March 11, 2022
A young woman living in a climate change based dystopian society based in Alberta has a chance to leave her tight knit community, and needs to decide to leave or stay.
This story didn't have much direction to it, as it meandered from one plot point to another which didn't always seem connected. I didn't completely grasp what had happened to the world, and how the parasites worked, but the way the characters talked about the past means they don't really understand either.
This was listed as an adult book but it felt very much like a young adult book to me. The main character is young (I'm not sure of her exact age) and is in constant conflict with her mother, is trying to plan for her future, there's a boy whose a friend who might become her boyfriend, and the writing style and dialogue was pretty simplistic. I wanted a deeper dive into this world.
This story didn't have much direction to it, as it meandered from one plot point to another which didn't always seem connected. I didn't completely grasp what had happened to the world, and how the parasites worked, but the way the characters talked about the past means they don't really understand either.
This was listed as an adult book but it felt very much like a young adult book to me. The main character is young (I'm not sure of her exact age) and is in constant conflict with her mother, is trying to plan for her future, there's a boy whose a friend who might become her boyfriend, and the writing style and dialogue was pretty simplistic. I wanted a deeper dive into this world.
October 11, 2021
A really smart beautifully written story of survival in a world after the end of the world thanks to climate change. Covering growing up, leaving your community and facing your fears it’s excellent reading
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
Full review - https://www.runalongtheshelves.net/bl...
May 1, 2025
Rec. by: MCL; Roberta
Rec. for: Melancholy babies, who were born too late for the good stuff
I have really enjoyed Premee Mohamed's shorter fiction, in various anthologies, and as collected in No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories, which I read back in 2023, so I was eager to see what she'd do with a longer work. Not that this one's much longer, you understand... The Annual Migration of Clouds is still only 158 pages all told. Mohamed's novella is remarkably rich and dense, though—by the end of the first couple of pages we have already learned a lot about Reid, including her name. We've also learned that mechanical printing is unusual in her time; that colors underneath one's thumbnail can be a curse; and that "messing with kids" is still a crime that can stir vigilantes to action.
It is an eventful beginning.
Reid's home is in a future Canada, as part of a tight-knit, cobbled-together community of survivors trying to hold together some scraps of urban infrastructure. It's not really post-apocalyptic; there was no single triggering event, no anniversary date for The End—just decline, mostly slow but sharp at times. Our complex web of interwoven technologies became senescent, unworkable, having outlived their usefulness. In short, civilization has thoroughly collapsed, and is being rebuilt slowly and on a much smaller scale, using only bits and pieces of the world left behind.
In Mohamed's scenario, humans live more sustainably—they must, if they are to live at all.
—and—
Reid's community—which is certainly no utopia, though it has its good points—is challenged as well by the aftereffects of a global pandemic, in this case a fungal, parasitic affliction they just call "cad." Cad's the cause of those colors writhing underneath Reid Graham's nails—one of the disease's more benign effects.
But then Reid receives an offer she cannot in good conscience refuse: a high-tech invitation from Howse University, a maybe-mythical enclave of what may just be the last functioning remnants of the Anthropocene's former glory left on Earth...
Reid has to go—but she can't just leave her people behind. They need everyone they have...
Ultimately, The Annual Migration of Clouds ends —but I do not think I could have done better at telling her story.
And, it seems, there may be a sequel...
Rec. for: Melancholy babies, who were born too late for the good stuff
I have really enjoyed Premee Mohamed's shorter fiction, in various anthologies, and as collected in No One Will Come Back for Us and Other Stories, which I read back in 2023, so I was eager to see what she'd do with a longer work. Not that this one's much longer, you understand... The Annual Migration of Clouds is still only 158 pages all told. Mohamed's novella is remarkably rich and dense, though—by the end of the first couple of pages we have already learned a lot about Reid, including her name. We've also learned that mechanical printing is unusual in her time; that colors underneath one's thumbnail can be a curse; and that "messing with kids" is still a crime that can stir vigilantes to action.
It is an eventful beginning.
Reid's home is in a future Canada, as part of a tight-knit, cobbled-together community of survivors trying to hold together some scraps of urban infrastructure. It's not really post-apocalyptic; there was no single triggering event, no anniversary date for The End—just decline, mostly slow but sharp at times. Our complex web of interwoven technologies became senescent, unworkable, having outlived their usefulness. In short, civilization has thoroughly collapsed, and is being rebuilt slowly and on a much smaller scale, using only bits and pieces of the world left behind.
In Mohamed's scenario, humans live more sustainably—they must, if they are to live at all.
Science tangible but no different from magic now, because we cannot replicate it, which we were taught is the point of science: research, which is to say, you can find it again.
—p.7
—and—
You could not buy a new world into existence. And at last, the lights went out for good.
—p.54
Reid's community—which is certainly no utopia, though it has its good points—is challenged as well by the aftereffects of a global pandemic, in this case a fungal, parasitic affliction they just call "cad." Cad's the cause of those colors writhing underneath Reid Graham's nails—one of the disease's more benign effects.
But then Reid receives an offer she cannot in good conscience refuse: a high-tech invitation from Howse University, a maybe-mythical enclave of what may just be the last functioning remnants of the Anthropocene's former glory left on Earth...
Reid has to go—but she can't just leave her people behind. They need everyone they have...
Ultimately, The Annual Migration of Clouds ends —but I do not think I could have done better at telling her story.
And, it seems, there may be a sequel...
April 7, 2024
I don't know if it's simply the juxtaposition of starting this immediately after DNFing Shigidi, but it was so refreshing immediately feeling the scifi and speculative elements of this world.
Admittedly, I still haven't even read the synopsis for this one. Like the booboo the fool that I am, I requested We Speak Through the Mountain and was granted an eARC... without realizing it was a sequel. Whoops! (to my credit, it doesn't say sequel on NetGalley ("follow-up" is vague at best) nor is it categorized as a series on Goodreads)
But straight out the gates in chapter 1 you already come to understand the dystopian, distant future of this world. The way they reference movies (but have never seen one) or how no one would waste their precious few trees on paper anymore, the duststorms that plague them and come more and more frequently, and -most significantly- the parasites/symbiotes that live inside them-- all of it immediately starts building a rich and interesting world. (A world that gets built on with each passing page, from the perspectives of the generations left to live in a world rocked by climate disasters and the memories of the technologies/luxuries we take for granted, that they'll forever be denied access to in their lifetimes.)
The main character has been accepted to a very exclusive school, but she would have to leave her community and her mom to go. Scraping along as they are, it's incredibly difficult and hugely frowned on for anyone (especially the young and able-bodied) to forfeit their responsibilities of contributing to the collective. She struggles to make the right choice, to save up as much as she can so her mom is looked after while she's gone, and is at war with the creature inside her that appears to be growing more and more uppity in exerting its control over her body.
This novella is short, but holds so much more plot and thought and world-building than many full-length novels I've read. I look forward to seeing the series conclusion.
Admittedly, I still haven't even read the synopsis for this one. Like the booboo the fool that I am, I requested We Speak Through the Mountain and was granted an eARC... without realizing it was a sequel. Whoops! (to my credit, it doesn't say sequel on NetGalley ("follow-up" is vague at best) nor is it categorized as a series on Goodreads)
But straight out the gates in chapter 1 you already come to understand the dystopian, distant future of this world. The way they reference movies (but have never seen one) or how no one would waste their precious few trees on paper anymore, the duststorms that plague them and come more and more frequently, and -most significantly- the parasites/symbiotes that live inside them-- all of it immediately starts building a rich and interesting world. (A world that gets built on with each passing page, from the perspectives of the generations left to live in a world rocked by climate disasters and the memories of the technologies/luxuries we take for granted, that they'll forever be denied access to in their lifetimes.)
The main character has been accepted to a very exclusive school, but she would have to leave her community and her mom to go. Scraping along as they are, it's incredibly difficult and hugely frowned on for anyone (especially the young and able-bodied) to forfeit their responsibilities of contributing to the collective. She struggles to make the right choice, to save up as much as she can so her mom is looked after while she's gone, and is at war with the creature inside her that appears to be growing more and more uppity in exerting its control over her body.
This novella is short, but holds so much more plot and thought and world-building than many full-length novels I've read. I look forward to seeing the series conclusion.
February 9, 2022
This is my first experience of the author’s writing and I was a bit skeptical right from the beginning. It’s an interesting dystopian world and I loved the way the past is mentioned - how the world changed, how people survived, what rich people did. This story is also about the difference between generations - a mom’s desire for things to remain the same and her daughter to be close by, a daughter wanting to be on her own, think about life outside of their bubble and just wanting something more - this leads to conflicts and words flung at each other but it’s obvious that the love is ever present. But it also doesn’t feel like anything happened and the writing style just wasn’t for me. The ending was also pretty abrupt and it left me with many questions. Overall, I think this is for readers who prefer more literary speculative fiction than us SFF genre readers.
September 8, 2022
Very engaging novella, set in Alberta, Canada. The time is the near future: a grim time featuring the catastrophic results of climate change.
The basic story, though, is a familiar one of mother-daughter conflict, triggered when young Reid earns admission to a university far from home. The author paints a vivid picture of life in their settlement: life with the disease that afflicts both Reid and her mother Claire, as well as others.
The setting is definitely bleak, but the story's outcome is realistically hopeful.
I'll be keeping my eye on this author.
The basic story, though, is a familiar one of mother-daughter conflict, triggered when young Reid earns admission to a university far from home. The author paints a vivid picture of life in their settlement: life with the disease that afflicts both Reid and her mother Claire, as well as others.
The setting is definitely bleak, but the story's outcome is realistically hopeful.
I'll be keeping my eye on this author.
April 3, 2022
This novella describes such a detailed world and characters, I’m blown away that the author could do this in so few pages. Many themes are threaded through the main character’s activities of a few days with a twist at the end. So well constructed.
April 30, 2021
I don’t read a lot of dystopian books, though I can enjoy them from time to time. But something about this cover and the title intrigued me and so I requested it from Netgalley. And I am so glad I did.
This novella is a small and almost intimate story about a young woman having to make a choice, and it is superbly written. The dialogue felt completely natural and the main characters inner voice was done spot on. It has been a while since I read something that flowed so natural and easy. I am sure this book will make an amazing audiobook.
I really liked the idea of Cad… a kind of parasite living inside people that can alter their behaviour to protect their host… until they are done with them and painfully kill of the people. It is a hereditary disease, that spread like wildfire after abortion, sex-ed and anticonseptive were banned. A whole series of other tragedies has hit the earth as well both regarding climate and manmade, creating a world of settlements fighting for survival where knowledge has gone. I loved the idea how they used the plastic left behind by previous generations, because they cannot make their own anymore and the landfills are still aplenty.
In this world we follow Reid, who gets a letter that she has been accepted at a legendary university no one knows is even real. She has to choose between staying with her mother who needs her help to get by, or go escape the daily struggle to survive and work on a chance to fix the world.
And that is all this novella is really… a superbly written, character driven story with a fascinating world as backdrop. And I adored it. I really hope Premee isn’t done with Reid, or at least this world, yet, because I need more!
This novella is a small and almost intimate story about a young woman having to make a choice, and it is superbly written. The dialogue felt completely natural and the main characters inner voice was done spot on. It has been a while since I read something that flowed so natural and easy. I am sure this book will make an amazing audiobook.
I really liked the idea of Cad… a kind of parasite living inside people that can alter their behaviour to protect their host… until they are done with them and painfully kill of the people. It is a hereditary disease, that spread like wildfire after abortion, sex-ed and anticonseptive were banned. A whole series of other tragedies has hit the earth as well both regarding climate and manmade, creating a world of settlements fighting for survival where knowledge has gone. I loved the idea how they used the plastic left behind by previous generations, because they cannot make their own anymore and the landfills are still aplenty.
In this world we follow Reid, who gets a letter that she has been accepted at a legendary university no one knows is even real. She has to choose between staying with her mother who needs her help to get by, or go escape the daily struggle to survive and work on a chance to fix the world.
And that is all this novella is really… a superbly written, character driven story with a fascinating world as backdrop. And I adored it. I really hope Premee isn’t done with Reid, or at least this world, yet, because I need more!
March 23, 2024
shoutout to my albertan friends
July 10, 2024
More like 3.5 stars.
It actually feels like it could take place in The Last of Us verse. I'm not sure if it's all that memorable but I had a good time.
It actually feels like it could take place in The Last of Us verse. I'm not sure if it's all that memorable but I had a good time.
January 4, 2026
The worst was over, and then it wasn't, and now something else begins.
Started the new year with a postapocalyptic hopepunk novella and I fear that sets the tone for 2026... Mohamed transported the feelings of what it means to live after catastrophe as a young person really well. The sense of loss of basic things young people never had themselves, the helpless survival, the toll it all took, mentally, for communities... Heartbreaking and beautifully written, it is in conversation with and citiquing conventional tropes of postapocalyptic literature (like the tendency towards a conservative and patriarchal definition of civilisation).
I feel like these kind of post-apocalyptic books with feminist and intersectional themes are absolutely up my alley. Will reach out more for this year!
"I'm nothing much," I tell him, trying not to raise my voice. "I just said that."
"That's not true. It's like clouds. They don't look like much. They look weightless, but they weigh millions and millions of tons."
And yet. He understands more than anyone else - more than me, too - that the world will not get better on its own, and it cannot now heal on its own. Not the world around us (which does not care if we are in it) but the one in which we live, in which we participate.
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