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Inversion: Germinal, Book 1
On a mysterious green planet regenerated by fire, vibrant communities live in harmony with both its strange ecosystem and each other—until the day imperialist forces arrive. Char and her family are among the nomadic Summer people of Germinal who tend to the rich biodiversity of their world through reciprocity and ritual. They must forever travel to stay ahead of the walls of fire that approach like clockwork, bringing with them both loss and renewal. The flamewalls divide their world into three seasons and three ways of life, keeping them from the Spring and Winter people, about whom they must never ask. Char is the first to spot the off-world landing vessels bearing the militaristic invaders whose intentions are far beyond her worldview. Graft is a captive servitor and personal attendant to the Conquis, leader of the vanguard forces. The last survivor of a culture annihilated by conquest, Graft is tortured by grief and determined to avoid notice, but he soon recognizes how unprepared Char and her people are to deal with the invasion. After one unsettling discovery leads to another, the newcomers find the nature of this land troubling and its denizens odd—perhaps nonhuman. When the mission turns darker, the inhabitants of the violated utopia must learn how to defend themselves or lose everything. Inversion stages an experiment in new possibilities of living, a tale of social struggle set in a wildly unique universe animated by questions of climate collapse and collective action. Aric McBay weaves a tale in the visionary spirit of Ursula Le Guin’s The Dispossessed and Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy.
240 pages, Paperback
Published November 21, 2023
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Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews
October 9, 2025
I've never actually read anything by Ursula K. Le Guin (yet! I'll get around to it!), but this book reminded me of what my understanding of how her books are: a story with a unique sci-fi setting designed to make you think about how our own society could be better, and how its inhabitants would react to threats that real-world readers would expect and understand.
At face value - and this might be a bit facetious - I didn't think a book set in a literal utopia could interest me; if everything is perfect and every need is met, what kind of story could be told that could possibly be interesting? Thankfully the kumbaya honeymoon period only lasts for the first chapter before an inciting incident kicks an actual plot into motion. Previous books from this publisher I've read in the past lay on the political pontificating pretty goddamn heavy, but it was more subtle and toned down here, allowing it to be present without getting in the way of the story.
Our dual protagonists feel strongly distinct from one another (one of them uses "we/our" pronouns with a clever in-fiction justification for that), and they do go through a transformation and character change through the events of the book. The prose and dialogue are serviceable enough, but really it's the setting that's going to stick with me for a while after reading it. I don't know if the author intends to revisit this world, but I'd be interested in going back if he did.
At face value - and this might be a bit facetious - I didn't think a book set in a literal utopia could interest me; if everything is perfect and every need is met, what kind of story could be told that could possibly be interesting? Thankfully the kumbaya honeymoon period only lasts for the first chapter before an inciting incident kicks an actual plot into motion. Previous books from this publisher I've read in the past lay on the political pontificating pretty goddamn heavy, but it was more subtle and toned down here, allowing it to be present without getting in the way of the story.
Our dual protagonists feel strongly distinct from one another (one of them uses "we/our" pronouns with a clever in-fiction justification for that), and they do go through a transformation and character change through the events of the book. The prose and dialogue are serviceable enough, but really it's the setting that's going to stick with me for a while after reading it. I don't know if the author intends to revisit this world, but I'd be interested in going back if he did.
November 5, 2023
Inversion took me way longer than it should have to get through and review, but not for the usual reasons. You should know that it is indeed impossible to wash, sanitize, and dry a paperback ARC after dropping it in a flushed hospital toilet. I guess I was driven enough to finish it that I tried not to just throw it away. Eventually, I found a way to make a pdf slightly readable on my ereader and started over from the beginning despite being halfway through. I'm glad I did, as I realized how much I had missed in the spaced out world of stress I started it in.
Sometimes when nonfiction writers try their hand at fiction, it's just bad. I often go in expecting this so I can be surprised if I'm wrong. Aric Mcbay's book was indeed a pleasant surprise. I found it to be well written and structured and to fulfill the goals of AK Press' Black Dawn series well.
The book involves a clash of cultures and authoritarianism across multiple universes, being representative of both utopian imaginings and the realities of colonialist and fascist rule. While I can't say for sure without asking the author, I saw a lot of Ursula K Leguin influence in this book. This is entirely unsurprising for an anarchist author, but far left anti-authoritarianism isn't my main reasoning for the comparison. There is this way that Leguin, and more recently writers like NK Jemisin with the Broken Earth trilogy, straddle the blurred borders between fantasy and sci-fi that invokes a specific feeling that I struggle to explain. I often avoid fantasy books because they're so often about an old timey kingdom with a few impossible humanoids and dragons or whatever. I tend to lean into science fiction because my brain is more able to fall into a world that feels more possible and I am more attracted to things that seem to be from the present or future rather than the past for whatever reason. There are some authors that draw me into stories outside of my usual preferences and this book did well with that. We have the more stereotypical sci-fi elements of multiverse travel, nonlinear time lapses, and advanced technology mixed with that of fantastic reincarnation and birth, low/no-tech nature dwelling peoples, and old school conquerors.
The book is centered on the points of view of two characters, one from each side of a violent invasion, but both of whom come from a place outside of the authoritarian regime seeking to occupy and claim territory. The location being attacked and colonized is also home to several separate cultures who are different in many ways but who coexist cooperatively. I especially liked this touch because often in these stories you have two sides generally, the invaders and the indigenous. This book has multiple groups on both sides. And anyone who's ever sat through a long anarchist meeting will relate to some of the ways they work things out together. It also shows that the idea of "utopia" is not really a one dimensional perfect goodness, but a continued effort by all parties to sustain a collective and cooperative society which unfortunately sometimes involves figuring out what to do when you are attacked by a group that shares none of your values.
I think the book could have handled the inclusion of other animals better. I'm always surprised when a book written by an eco-leftist type that includes an indigenous or other group immersed in a more earth centered life uses everyone else on the planet as a sort if story prop or occasional meal. The obvious symbolism of the buffalo is overshadowed by seeing other animals as less-than, especially when our two protagonists have a discussion about procreation. The various human cultures though were interesting and well explored.
I'm going to keep it vague so as not to spoil anything. McBay definitely shows us that he's able to tackle both nonfiction and fiction writing with this book. I appreciate AK's effort with this series to expose readers to bigger, better worlds in science fiction.
This was also posted to my blog.
Sometimes when nonfiction writers try their hand at fiction, it's just bad. I often go in expecting this so I can be surprised if I'm wrong. Aric Mcbay's book was indeed a pleasant surprise. I found it to be well written and structured and to fulfill the goals of AK Press' Black Dawn series well.
The book involves a clash of cultures and authoritarianism across multiple universes, being representative of both utopian imaginings and the realities of colonialist and fascist rule. While I can't say for sure without asking the author, I saw a lot of Ursula K Leguin influence in this book. This is entirely unsurprising for an anarchist author, but far left anti-authoritarianism isn't my main reasoning for the comparison. There is this way that Leguin, and more recently writers like NK Jemisin with the Broken Earth trilogy, straddle the blurred borders between fantasy and sci-fi that invokes a specific feeling that I struggle to explain. I often avoid fantasy books because they're so often about an old timey kingdom with a few impossible humanoids and dragons or whatever. I tend to lean into science fiction because my brain is more able to fall into a world that feels more possible and I am more attracted to things that seem to be from the present or future rather than the past for whatever reason. There are some authors that draw me into stories outside of my usual preferences and this book did well with that. We have the more stereotypical sci-fi elements of multiverse travel, nonlinear time lapses, and advanced technology mixed with that of fantastic reincarnation and birth, low/no-tech nature dwelling peoples, and old school conquerors.
The book is centered on the points of view of two characters, one from each side of a violent invasion, but both of whom come from a place outside of the authoritarian regime seeking to occupy and claim territory. The location being attacked and colonized is also home to several separate cultures who are different in many ways but who coexist cooperatively. I especially liked this touch because often in these stories you have two sides generally, the invaders and the indigenous. This book has multiple groups on both sides. And anyone who's ever sat through a long anarchist meeting will relate to some of the ways they work things out together. It also shows that the idea of "utopia" is not really a one dimensional perfect goodness, but a continued effort by all parties to sustain a collective and cooperative society which unfortunately sometimes involves figuring out what to do when you are attacked by a group that shares none of your values.
I think the book could have handled the inclusion of other animals better. I'm always surprised when a book written by an eco-leftist type that includes an indigenous or other group immersed in a more earth centered life uses everyone else on the planet as a sort if story prop or occasional meal. The obvious symbolism of the buffalo is overshadowed by seeing other animals as less-than, especially when our two protagonists have a discussion about procreation. The various human cultures though were interesting and well explored.
I'm going to keep it vague so as not to spoil anything. McBay definitely shows us that he's able to tackle both nonfiction and fiction writing with this book. I appreciate AK's effort with this series to expose readers to bigger, better worlds in science fiction.
This was also posted to my blog.
January 5, 2025
I really loved the world that was built for this Uptopian sci-fi. A people connected to nature, connected to community and free to live to pursue their interests. Wanna make art and pedal a bike around? You are a valid member of the tribe and have valuable input in the way things are ran.
Part of AK Press's Black Dawn series, we have authors that typically write in the social political world trying their hand at science fiction. This is my second read in the series and it really held up in the series.
Highly recommended if you like sci-fi, have a mind for making THIS world a better place thru art, enjoy sharing ideas and embrace and practice feminism, anti-colonialism and bicycle maintenance in your daily life.
Part of AK Press's Black Dawn series, we have authors that typically write in the social political world trying their hand at science fiction. This is my second read in the series and it really held up in the series.
Highly recommended if you like sci-fi, have a mind for making THIS world a better place thru art, enjoy sharing ideas and embrace and practice feminism, anti-colonialism and bicycle maintenance in your daily life.
May 19, 2024
I love good books. I love the way they create an entirely new universe. It doesn't matter if it's better or worse or the same as this one, it's unique and I'm invited. Sci-fi takes it to a whole other level, bending and breaking the rules of known universes and somehow making it believable. One of my favorite ways to experience these new universes is to be utterly confused for the first few dozen pages, and then to have it all slowly fall into place. Inversion did that.
Aric McBay created a unique universe, a utopian world where time is a mindfuck (as it is) and fire cleanses and renews all. A world that is attacked by colonist brutes, who have genocide in their hearts. A world that doesn't understand violence or conquest, but full of people who must find a way to defend themselves from people who embrace this way of life. It's a utopian world that feels possible and a book that took me away from the disgustingness of Earth in 2024. Read it.
I'm drunk at an airport.
Aric McBay created a unique universe, a utopian world where time is a mindfuck (as it is) and fire cleanses and renews all. A world that is attacked by colonist brutes, who have genocide in their hearts. A world that doesn't understand violence or conquest, but full of people who must find a way to defend themselves from people who embrace this way of life. It's a utopian world that feels possible and a book that took me away from the disgustingness of Earth in 2024. Read it.
I'm drunk at an airport.
May 12, 2025
I found the start a lil slow and a bit clunky, but as the multiple perspectives and conflict take off it began to grab me.
The basic ideas and setting are initially a bit counter-intuitive, but are intentionally so, and unravel as is needed.
The scifi ideas here are interesting and allow us to explore at first blush an inaccessible form of utopia that can only exist with fantastical scifi constraints. As the narrative progresses though you can start unpicking both the writer's values and criticisms regarding utopic anarchism. The restraints set on the residents of this small inside-out pocket universe that demand more anarchist principles, are one's you can start to parallel to real-life requirements or choices we could choose to design our world around.
For newbies to anarchist utopias, this one once again shows that there are multiple ways of approaching reaching consent, and some of the pitfalls or downsides that communities need to weigh for different levels of reaching consent and working together.
The major conflict comes as this idyllic place and people encounter a violent invading imperial force. The naivety of the residents is on full display as the engage with them in good faith, but are manipulated and abused in turn.
This basic setup: a seemingly simple alien but natural utopia that meets an empire most reminds me of the book "The Word for World is Forest" by Ursula K. Le Guinn. A lot of the pacing and shape of the story, even down to taking opposite perspectives, 1 from the indigenous people, and 1 or 2 from the imperial perspective mirrors. I would say the earlier outclasses this book on a number of levels, but that doesn't stop this read from being quick, enjoyable and novel in it's scifi exploration.
What both of these books do is intentionally or unintentionally use the plight of indigenous people to create a scifi story. The older positioning them as alien (as western empire usually does), and this one as outcast/renegades (as anarchists often see themselves). In hosting this comparison, it does beg the question if these writers are being extractive of indigenous cultures and traumas, and to some extent simplifying, caricaturing or memifying them.
I think both books are interesting, and this one less traumatic but also less impactful.
⭐⭐⭐✨
The basic ideas and setting are initially a bit counter-intuitive, but are intentionally so, and unravel as is needed.
The scifi ideas here are interesting and allow us to explore at first blush an inaccessible form of utopia that can only exist with fantastical scifi constraints. As the narrative progresses though you can start unpicking both the writer's values and criticisms regarding utopic anarchism. The restraints set on the residents of this small inside-out pocket universe that demand more anarchist principles, are one's you can start to parallel to real-life requirements or choices we could choose to design our world around.
For newbies to anarchist utopias, this one once again shows that there are multiple ways of approaching reaching consent, and some of the pitfalls or downsides that communities need to weigh for different levels of reaching consent and working together.
The major conflict comes as this idyllic place and people encounter a violent invading imperial force. The naivety of the residents is on full display as the engage with them in good faith, but are manipulated and abused in turn.
This basic setup: a seemingly simple alien but natural utopia that meets an empire most reminds me of the book "The Word for World is Forest" by Ursula K. Le Guinn. A lot of the pacing and shape of the story, even down to taking opposite perspectives, 1 from the indigenous people, and 1 or 2 from the imperial perspective mirrors. I would say the earlier outclasses this book on a number of levels, but that doesn't stop this read from being quick, enjoyable and novel in it's scifi exploration.
What both of these books do is intentionally or unintentionally use the plight of indigenous people to create a scifi story. The older positioning them as alien (as western empire usually does), and this one as outcast/renegades (as anarchists often see themselves). In hosting this comparison, it does beg the question if these writers are being extractive of indigenous cultures and traumas, and to some extent simplifying, caricaturing or memifying them.
I think both books are interesting, and this one less traumatic but also less impactful.
⭐⭐⭐✨
October 13, 2024
I’ve read several entries in the Black Dawn series, and this is by far the best. McBay has created a remarkable feat of world building, designing a post scarcity triptych-micro universe organized around seasonal rituals of death and rebirth — a critical utopia some of whose turns of phrase echo Butler and LeGuin. When colonizers — and their native informant lackeys — invade, readers get not only to experience the delicious cross-cultural discourse but also the angst and pedagogy attendant to decolonizing one’s bodymind.
McBay is clearly well-read both theoretically and fictionally, and his time organizing among indigenous communities shines through in the use of ancestral knowledge and communication both as an in-text and craft-level storytelling practice. Despite its brevity, this book is rich with guidance as to how to approach our own conflicts, as well as creating community with those whose experiences of life seem at first untranslatable. Fabulous read, and as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
McBay is clearly well-read both theoretically and fictionally, and his time organizing among indigenous communities shines through in the use of ancestral knowledge and communication both as an in-text and craft-level storytelling practice. Despite its brevity, this book is rich with guidance as to how to approach our own conflicts, as well as creating community with those whose experiences of life seem at first untranslatable. Fabulous read, and as entertaining as it is thought-provoking.
July 20, 2024
4.5/5 What a beautiful weird little book
August 16, 2023
This was excellent - I was lucky enough to get an advance copy from the publisher, and it's right up my alley. I always enjoy reading different types of utopias, and this one was particularly environmentally focused, which is especially relevant right now. I also very much appreciated how much diversity was built into this utopian setting: it's a feature of the cultures represented that they realise that not everyone wants to live the same way, so the potential to adapt and split off and live in different configurations and different types of societies has been carefully integrated into the world-building. (One of my typical first responses to any utopia is "Okay, but who is this utopia for, exactly?" and that's frequently a lot less addressed than it is in dystopias, so it was good to see that this had clearly been carefully considered in Inversion.)
Unsurprisingly, there's an outside threat to the utopia of Germinal, and while the threat itself is less interesting to me (there's only so much that can be mined, I think, from the desire to force the same sterile existence on the entire universe) the real focus on this side of the conflict is not the antagonist, but on the people who have been forced to work for him. There's a fine line between victim and accomplice here, but McBay handles it well by always treating Graft with a thoughtful sense of dignity that balances sympathy with the growing realisation that sympathy alone is not enough - not for Graft, or for Germinal, or even for the reader. It's just all very very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
Unsurprisingly, there's an outside threat to the utopia of Germinal, and while the threat itself is less interesting to me (there's only so much that can be mined, I think, from the desire to force the same sterile existence on the entire universe) the real focus on this side of the conflict is not the antagonist, but on the people who have been forced to work for him. There's a fine line between victim and accomplice here, but McBay handles it well by always treating Graft with a thoughtful sense of dignity that balances sympathy with the growing realisation that sympathy alone is not enough - not for Graft, or for Germinal, or even for the reader. It's just all very very well done, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.
January 16, 2024
I'm only relatively recently a fan of sci fi and fantasy, mostly because I like character driven stories and interesting characters are in short supply. This book being no exception. But I've learned to appreciate the way sci fi can examine belief systems and play with possibilities. This book though...Very early on I had to look up who the author was because the story was feeling very Dances with Wolves. I guess some different societal possibilities were being examined, but not very deeply. If you would be into a conquest story where virtually conflict free, naive indigenous people are attacked by drug addled psychopath colonizers and the colonizers are thwarted by the land itself...Also, I hope you won't be offended by enslaved people who do nothing to free themselves or even act in the most basic mode of self preservation despite superior intelligence, almost limitless information, and their captors being far outnumbered and virtually disarmed. Romanticization can also be a form of dehumanization, ya know.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 7, 2024
Maybe I’m biased, because I’ve had the pleasure of getting to know the author and learn from him, but I really love this book. Aric’s experience with and knowledge of community organizing, climate action, and resistance permeate this story, but not in a way that feels heavy handed. It’s nice to read a book that can explore the complexities of conversation between two disparate groups and how they come to understand one another.
The universe that Aric creates feels both original and real, which is hard to do. Despite the challenges that the characters face, he manages to end with a message of hope. Hope that there are ways to a post-scarcity, restorative world. Hope that we can work on those goals collectively.
The universe that Aric creates feels both original and real, which is hard to do. Despite the challenges that the characters face, he manages to end with a message of hope. Hope that there are ways to a post-scarcity, restorative world. Hope that we can work on those goals collectively.
May 30, 2025
I read this book in one sitting. I am finding that I really love science fiction with a socialist leaning. It makes me wonder about how the world could be and how there are certain aspects of how we live life today which are unnecessarily brutal and mean spirited. The only part that I did not like about this book was a particular moment near the end which I wont spoil but was along the lines of " the world is at stake but hurting people is bad ". Stuff like that really annoys me. It makes sense within the context of the story, sort of, but the author amends this sentiment at the end where a convergence of different perspectives take place that spark hope for progress even in the most idealistic societies.
March 14, 2024
Short novel, a little slow (I thought) to get going but on the whole an absorbing and intellectually intriguing episode. Invites comparison with Wells' Time Machine, but here the Eloi equivalents turn out to have some spine. There are some memorable lines too, such as :
"Stop trying to convince people!" we said angrily. "You can't always fucking convince people!"
"Hmmm," Keegan considered. "Perhaps we know that we are living in utopia when our biggest problem is being annoyed by other people."
"Stop trying to convince people!" we said angrily. "You can't always fucking convince people!"
"Hmmm," Keegan considered. "Perhaps we know that we are living in utopia when our biggest problem is being annoyed by other people."
December 18, 2023
Interesting utopian novel. The world seems to always be in renewal with communities set up in cooperative governments. Since the people of this world have to always be on the move there is no motive for land ownership or the need for much material things. Also, unique answer to overpopulation.
We follow the main character Char trying to understand a first contact with aliens that are completely militaristic and hostile. I think the Conquis are portrayed as very one dimensional.
We follow the main character Char trying to understand a first contact with aliens that are completely militaristic and hostile. I think the Conquis are portrayed as very one dimensional.
February 29, 2024
I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review. Thank you for giving me this opportunity to write a review. Inversion by Aric McBay is imaginative, descriptive, and brings to life a utopian universe. I normally do not read science fiction, so the book was a little hard for me to follow. The book is part of the Black Dawn series. If you like science fiction, this would be a good series to read.
Inversion is currently for sale at your favorite bookstore. #goodreads @akpressdistro
Inversion is currently for sale at your favorite bookstore. #goodreads @akpressdistro
April 7, 2024
Reminiscent of Le Guin, this is what great science fiction does.
I've gone back and forth between 4 and 5 stars--4 because it needed to be longer with more character depth and 5 because it was freakin' awesome and a longer book might slow down the action and readability.
At any rate, highly recommended.
I've gone back and forth between 4 and 5 stars--4 because it needed to be longer with more character depth and 5 because it was freakin' awesome and a longer book might slow down the action and readability.
At any rate, highly recommended.
January 22, 2025
I am mostly a non fiction reader and rarely (ever?) read scifi but a friend was reading this aloud to another friend and i got sucked in immediately. Fantastic read. I have a hard time with some fiction that feels too superficial, but I found this book really inspiring in that it gave me some fresh perspectives while speaking to some of my most deeply held values. And yet it was still an enjoyable, suspenseful and generally easy read. Nothing too dense or cumbersome but by no means superficial. I read a second sci fi book the same week so I guess Im a scifi reader now 😂
December 13, 2023
I’ve read a hell of a lot of books this year, and this is without a doubt one of the best, and definitely the best science-fiction book I’ve read all year—and all in a succinct 207 pages!! Uniquely magic. I loved every moment. Gorgeous, just gorgeous. Deserves so much more attention.
January 16, 2025
This was a wonderful and really hopeful little read. I was hooked and absolutely fascinated the whole way through. McBay packs a ton of world building into a fairly small novel. It leaves room for a sequel, which I am absolutely desperate for!
October 30, 2023
Wow! This was truly mind-bending. I loved the utopian aspect!
March 25, 2024
Loved the world building in this story, looking forward to other books from this author!
April 10, 2024
Gorgeous and perfect.
April 18, 2024
Love the world these people created and how they respond to danger and the unknown, how they care for each other and the utopian life they live.
November 5, 2025
*book giveaway* Not as bad as I was anticipating! Would probably need to read again to get more in depth analysis, but a different utopian perspective.
August 28, 2024
I was interested in the concept of this book. I liked the idea of this high concept anarchist utopia. That was the best part for me. The writing didn't trust it's audience to understand what was happening in the plot so things were explained too many times for me. It wasn't bad but definitely not my favorite
Displaying 1 - 24 of 24 reviews