Book review: Disconnect by Imran Siddiq

Book review: Disconnect by Imran Siddiq

This is a fast and thrilling read once you get settled into the planetary time zone. Some of the initial parts of the book bear comparison with Cormac McCarthy’s The Road given that two of the principle characters are a father and son surviving in a future poverty-stricken underworld. Thankfully this novel has several more dimensions to it.

The original setting is a planet with a two-class structure. The wealthy live on the surface in a lovely environment and the remainder live underneath surviving on the daily ejection of waste from those above who are mainly unaware of the existence of the underworld. It all contrasts well with recent apartheid regimes and current class structures on our planet so it seems easy to pick up on the scene.

It also has a touch of Romeo and Juliet as the hero of the underworld illegally meets the girl of his dreams, Rosa, in the world above. The romantic interest combined with the forthcoming war keeps this one buzzing right to the end. Rosa has a rich family but isolated from friends for reasons of security and family overprotection. She has never met another sixteen year old until the hero turns up with his father’s maintenance ship. It serves as a reminder of where our current communities seem to be heading as gradually nobody talks to neighbours, rarely venture outside and most communication is made on a computer.

There is certainly scope to hear more from Galilei, Jupiter and Europa and it will be interesting to see how the next volume plays. Any Star Wars fans will surely enjoy this new epic.