Pure [Hardcover]

Wow! Pure is the first modern fantasy novel I've picked up in I don't know how long which has truly gripped me. There seems to be a conveyor belt somewhere routinely churning out awful bland fantasy from writers of very average ability, but I'm delighted to say that Julianna Baggott has broken the mould. Pure is the first book in what promises to be an extremely original, involving and, best of all, well written trilogy for young adults which older readers can also enjoy.

Pure leads us into a dystopian America, shell-shocked by a cataclysm known as the Detonations which has left the survivors genetically mutated and fighting to stay alive in a world choked with ash and inhabited by creatures that can no longer be called human. Only those evacuated to the mysterious Dome were protected from the Detonations and they continue to live in isolation from the devastated world outside, an untarnished people regarded by the survivors with fascination and jealous hatred. The story follows the intertwining lives of individuals from both within and without the Dome as they begin to learn the truth about the world they live in and the complicity of those who run it.

I found Pure instantly engaging and the quality of the writing is apparent from the very first page. The characters are real, you care about them, their universe becomes your universe. There are paragraphs within this book which are written with such beauty and subtlety that they take you by surprise. Pure is full of action and a fair amount of blood, but it never becomes coarse or gratuitous like some out-and-out action flick. The focus is always on the characters - Bradwell with fluttering birds embedded in his back, Pressia with a doll's head fused to her wrist where her hand should be, and the pure and unscarred Partridge Willux. The book's world is filled with a macabre beauty which somehow seems to reflect the real world we live in, although it is so different from our world in so many ways.

Pure gets five stars for how much I enjoyed it and for what it made me feel. Unfortunately, I do have to be a bit critical and lop a star off. The plot, although wonderfully inventive and entertaining, has holes. There are one too many magnificent rescues from the slavering jowls of death, and the conclusions that some of the characters manage to draw from the most paltry evidence is a little too convenient. I suppose I just like my fantasy believable, and it most definitely is possible to create a truly fantastical universe which is still convincingly real - look at Ursula K. Le Guin's Earthsea series or Philip Pullman's His Dark Materials trilogy. It seems that Julianna Baggott hasn't been able to devise a way in which her characters can discover what they need to discover, so she's sort of spoonfed them the information they need. There is one particularly silly bit where Bradwell leaps to the most astonishing conclusions in rapid succession (all correct, of course) and I'm really not sure how he did it. It is a shame that some parts of the book such as this seem to be a bit rushed and not properly considered, as Baggott writes with such poignancy at other times. There is one meeting in the book which should have been one of the emotional cruces of the story but, again, it seems to have been written in rather a rush and left me quite cold.

It also seems that Baggott doesn't always trust her reader to pick up on the subtleties of her characters' emotions. El Capitan's feelings towards his brother are complicated, and Baggott uses Pressia to reflect upon the brothers' relationship so that the reader might perfectly understand what El Capitan is feeling and why. This seems a rather indiscreet tactic. It is also quite unnecessary because, in fact, Baggott draws the characters so well and truthfully that it is hard not to empathise with them. Their actions and thoughts are always comprehensible, if complex. I'd much rather get to know the characters slowly, as I would a real person, than have their whims and motives explained to me.

Despite the drawbacks, I loved Pure. It is not one of the "great" works of dystopian fiction in the ilk of George Orwell's 1984 or Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, nor does it try to be, and comparison is pointless. It is, however, a completely entertaining, electrifying, moving and creative novel with very appealing and believable characters and I can't get it out of my head. I wouldn't be at all surprised if this trilogy really took off and I'd be very interested to see it on the big screen - I've got my fingers crossed that it doesn't end up as a 12A or something. I can't wait to see what else Julianna Baggott has to offer, and the next book in the series is top of my reading list.

The author paints a convincing and harrowing picture of a post apocalyptic United States following the 'detonations'. The world is comprised of two separate and separated groups. There are those outside of the dome, known as the wretches, who struggle to survive in a hostile environment where crops will not grow and cities are ruins. Those outside have physical damage from the detonations, including fusion which has joined them to inanimate objects which were near them at the time of the explosions or to other living creatures. It is not entirely clear why this has occurred but it seems to be related either to the effects of atomic explosions or as a result of nanotechnology included purposely in the detonations.

The group inside the dome are 'pure' as they are apparently the fortunate ones who were within the dome at the time of the detonations and hence untouched. They are regarded with a mixture of envy and almost religious fervor by those outside. However, the dome is far from a utopian society and the inhabitants are manipulated, programmed and modified in a nightmarish Orwellian scenario. Hence the choice is between two different varieties of hell although, of course, no one has a choice as to which group they are part of.

Once the story gets into gear it involves a group of people comprised of a pure and several wretches, on a mission outside of the dome which I will not go into detail on, not wishing to spoil it for others. However, I found this tale thoroughly engrossing if rather depressing. Anecdotally during my first session on the book I was so involved that I went beyond my station on the way home - I cannot remember ever doing this before! Ultimately the story comes down to the basic concept of man's inhumanity to man and the struggles of a few basically good people to overcome adversity against formidable odds.

Julianna Baggott has succeeded in writing a story which is unique and which most readers will find hard to put down. The conclusion opens the way for additional books and I look forward to reading the other two parts of the trilogy as I believe this is what is planned.

This book presents a terrifying post-apocalyptic world, where a privileged few escaped to The Dome immediately prior to The Detonations. Contrast these "Pure" with other survivors ("wretches") - burned by nuclear bombs and fused to anything (or anybody) they might have been carrying or touching at the time by nano-technology.

Pressia lives on the outside; like other children on the outside, she envies those inside the Dome and wishes she could be like them. Partridge on the other hand lives inside the Dome; he is afraid of the "coding" he receives (will he lose his individuality?), and misses his mother, whom he thought dead but now believes must be alive on the outside.

Partridge escapes from the Dome; and when he is struggling to survive in the strange world outside the Dome, Pressia is the one to help him. Gradually they discover that it is more than mere chance that has brought them together.

This is an absolutely brilliant dystopian story. The damage done to people and things after the Detonations is richly and inventively (and scarily) imagined, reminding me of China Mieveille in a way no other author has ever done!

It is also a coming of age story - as both Partridge and Pressia have to re-evaluate what they have been told about their respective childhoods and almost invent themselves anew.

This story is complex and multi-faceted; I particularly liked the feeling of uncertainty that runs through it - who can they trust? whose stories are true?. Young adult fiction, yes, but bold enough and rich enough to hold the adult reader. A truly wonderful story - easily my favourite read of 2011.

NB: I normally HATE books that don't tell you up front that they are part of a series. However, this book has none of the weaknesses of you expect of the first book in a series (too much scene setting / character introduction); it stands as an exciting and complete story. It was only in the last 30 pages or so that I realised there was too much going on to end it all now ... and I eagerly await the next instalment!