Pure (Pure Trilogy 1) [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.

This is one of the most haunting books I have ever read. There are pieces of it which are stunningly beautiful in the author's capture of humanity's fight against dreadful odds and her description of the post-apocalyptic landscape. There are also pieces which are terribly depressing. There are scenes towards the end which made me want to cry, I felt so deeply for the characters involved.

The story essential covers the post-apocalyptic aftermath of a series of Detonations which reduce the world to nothing but glass, ash and dust. These Detonations appear to be a kind of awful culmination of atomic and nano technology causing the survivors to fuse to things within their immediate vicinity at the times of the blasts. I found the scenes with the mothers perhaps the most touching of all. There are some who have survived in a radiation-proof dome, the leaders of which are attempting to create a "new eden" for these few to emerge back into. The rest who were left behind have been left to fend for themselves by this awful distopian society. We meet Pressia, Blackwell, Partridge, Lyda and El Capitan/Helmud. The characters are wonderfully evolved, I genuinely cared for every one of them.

I found it difficult to believe this novel is rated as a YF novel as there are some really serious adult themes covered in it. Although I believe it to be incredibly important that children understand and respect the events of our history, this is perhaps a little too harsh for younger readers.

I cannot recommend this book highly enough. It is haunting, gripping, beautiful, timeless, disconcerting and so much more it defies classification. I can only stress again and again that this book is unlike anything else out there. To truly understand the breadth of this novel, it will require many re-reads. Highly, highly recommended!

Dystopian fiction is rarely a barrel of laughs, but 'Pure' is probably just about the darkest, bleakest speculation on humanity's downfall I have read. This is a distressing book in so many ways, not least because the cruelty displayed by some of its characters is all too plausible. It rivals 1984 in its bleak analysis of the human condition.

'Pure' is set after the 'detonations', a cataclysmic chemical and nuclear fire-bombing of the entire planet (we assume). The fortunate ones were sheltered in an impervious dome, the rest were left to fend for themselves with the promise that 'We will one day emerge from the Dome to join you in peace' there is a heavy suggestion that those inside are God's chosen few.

The story begins a decade or so after the detonations, and follows Pressia and Partridge Wilux (who rivals Ender Wiggin for a 'most ridiculous protagonist name' award). Pressia lives outside the Dome in a ruined city with areas such as the Meltlands and the Deadlands. Partridge lives safe inside. Pressia lives with her grandfather, eking out a hand to mouth existence, bartering and trading favours to survive. Partridge is the son of the Dome's designer. All children in the dome are subjected to genetic recoding; enhancements to make them more useful to the rarefied society in which they life. Rather inevitably, Partridge is unhappy with his lot, and devises a way to escape.

The power of 'Pure' is derived from Baggott's evocative descriptions of the world outside of the Dome. Everything is broken; nothing works as it should. Almost nothing can be grown, the ground is so contaminated. The inhabitants themselves are broken, both mentally and physically. Such was the power of the weapons used in the detonations that survivors found themselves fused to inanimate objects. Pressia has a dolls head fused to her hand; a hated reminder of a lost time. Throughout the book, treasured pets and loved ones have become attached to the wretches in the city outside the dome; the love/hate dichotomy this creates makes for some powerful writing. It is a highly original and discomfiting device.

It is not giving away much of the book to say that Pressia and Partridge meet. After initial mistrust, they discover they have more in common than they have any right to expect (this does stretch the novels credibility at times). Together with an intriguing, compelling and more than a little disturbing ensemble cast, they attempt to explore their shattered pasts, in the vague hope of understanding their parlous present.

There are similarities between 'Pure' and Suzanne Collins' highly entertaining The Hunger Games series, but where Collins books are about a plucky individual sticking it to the man, Baggott's novel is a much more subtle examination of the disintegration of society; the world that she has created is credible throughout. Broken bodies, broken bones, broken hands on broken ploughs, broken treaties, broken vows and people bending broken rules; it's all here. Everything is broken. Baggott weaves a terrific tale in the aftermath of destruction. 'Pure' is 'The Hunger Games' for grown ups

Though its pace is sometimes a little slow, 'Pure' is a highly absorbing novel. It is also the first in a proposed trilogy, something that only became apparent to me, as I approached the novel's end, and realised there was no way it could all be wrapped up. The novel's finale is open, and as hard-hitting and emotional as the rest of the book. It also proves that Baggott can make unflinching decisions about the fate of her characters. 'Pure' is a fine novel and a must for all lovers of dystopian fiction. I look forward to the arrival of part two.