Eutopia

Mar 30, 2011 karen rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: littry-fiction, icky-sex, czp, upstairs-neighbors

like deliverance...with monsters!

CZP is three for three!!

i love this book. i always ask people to recommend me some good horror books because i just can't get scared by books, and i want to feel that lovely shivery feeling of "what's that noise!!??" "what is that shadow doing?? ahhhhhh!!" and while it's true i slept fine after reading this - i wasn't cowering in my bed with the blankets pulled up over my face for protection, there were several scenes where i felt my skin crawling, and i actually...more

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Apr 21, 2011 Dreadlocksmile rated it 4 of 5 stars

First published in April 2011 by ChiZine Publications, David Nickle’s novel of eerie horror entitled ‘Eutopia’ sets down a firm and establishing platform for the Canadian author to show the world his dark and imaginative capabilities.

DLS Synopsis:

Set in the bygone year of 1911, Jason Thistledown lays down his deceased mother in their nearby barn, leaving the seventeen-year-old alone in the world once and for all. With spring on its way and the unforgiving snow finally thawing, Jason sets his min...more

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May 26, 2011 Jasmine rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: canadian

So this book is Karen's staff rec. and I think on her staff rec thingy she described it as "deliverance with monsters", but I had it before then when what stuck out from her review was plague, hill people, and eugenics. So when I started reading this and it as clearly about monsters I was more than a little confused. When David asked me yesterday what I was reading, I told him something about monsters, he responded "the drug addict aliens" and of course I had to say no that was another book. Whi...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Jim Cherry rated it 4 of 5 stars

I’m not the best judge of horror, but I’ve read Lovecraft, Poe, King, and good writing is good writing. Good writing carries over to a book regardless of genre. And there’s plenty of good writing in David Nickle’s “Eutopia.”

“Eutopia” is set in the early 20th century and explores the world of American utopian movements, and the almost instantly corruptible science of Eugenics, how easily our desires for a utopian society can be exploited and corrupted no matter how idealistic the original intent....more I’m not the best judge of horror, but I’ve read Lovecraft, Poe, King, and good writing is good writing. Good writing carries over to a book regardless of genre. And there’s plenty of good writing in David Nickle’s “Eutopia.”

“Eutopia” is set in the early 20th century and explores the world of American utopian movements, and the almost instantly corruptible science of Eugenics, how easily our desires for a utopian society can be exploited and corrupted no matter how idealistic the original intent.

The story is told from the point of view of two protagonists. The first is Dr. Andrew Waggoner a negro doctor in the frontier town of Eliada, Idaho in 1911. Eliada is a town set up by idealistic and charismatic leader Garrison Harper, a city that he’s built out of the wilderness on the principles of Compassion, Community, and Hygiene. As we meet Waggoner he’s about to be lynched by the local Ku Klux Klan. But first they hang a mysterious figure known as “Mr. Juke” for the rape and murder of a young woman. As Juke is being hanged, Waggoner has a vision of Juke either being a monster or beautiful. Just as the Klan is about to lynch Waggoner he’s rescued by Sam Green, one of the Pinkerton men hired by Harper. As Waggoner recuperates in Eliada’s hospital he learns “Mr. Juke” had survived hanging, although Waggoner doesn’t see how that is possible. But there isn’t time for Waggoner to investigate as a plot is discovered that the Klan wants to finish their job on Dr. Waggoner.

The second protagonist is Jason Thistledown, a lad of sixteen whose mother has died of disease. He discovers the rest of the town has been killed by the disease and, he’s the sole survivor. As Jason waits out the winter on the farm and is unsure about what to do with his mother’s body his previously unknown Aunt Germaine appears. Aunt Germaine is on her way to Eliada having recently been in New York gathering Eugenics information in prisons. After Jason and Aunt Germaine arrive in Eliada her motives for bringing Jason there become suspect as she allows Jason to be put overnight in “quarantine” with “Mr. Juke” and the secret that town harbors reveals itself and spreads throughout the populace.

At first I had a difficult time figuring out what, if any genre “Eutopia” fell into. Was it going to be a novel with a science fiction twist? Steampunk? Or something else entirely? Nickle takes his time setting everything up, and soon, “Eutopia” revealed itself to be of the horror genre. Nickle lets the novel reveal itself through the characters and the events that befall them. The narrative moves with a Lovecraftian twist, a little Greek mythology and hillbilly lore thrown in. Nickle lays out these strings and neatly weaves them into the thread of his story and keeps the tension going and the reader wanting to see what will happen next. Set in the early 20th century, Nickle has the voice of the people and the manner of the times down.

The horror is more implicit than explicit, there’s no big ’reveal’ scene where a monstrous nightmare vision is thrown at the reader for shock or a visceral reaction. Nickle sets the tone at early 20th century creepy. The tone is more of a pins under your skin feeling, or the feeling of a spider walking across your hand, that keeps you in a state of ecstatic uncomfortableness. The closer I got towards the end, the more it kept me reading to see how this could possibly be resolved. What higher praise or expectations can you have for a book?(less)

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Dec 19, 2011 Michèle rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: every one!!

Shelves: science-fiction

(Mon compte-rendu en français plus bas.)

I was so deeply entranced with this story that I decided to begin and finish eight other books, so as to keep my buzz going.

The universe, characters, and especially Dave Nickle's voice, are as compelling as the creatures haunting this remote mountains. More rave later, because I am now working on my two next novels!

****** (two months later, here comes the review...)*********

Beware of an utopia in construction!

Eutopia was so poignant, the universe so comp...more

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Jul 20, 2012 Chris rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Feb 11, 2013 Will rated it 3 of 5 stars

So, David Nickle wrote a set of short stories called Monstrous Affections, which are chilly and brilliant and disturbingly rendered. So when I saw Eutopia, I picked it up. Didn't have to think twice about it.

Eutopia is... well, it's set in 1911, in a small town in Idaho, with a cast of characters and only a couple of different locations. There's Andrew Waggoner, a black doctor (and no-one ever lets him forget about it), the Harpers, the family that bought the sawmill and essentially co-opted the...more So, David Nickle wrote a set of short stories called Monstrous Affections, which are chilly and brilliant and disturbingly rendered. So when I saw Eutopia, I picked it up. Didn't have to think twice about it.

Eutopia is... well, it's set in 1911, in a small town in Idaho, with a cast of characters and only a couple of different locations. There's Andrew Waggoner, a black doctor (and no-one ever lets him forget about it), the Harpers, the family that bought the sawmill and essentially co-opted the town. There's the Pinkerton boys, especially Sam Greene, who are providing security and running all over the place... and there's the hicks up in the mountains. Then finally, there's Jason and his aunt who just showed up in town.

And then there's Mr Juke, who also shows up in the first few pages. He doesn't say much. He just whistles.

So. There are parts of this book which are very creepy and effective, and I can see how putting everything together in a small town in 1911 would enhance it. For me, though, it ended up making it far less understandable. I grew up in London, and so the thread of hellfire religion and blurring of lines between community and cult didn't emotionally connect. What I could see were the bones of one of the stories from Monstrous Affections, (view spoiler). Given the connection, I couldn't help thinking that the short story was far more effective and efficient than Eutopia.

Which brings me to the issue I have with Eutopia. There is drama and intrigue in Eutopia, but so much of it is trope driven. So, onto the detailed criticism.

(view spoiler)

Having said all of that, it's a cut above most books and it makes a point of going for more than the Scary Thing With Teeth That is Right Behind You. So.(less)

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Oct 19, 2011 Majanka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism is horror in its purest form. It takes us to the darkest corners of the human mind, to our never-ending thrive for perfection, our feeble search for heaven on earth, and the many traps we encounter by doing so. It explores the parts of our mind that are searching for our own Utopia, and exposes this as our true weakness. With an accurate and beautifully displayed historical setting (early 20th century America) and interesting main characters, David Nickle of...more Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism is horror in its purest form. It takes us to the darkest corners of the human mind, to our never-ending thrive for perfection, our feeble search for heaven on earth, and the many traps we encounter by doing so. It explores the parts of our mind that are searching for our own Utopia, and exposes this as our true weakness. With an accurate and beautifully displayed historical setting (early 20th century America) and interesting main characters, David Nickle offers a novel that turns the horror genre upside down, not only featuring evil supernatural creatures, but also madness and insanity, gruesome murders and perhaps the most frightening thing of all: how humanity manages to hide all of that behind the justification of an Utopian world.

Eutopia focuses on two protagonists. The first is Doctor Andrew Waggoner, who we first meet when he’s nearly killed by the local members of the Ku-Kux Klan in the small community of Eliada. Although he manages to escape thanks to some well-aimed gunshots by Sam Green, he does witness the hanging of a man named Mr. Jukes, who is accused by the Ku-Kux Klan members for raping a girl who died a couple of days prior due to some complications with a self-inflicted abortion. Or so, Andrew thought at first. By the actions of the Klansmembers and the miraculous survival of the man referred to as Mr. Jukes however, he is not so certain of that anymore. While he must fight his own personal wars with Dr. Bergstrom, the senior medical staff member who seems to dislike black people like Andrew, and who has an own set of morals that both scare and digust Andrew, the latter must also try to figure out what exactly is going on in Eliada.

In the small town of Cracked Wheel, Montana, young Jason Thistledown is forced to witness the death of his mother, his last living relative, or so he presumed. He stays in the mountains, and close to his mother’s grave, until one day a strange woman arrives at his home and tells him she’s his aunt Germaine. Although Jason hasn’t heard of any aunt before, he is willing to accept this explanation as she offers to take care of him, and take him out of this place. Furthermore, she lets him know that not only did his mother die due to this mysterious illness, but so did the entire town. Every single person in Cracked Wheel is dead. It’s a terrible revelation for Jason, and one he can barely grasp as he leaves with his aunt to go to this mysterious little town called Eliada.

While arriving there, and getting a less than proper treatment by Dr. Bergstrom, ending up in Jason spending a night at the quarantaine quarters of the hospital, the young man immediately knows something is going on around here. Something evil. What he sees in that quarantaine room might just change his life forever. While struggling with who to trust and who not to trust, and trying to fight the evil thing that is slowly taking hold of Eliada, Jason might learn a lot of things he never wished to learn to begin with.

Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism starts out promising enough. Both Dr. Andrew Waggoner and Jason Thistledown are very interesting character. Whereas the doctor is a man struggling with his position of being both a doctor and a black person, and not being accepted in the community he wanted desperately to be a part of, Jason is the opposite. He couldn’t care less about what other people think about him, he’s honest and straight-forward, and not afraid to look danger in the eye. He’s independent, perfectly capable of relying only on himself to get things done, and a very rational person. That’s what makes it so interesting to see this strong, intelligent man’s reaction towards the irrational, the impossible, the unimaginable. I instantly felt a connection with both main characters, and I liked them from page one, especially Jason. I felt sorry for him for losing his mother, which made me feel instant sympathy towards him.

The setting is probably one of the best things about this novel. Eutopia takes place in the small town of Eliada, Idaho in the year 1911, a good thirty years before World War II and before the world finally learned that things like eugenetica and the breeding of the perfect race of people, was a horrible utopy that could only lead to madness, pain and devastation. What is going on in this small community, is basically a crazy doctor working on his own race of super-people. If a person is simple-minded, they should be sterilized so they cannot procreate and give birth to other simple-minded children. If someone is black, like Dr. Waggoner, they should be killed. That’s the view of Dr. Bergstrom on things, and I must say that he is by far the most interesting character. Not because I support his views – of course I don’t – but because he actually has these opinions and is crazy enough to act upon them. In Dr. Bergstrom we see the true idealist at work, the true eugenetist, practically one of Hitler’s camp doctors long before Hitler or those camps even existed. And what the insane doctor hides in that quarantaine room, is probably the most horrible thing of all. But I cannot help it that I hardly feel Mr. Juke is as scary as Dr. Bergstrom is. The first one is an imaginary being that sprung from the mind of the author, and lives like a parasite, feeding on humans and impregnating human women. The latter is an actual human being with a messed-up mind and the ability to act as his mind is telling him to. He can get away with those actions, which is more fearsome than an imaginary creature, in my opinion.

I have to say that I didn’t like the general idea of the Jukes. First of all, I thought Eutopia could have been scary enough with the mixture of eugenetica and utopia, rather than adding any supernatural creatures to it. The Jukes children feeding on the human woman after they gave birth to them, or even when in the womb, didn’t frighten me in the least. So it might have been disgusting, but the really scary part was when those Jukes got into the human’s minds, and whispered things to them. Now that’s scary, because it could be real. It could be real hearing voices in your mind telling you what to do, telling you what to believe. I always think that the true horror is in what could truly happen: in madness, insanity, in humanity’s ideas of evolution, utopia and procreation, rather than in made-up creatures, no matter how horrendous they are, and no matter how evil and vile their intentions.

I must say that I found the title very stricking. Eugenetica is basically the science of striving to create the perfect human being. Utopia on the other hand, is striving to create the perfect community, state or country. In both of these things lies our own thrive for perfection, or own desire to reach it. Mixing those two together indeed provides you with a terrible optimism from our side, and a terrible sense for perfection that can only go wrong.

Eutopia was beautifully written, and David Nickle’s writing voice is definately something I could get used to. Although he doesn’t linger on details, he does manage to create a beautiful, vividly painted environment and an accurate historical setting. He also strikes me as a very brave author, for daring to go where no one dares to go anymore. With the horrible things that happened during World War Two, and Hitler’s own battle for his own Utopia and his dream to create the perfect people, hardly anyone dares to go back to the time before we learned how terrible this optimism can be, and to the time that everyone was still seeing the benefit of it.

There were two things I didn’t like about this novel. The first one is that at times, the plot dragged. I literally skipped pages here and there only to get the book moving a bit. There’s a lot of explaining going on, a lot of talking, and not always that much action. Secondly, I found the storyline containing the Jukes to be quite boring. Why bring religious faith and some old God returning into this? If this is for the purpose of creating the feeling of a general psychosis in the community of Eliada, then I can see its purpose, but somehow I doubt that. If it’s for the horror element, then take it from me that ancient gods, no matter how many women they impregnate and murder by doing so, aren’t exactly what I would call scary. I find ordinary doctors gone crazy, or people working for Eugenetics Offices a whole lot scarier, to be honest. I would have preferred it if David Nickle had stayed with the original plotline, and worked out the insanity and madness of some of the characters more, than focusing on make-believe monsters. It could be that I’m entirely missing the point of the Jukes here, but then again that’s probably because I only skimmed through the pages that involved them.

And a third point, I immediately knew about aunt Germaine. That’s a big no-brainer, since it was quite obvious. That said, she’s the second interesting character next to Dr. Bergstrom, and I would have liked to learn more about her personality, and about why she did the things she did.

The writing style is bold, straight-forward and highly addictive. The storyline is well-thought-through, innovating, refreshing and at its core, deeply terrifying. Although I wasn’t actually scared while reading this novel, it did make me think about perfection, and the high cost of it, and how ignorant and stupid we all are at times. I loved all the characters, even the villains (well, not really “loving” them, but I thought that David Nickle did a marvellous job at portraying them), but I have my doubts about the addition of supernatural creatures to a novel I believe is scary enough without any supernatural occurences. Sometimes the plot felt boring and a bit dragging, but once you get through that, you’ll notice that at its core, Eutopia really is an intriguing novel, that will take you to the darkest corners of the human mind, and beyond. What we all wouldn’t do for perfection…(less)

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Jul 16, 2011 Karen morsecode added it

Subtitled "a novel of terrible optimism," Eutopia is a genre-bending novel with a title that promises a terrific blend of eugenics and utopia.1

Set in 1911, Eutopia follows two outsiders navigating the remote mill town of Eliada, Idaho.

Andrew Waggoner is the junior physician at the Eliada Hospital. While his credentials are impeccable, he's a Negro and his presence is tolerated only because it is mandated by the town's patron.

17-year-old Jason Thistledown has miraculously survived a plague that k...more

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Aug 11, 2011 Jessica Strider rated it 5 of 5 stars

Pros: excellent writing, courageous, tight ending/

Cons: the supernatural aspect isn't as scary as the historically accurate parts/

Eutopia takes place in the early 1900's when the eugenics movement was becoming popular with a certain type of people. Mrs Frost, an agent of the Eugenics Records Office finds her nephew is the sole survivor of a plague ravaged frontier town. She brings him with her to Eilada, Idaho, where an industrialist has started what he intends to be a utopic community./

But not...more Pros: excellent writing, courageous, tight ending/

Cons: the supernatural aspect isn't as scary as the historically accurate parts/

Eutopia takes place in the early 1900's when the eugenics movement was becoming popular with a certain type of people. Mrs Frost, an agent of the Eugenics Records Office finds her nephew is the sole survivor of a plague ravaged frontier town. She brings him with her to Eilada, Idaho, where an industrialist has started what he intends to be a utopic community./

But not everything's rosy in paradise. The town's black doctor, Andrew Waggoner, has had a run in with the Ku Klux Klan and discovered that his colleague, Dr. Bergstrom has been keeping a 'Mr. Juke' in quarantine. The more Dr. Waggoner learns of Dr. Bergstrom's actions and who, or what, Mr. Juke is, the more imperiled his life becomes./

Because Mr. Juke's family is coming to get him back./

For a novel that has such a horrifying supernatural creature at the heart of it, the true terror of the book was contained in the historically accurate parts. It's hard to be afraid of made up monsters when the Klan and practicing eugenicists show up. Indeed, when you see the unrepentant Mrs. Frost and delusional Dr. Bergstrom own up to their crimes, no fictional monster could possibly stand up to the horrors humans are willing to perpetrate on each other./

I call this novel courageous because Mr. Nickle focuses on a period of history most people pretend didn't exist. The eugenics movement died after the holocaust showed the end result of such thinking. But denying that sterilization happened in other nations (including Canada and the U.S.), as painful as it is to admit, denies the injustices done to people in the past due to racism and elitist thinking. And allows the possibility of repeating such things. Fiction allows us to examine issues we'd rather not, in the safety of the present, when we hope such occurrences will never be allowed to happen again. In this way it reminds me of Blonde Roots, by Bernardine Evaristo, which flips history so Europeans are enslaved by Afrikaans. It shows how racism can go both ways and only the conquerors decide what is right and who are the elite./

People will find reading this book uncomfortable, for the subject matter and the liberal use of the 'n' word. We have whitewashed our history and no longer want to acknowledge the attitudes and language of the past. Even the subtle put downs black men faced, like using Dr. Waggoner's Christian name when addressing him, rather than his title, are accurately represented in this book./

The ending is tight, bringing all three plot lines together in surprising ways. It's an ending that is both satisfying, and thought provoking.(less)

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Sep 11, 2011 Danielle Donaldson rated it 4 of 5 stars

Eutopia was the kind of book that got into my head, seriously, I've been dreaming about it.

The writing is very tight but descriptive and honest enough that it felt like I was diving into a Nickle's recreation of Idaho in 1911 every time that I picked it up. So much so that it was very jarring to return back to the "real" world when I had to put it down. Despite that, I read it in a little over two days and am still thinking about the historical and supernatural aspects.

There was enough descrip...more

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May 31, 2011 Selenem rated it 4 of 5 stars

***may contain spoilers***

bleeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhrrrrrr....OK, that's the sound of three hundred pages of "willies" catching up with me. I'll be thinking about this one for a while yet. It's probably a compliment that I'm going to deeply and carefully consider each Chizine book I read from now on....Eesh.

The book arrived in the mail a few days ago; on the thumbnail, the picture looks pretty innocuous, just some old-fashioned girl like Nellie Olsen from Little House on the Prairie. In person, though...more ***may contain spoilers***

bleeaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhrrrrrr....OK, that's the sound of three hundred pages of "willies" catching up with me. I'll be thinking about this one for a while yet. It's probably a compliment that I'm going to deeply and carefully consider each Chizine book I read from now on....Eesh.

The book arrived in the mail a few days ago; on the thumbnail, the picture looks pretty innocuous, just some old-fashioned girl like Nellie Olsen from Little House on the Prairie. In person, though, the book has the kind of cover I turn face down because I don't want it staring at me as I walk by, and put on the shelf each day when I go to sleep because I don't want to be sharing a bed with it. The eyes, oh those raised black eyes...

The cover is just a hint at what lies between its pages. In clumsier hands, the "supernatural" elements might bring me out of the story just enough, but somehow, David Nickle's plain prose and well-structured plot all hang together on these weird mountain monsters of both human and non-human ilk. I've always considered storytelling more craft than abstract, divinely inspired "art," and Eutopia is a fine example of this. Nickle takes a number of well-explored "scares," and using this set of materials, he creates something astonishing:

Violent, inbred, backwoods rednecks? Check.
Weird, vampire-like critters who gibber in the shadows?
Narcisstic rich white guys on a mission? Check.
Crazy old lady with a bagful of scary medical supplies? Check.
Surgery in a rickety cabin? Check.
Teeth abortions? Isolation? Containment and restraint?

check check check....*cross arms and legs*

While some of the logic breaks down at the end, and I could have been spared the pseudo-religious, barely-explored undertones and plot-turning deus ex-machina devices in favour of the real nastiness of the situation, Nickle has a finely tuned sense of story and reader response. He knows what will scare you, and he works it mercilessly, yet subtly. Like the sharp teeth of the novel's monsters, the read is pleasurable at first, then it starts to work on you. Then it starts to hurt. Not for the squeamish.(less)

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May 18, 2011 Ellie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: ebooks, horror

It's 1911. Underneath the idyllic surface of small town Eliada, eugenics is being studied and the town may have reasons for its seemingly perfect inhabitants. I first read about the American eugenics program in Jodi Picoult's Second Glance and it was that subject that made me want to read Eutopia. It's a part of American history that has been swept under the carpet, for understandable reasons. However, eugenics is used as a vehicle for the plot here and I didn't learn much more than I already kn...more

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Jul 05, 2011 Bibliotropic rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: netgalley

Ah, the good old days. Where people dropped N-bombs with impunity, where doctors gave out morphine for broken bones, and where the improvement of the human race was worked on by sterilizing the feeble-minded and the crippled.

The title of this book is a deliberate and disturbing pun, referencing a path to utopia via eugenics, the selective culling of the less desirable aspects of the human race. If only the best exist and breed, then only the best babies will be born. At least in theory. Eugenics...more Ah, the good old days. Where people dropped N-bombs with impunity, where doctors gave out morphine for broken bones, and where the improvement of the human race was worked on by sterilizing the feeble-minded and the crippled.

The title of this book is a deliberate and disturbing pun, referencing a path to utopia via eugenics, the selective culling of the less desirable aspects of the human race. If only the best exist and breed, then only the best babies will be born. At least in theory. Eugenics in itself is a chilling subject, and is mostly known as part of the Nazi agenda, but people don't often realize that the Nazis were not the first to experiment with it. Just one of the most villified and thus the most famous. David Nickle acknowledges and plays with this fact by having the book set in American shortly after the turn of the 20th century. We follow the joint stories of Jason and Andrew, the former an orphan and only surviver of a plague that qiped out his hometown, the latter a black doctor hated by some and tolerated by others, as more and more of the secrets of Eliada's so-called utopian ideals are unveiled in a truly disturbing fashion.

If there's any real flaw in this book, it's the transparency of the author's writing. It was clear to me very early on that Germaine was not Jason's aunt, and obvious also that Jason's discovery of this was supposed to surprise the reader also. I felt no surprise, just a faint sense of, "I saw that coming half a book ago." It was mostly this that counted against the book in terms of a final rating, for if some things had been less obvious, there might have been more of a sense of edge-of-your-seat suspense and drama going on.

But while nothing may have come as a surprise, that does not mean that it was all smooth sailing. Nickle has a real talent for writing disturbing and frightening scenes, not all of which rely on blood and gore to make their impression. The book was written with cinematic clarity, in a style that left little or no doubt as to what's going on and how you're supposed to see it.

The book's ending also felt weak and rushed, and not so much open-ended as unfinished. The heroes get away, but don't go too far from where all the horror of Eliada and the Jukes took place. We never really do get to find out just what was going on with the Jukes, nor what they were or what their purpose was. It would be easy to dismiss them as mindless monsters if it hadn't been demonstrated that they possess a fierce cunning, a culture and drive and interaction with humans that can't be dismissed so easily.

Still, in spite of the flaws it contained, it was still a good book, presenting a terrifying image of our past even when you exclude the monsters! Nickle is definitely an author to keep an eye on, and a real treat for casual horror fans!(less)

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Jul 27, 2012 Bree rated it 3 of 5 stars

I am not much for historical novels. While a delight for some, the intricacies of days past do not enhance literature for me. The interesting thing about this novel, set in 1911, is that the year has almost no bearing on the story itself. Lanterns are carried and medical equipment is nothing like the beeping plastic robots of today, but other than a tidbit here and there historical setting has no almost bearing on this book.

I didn’t dislike this book, but I couldn’t fall in love with it either....more

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Feb 20, 2012 Aaron rated it 4 of 5 stars

It was interesting to read this book immediately after reading The White Devil because the only thing that Justin Evan's novel does completely and absolutely right is the only beef I could conceivably have with what's wrong about Eutopia. I'm talking about the sense of place, the descriptives that place a reader in the era that a story is meant to take place. Ostensibly, Eutopia takes place in 1911, but nothing in the book really made me think "Oh yeah, 1911".

References to the Ku Kluz Klan? Yes...more

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Jul 02, 2012 Paulina rated it 1 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I had a really hard time getting through this book; I was interested for the first 24 pages.

The year is 1911; however, apart from the use of "lanterns" and ...more lanterns, the year could have been 2010 and set in an isolated town. I found the book poorly depicted the setting for most of the story.

I found the mix of eugenics, Feegers, Jukes, and believers a little much. I think the story could have been more developed and focused if only one of these was discussed. Instead, it focused on thes...more I had a really hard time getting through this book; I was interested for the first 24 pages.

The year is 1911; however, apart from the use of "lanterns" and ...more lanterns, the year could have been 2010 and set in an isolated town. I found the book poorly depicted the setting for most of the story.

I found the mix of eugenics, Feegers, Jukes, and believers a little much. I think the story could have been more developed and focused if only one of these was discussed. Instead, it focused on these Jukes and tied in small elements from eugenics, a plague, people involved in these conspiracies and a slew of other things the story could have done without. As a result, I found there was things I would have liked to learn more about, like these index cards and how they came up with ranking people, etc... but again, that didn't go far. The whole "magic-herbal-tea-to-the-rescue" was a total cliche which came from yet another group of people tied into the storyline.

The characters descriptions and their relationships were terrible. I initially thought that Jason was some 10 year-old boy by the way he was introduced, yet later found out he was 17. In addition, I really couldn't get a mental picture of the physical appearances or their personalities which made it really hard to establish a connection. I found the relationship between Jason and Ruth Harper completely ridiculous. Jason decides to spill his guts to Ruth after knowing nothing about her, except who her father is! - how stupid. Then raging teenage hormones (or perhaps not, I have not idea how old Ruth is supposed to be) kick in while her friend is laying ill.

The Juke, the Old Man, Him, Dauphin, the Son, some dude that dug up some clay jars, Charles Davenport ... I could go on, but you get the point.

Also, why is the title of the book "Eutopia" and within the text it's referred to as "Utopia" ? As far as I know, the two are interchangeable ?? Ugh.

You don't have to be George R R Martin or Ken Follett to be good at character or plot development, you just have to think about it. There are great books that have a great plot, characters, and manage to captivate the reader from the beginning to end (i.e. A Thousand Splendid Suns). This is by far the worst I have read.

High-five if you liked it.
(less)

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Jan 05, 2013 Christine rated it 3 of 5 stars

Okay. So my review will list it as having taken me so very long to read it. But this is only because I listed it as "currently reading" the moment I got the book, even though I was reading three other books before I decided to start this one.

But the actual review:
Eutopia seems to promise an analysis and/or a discussion of the morality of "eugenics" and the forced "perfection" of the human race. However, it ends up being much more than that. By the end of the novel (if the cover hasn't already d...more Okay. So my review will list it as having taken me so very long to read it. But this is only because I listed it as "currently reading" the moment I got the book, even though I was reading three other books before I decided to start this one.

But the actual review:
Eutopia seems to promise an analysis and/or a discussion of the morality of "eugenics" and the forced "perfection" of the human race. However, it ends up being much more than that. By the end of the novel (if the cover hasn't already done so), this novel will place itself firmly in the horror genre.

This is not a novel of scary monsters jumping out of the dark, nor is it one of deranged human beings attacking their own. Truth be told, this novel does contain both. However, I firmly believe the horror of this novel is more of a psychological kind, where an attempt to understand the monster turns on itself and makes the reader question everything else instead. It's hard to focus on staying alive and protecting yourself and those you love when you can't trust anything you see and hear. And that is just what Mister Juke and his kin do. They make themselves appear to be God, and under his spell you believe it too.

I found the utter perfection of the two protagonists (Jason Thistledown and Doctor Andrew Waggoner) made them difficult to relate to. However, I found--like in other stories--I enjoyed the flawed villains of the story much more. Doctor Nils Bergstrom is doomed from the beginning, in his fanatical and unhinged approach to culling humankind. "Aunt" Germaine Frost is a sick and twisted evil in her own way--which does not make her lovable, but does make her a good antagonist. I didn't want to find ways to make these antagonists into "good" people; they were "bad" and selfish and downright horrible. But they represented--to me--another perspective (though dooming) on the subject matter.

As for the horror aspects, I found myself held in suspense for the most part. While I did like the monster Mister Juke and its effect on the townspeople, it wasn't the conventional scary-story monster that I was expecting. This didn't make it scarier or less scary, but it did make it intriguing and helped keep me reading. I found myself making theories on its various intricacies as Dr Waggoner made his.

In the end, my recommendation? If you want your mind messed with, with a real monster to blame, read this book. If you have a good imagination and aren't scared of nightmares, read this book. But fair warning: there are subjects that are potentially triggering (including rape, sexual assault, violence and gore) so double-check before reading. (less)

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Aug 10, 2011 Dan rated it 3 of 5 stars

I wanted to like this book more than I did. That's not to say that I didn't enjoy it, but that it was not the package I thought I was going to get. The premise and the set-up gave me hope that this book would explore the very real horrors of eugenics and explore the perils that can come with utopian aspirations. And, in a very cursory sense, it did. It even tossed in some commentary on racism.

But all of that felt very superficial, as it gave way to an increasingly standard horror/monster novel....more

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Jun 09, 2011 Bonnie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: wish-list, dark-fiction, favourites

I think Eugenics, without any help or added extras, is a creepy subject to begin with; practice of it is a horror in itself. Human beings are usually influenced by their emotions and their belief systems, and I think Eugenics gives a human being too much capability, and excuse, to be a bigot. In my opinion, Eugenics can never be a practice without prejudice, and the idea of people in power practicing it is horrifying (Hitler is a great example of this). Eugenics is a great format to delve into i...more

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Aug 09, 2012 Aews rated it 3 of 5 stars

I don't think this book completely lived up to its potential, but I still consider it to have been well worth the read. I found it imaginative and interesting. I loved the setting and the aesthetic, and I thought that the monsters were fascinating and terrifying. The writing was solid throughout and exquisite in some places. Where the book fell short, I thought, was in its storytelling. The book wanted to go in a couple of different directions simultaneously: there were elements of horror, suspe...more

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Mar 05, 2011 Nick Cato rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sometime in 1911, Jason Thistledown's mother dies. He keeps her body in a barn and does his best to survive the rest of the snowy winter on their isolated pig farm. As soon as spring approaches, an aunt he didn't know he had shows up and explains that his mother has died of a strange illness. Jason's Aunt Germaine then takes him away from his hometown (where he learns everyone has died of the same illness) and brings him to a mountainous area of Idaho known as Eliada.

Meanwhile, Eliada is having...more Sometime in 1911, Jason Thistledown's mother dies. He keeps her body in a barn and does his best to survive the rest of the snowy winter on their isolated pig farm. As soon as spring approaches, an aunt he didn't know he had shows up and explains that his mother has died of a strange illness. Jason's Aunt Germaine then takes him away from his hometown (where he learns everyone has died of the same illness) and brings him to a mountainous area of Idaho known as Eliada.

Meanwhile, Eliada is having its own problems: The Ku Klux Klan are about to lynch a negro doctor (Andrew Waggoner) who they apparently don't want working in ther hospital. But before they hang him, Dr. Wagoner sees another person about to be hanged--a strange-looking man who we later find out is a patient at the hospital's quarantine ward. Dr. Waggoner is rescued at the last minute by Sam Green, a man hired to keep order by Garrison Harper, who has set up this smal town according to his own ideals.

When Jason arrives in Eliada, it doesn't take long for Nickle to get the suspense going: his aunt allows the head doctor, Dr. Bergstrom, to place him in quarantine to make sure he isn't carring the germ that killed his hometown. After waking up strapped to an operating table, and surviving an attack by small demonic-looking creatures, Jason begins to wonder who this mysterious aunt is and why she has brought him here.

There's so much that happens after this simple premise I don't know how Nickle managed to keep the rest of the novel so tight. There's fantastic atmopshere throughout as conspiracy theories abound in this fresh take on the small-town-harboring-ancient-evil theme (at least I'm assuming the evil here is ancient). Readers will be thoroughly taken with Jason (son of an alleged gunslinger) and Dr. Waggoner (not to mention a potential germ-warfare subplot) that by the time the creatures come fully into play, they won't be taken as the goofy imps of your standard pulp novel. EUTOPIA is as frightening in its social message as it is with its religious themes, and features irresistable prose.

While EUTOPIA doesn't hit the reader over the head despite everything going on, its slow-building tension works well with several pay-offs as the end approaches, and the many subplots never slow the story down--but enhance it. A top-notch novel all around.(less)

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Nov 25, 2011 Corinna Bechko rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, horror, weird-tales

I admit I picked this up because of the cover. And with the hope, based on the back copy, that it would be something approaching literary horror. Surprise, surprise, it was! Browsing the horror section of the local bookshop can be very disappointing. So much of what you find is so derivative to the point of parody. But this was something else again: an inventive setting, a monster that wasn't a vampire, zombie, or alien (I don't think), and skeptical protagonists that are actually served and not...more

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May 14, 2013 Mayra rated it 4 of 5 stars

At its most basic level, Eutopia, set in 1911, is the story of two men, a black medical doctor and a white teenager, who have to face an otherworldly being that tricks people into thinking it’s God.

Eutopia is also about a town in Idaho called Eliada (which means “watched over by God”, according to one of the characters). Eliada is a child of the eugenics movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which proposed that some races (whatever that really means) are more fit to survive in the w...more At its most basic level, Eutopia, set in 1911, is the story of two men, a black medical doctor and a white teenager, who have to face an otherworldly being that tricks people into thinking it’s God.

Eutopia is also about a town in Idaho called Eliada (which means “watched over by God”, according to one of the characters). Eliada is a child of the eugenics movement of the late 19th and early 20th centuries which proposed that some races (whatever that really means) are more fit to survive in the world than others. The town’s aim is to create an “eutopia”, a place full of genetically perfect people and perfectly-functioning institutions that might prove that society can run like a well-oiled machine if one only had the perfect components.

Of course, it all goes terribly wrong.

As a woman, Eutopia is especially frightening. It deals with unnatural pregnancies, rape and forced sterilization. The people I’ve met, the stories I’ve heard turn those subjects into a personal horror trifecta. And Nickle is outstanding in that they never become trivial or titillating like so many other authors do. What happens to these women is awful and scary because they don’t choose it and because the attacker is so impossibly powerful. It is impossible not to flinch.

Nickle’s writing isn’t particularly dazzling, but he manages to tell the story in a style very reminiscent of the early 20th century and it makes the story more authentic. The real strength of the book are its characters. Both of the main characters, Dr. Andrew Waggoner and Jason Thistledown, are incredibly sympathetic heroes, and they’re surrounded by a whole battery of interesting, mysterious and dynamic characters. Nickle also excels at revealing the truth behind the pregnancies at a very leisurely pace, like peeling back a bandage. It turns the creepy factor up to 11.

Another thing I really liked is that Nickle doesn’t shy away from the n-word. It annoys me to no end when writers try to make white characters sympathetic by having them be completely without prejudice when everything else about them would point to them having a healthy amount of casual racism in their system. It’s a gripe I’ve had with Boardwalk Empire’s Nucky Thompson for years. I didn’t think to count how many times the characters in Eutopia say it, but it’s definitely upwards of thirty. The better of them, like Jason, say the word once or twice and then feel bad about it. The worst of them use it as a weapon. To remove the word entirely from the story is to erase a necessary part of the history because prejudice is at the heart of eugenics.

This is definitely not a book to power through as fast as you can. There are layers upon layers of meaning and detail in everything that happens, and a few things about the creatures’ mythology were confusing at first. But if you appreciate a complex, unsettling story, it’s well worth the effort.(less)

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Dec 19, 2012 Paul rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

Yes oh all right huh no...no, surely - oh I see, no I don't see – what? All of them? Who's – oh yes. No! he would not do that. Ow, that must have – get him! No, her, not him. Ulp ergh. Too gynaecological! Dead Ringers meets Deliverance meets The Thing? Ha ha. What's this? God? God? Ridiculous. Author gone mad. This is the perfect Christmas present for your maiden aunt – the one you hope will die soon and leave you her house. Might speed up the process. Eurgh, I did not need that. Oh – aargh – ma...more

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Aug 21, 2012 Hal rated it 3 of 5 stars

While it sometimes suffers from clunky writing, this novel has some fascinating characters and a unique blend of history and sci-fi. The weird mix of strange creatures, eugenics and religion leaves many gaps that take some time to bridge, but are satisfying when they do. Jason Thistledown and Andrew Wagonner are great heroes yet retain a high degree of approachability.

Some scenes were vague in the physical placement of the characters and objects, and a few of the religious moments were also too...more

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Oct 25, 2012 S. rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: love-the-cover, read-in-2012, whim-and-a-prayer, horror

This was well written and imaginative but hey holy hillbillies it was too way out. The story revolves around a utopian society in Idaho that goes awry, as such things are wont to do. The sub-plot (co-plot?) has to do with a young man orphaned by a deadly virus that kills his whole town. An aunt who just happens to be on her way through brings him to the utopian society, called Eliada.
I had the feeling you sometimes get when someone buys you two birthday presents instead of one - that nagging fe...more

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Apr 15, 2012 Sophia rated it 3 of 5 stars

I knew this was going to be an unconventional book from having read a few of the reviews, but this western-meets-fantasy-meets horror novel was even weirder than I'd expected.

The book is set around a hundred years ago, and has two main protagonists. The first is Jason, a young man whose world falls apart when his mother dies. When her sister arrives Jason is glad to have another relative to lean on, and he needs all the support he can get once the snow melts enough for him to go to the nearby to...more I knew this was going to be an unconventional book from having read a few of the reviews, but this western-meets-fantasy-meets horror novel was even weirder than I'd expected.

The book is set around a hundred years ago, and has two main protagonists. The first is Jason, a young man whose world falls apart when his mother dies. When her sister arrives Jason is glad to have another relative to lean on, and he needs all the support he can get once the snow melts enough for him to go to the nearby town and see what's happened there. The second protagonist is Andrew, a doctor working in the town of Eliada who finds himself a victim of the Ku Klux Klan. But before the Klan lynch Andrew they have another victim to hang - someone whose appearance is very strange indeed.

I enjoyed the beginning of this novel very much, and soon got swept up into the mystery of Eliada. There's a nice sense of discovery as Andrew starts to figure out what's happening and the full horror of the situation becomes apparent. However, once the mystery is unravelled (about half way through) I felt the book lost its way a bit, and became both predictable and more than a little confusing, with people running around here, there and everywhere without much focus.

Character-wise, the book did well. Jason starts the novel as a boy and finishes it as a man, and it was good to see his character develop as he coped with increasingly difficult situations. I liked Andrew very much; he's portayed as a scientist with an analytical mind (which can somtimes get him into trouble), but he also has a doctor's compassion. Jason's love interest I found annoying and unsympathetic, and I kept expecting her to turn out to be one of the bad guys.

This is an odd book, but not wholly original. In fact there's a well-known sci-fi film that I was constantly reminded of as the plot developed. Nevertheless, I found it interesting and, while it's definitely not a favourite, I'm glad I read it for myself. The ending paves the way for a sequel, but I'm not sure I enjoyed it enough to want to find out where the author goes with it next. Maybe.(less)

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Jul 03, 2011 Eric rated it 2 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 20, 2012 Christine rated it 2 of 5 stars

The premise of this book sounded so interesting, and I couldn't wait to start it. It started off with promise, but then the story began to unravel and ultimately I found myself disappointed. When the story took a turn I didn't quite expect, I went with it, but in the end felt the it should have stayed more focused on the concept of Eugenics and not strayed to the supernatural. To me, the idea of a group trying to "cleanse" society is far more frightening than some backwoods monsters.

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title link	preview: Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism
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Eutopia: A Novel of Terrible Optimism

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