Disneyland in Ruins: Finding Magic in Fiona Moore’s Dystopian Novel
Normally, the setting of a story is last on my list of reasons to read a novel. Plot and characters are what attract me. So, I was a little surprised when reading Fiona Moore's Rabbit in the Moon to find myself flipping pages principally to explore more of the world she has created.
Rabbit in the Moon takes place after environmental disasters have rendered most of the earth uninhabitable. In particular, I was hooked by the flashbacks of the character Ken Usagi growing up in Toronto. In this future version of my hometown, Queen St. is now a canal with a public ferry service instead of streetcars.
Beyond Toronto, Rabbit in the Moon spans most of North America, starting in Nunavut and ending in Mexico. There is no communication with the people (if any still exist) of Europe, Asia, Africa and South America. What's left of the United States is mainly in a state of civil war, as survivors fight over fertile land and dwindling resources.
The following paragraph is an example of Moore's ability to create a sense of wonder with the dystopian world she depicts:
By nightfall, it was still with them as they made camp in the shelter of what Ken thought might have been a highway underpass, now almost beautiful with trailing vines, dangling from its edges, making a curtain around the interior, like some kind of magical pavilion.
Later in the story, the characters arrive at The Magical Kingdom — the ruins of Disneyland — which has been taken over by highly evolved mice (turns out Douglas Adams might have been right).
Side Note: That quote, however, also illustrates one of the few things that irked me about Fiona's writing style — many of the sentences stretch longer than a Nunavut winter. They could easily have been split into two, allowing her dystopian tale to flow faster.
Next post, I'll talk more about the plot and characters. At first, I thought both were underdeveloped and mainly served as a medium through which to explore the sci-fi setting. Upon reaching the more-than-satisfying conclusion to Rabbit in the Moon, I realized both had a depth that was closely interwoven with the world Moore has created.
John C.A. Manley
P.S. While you wait for part two of my review of Rabbit in the Moon, you can purchase yourself a copy of Fiona Moore's British Science Fiction Association Award-nominated novel through my Blazing Pine Cone Shop.
John C. A. Manley is the author of Much Ado About Corona, All The Humans Are Sleeping and other works of philosophical fiction that are "so completely engaging that you find yourself alternately laughing, gasping, hanging on for dear life." Get free samples of his stories by becoming a Blazing Pine Cone email subscriber.
