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Kokopu Dreams
"When the fire started to die down, Sean said goodbye to Uncle Wire, to his family, to the place that had been his home, and started out across the paddock. It was an eight-kilometre walk into Ngahere, about two hours. He could have driven, but the keys to both his car and Uncle Wire's truck had been in the burning houses, and hot wiring vehicles was not among his life skills. Instinct kept him moving slowly, giving him time to get his head around the things he suspected he'd find. Sean's dread grew with every step." When a mutant strand of the calicivirus wipes out his family, friends, and community, Sean is motivated by his instinct to survive. Driven by dreams and expectation, Sean sets off with his horse and dog. Where is he going? What will he find? And who are the crazy Maeroero messing with his head?
- GenresScience Fiction
230 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 28, 2017
A uniquely New Zealand dystopian that does a great job weaving mythology into a more modern setting but unfortunately fails to provide a really strong hook to draw the reader in.
There's quite a dark tone throughout with flashes of humour mostly coming in the form of sparse snatches of dialogue. This is realistic given the setting and circumstances, and the weight of Sean's predicament and loss never seems to leave which adds to this realism and provides the level of intrigue and empathy necessary for an engaging protagonist.
Baker does well to balance exposition and introspection with action and character interaction. The scenes flow quickly, which helps to maintain a fast pace although this comes at the expense of a really fleshed out and detailed plot. As part of this fast pace, chapters are regularly punctuated with action scenes that do lose a bit of their bite as the story unfolds, not because they aren't told well, but because of their shear frequency. While the fast pace makes the book easy to read it wasn't enough to really pull me in like I hoped it would.
Sure we have a fleshed out protagonist and a reasonable sense of place but the plot is so vaguely defined that it only serves to detract from the apparent significance of Sean's journey. He is essentially guided by no more than the ambiguous dreams of a relative stranger recommending that he travel south. This may be an adequate motivation for Sean but it left his story without a real sense of purpose and so his journey felt a little aimless, as if he was just walking around expecting the plot to find him (which it never really feels like it does). This vagueness persisted through other important aspects of the story as well, namely the intentions and motivations of the apparent antagonists.
The Maeroero felt like nothing more than an outline whose apparent connection to Sean seemed tenuous at best. The initial lack of detail serves well to establish an element of mystery but that mystery doesn't really feel like it pays off as the plot progresses and the Maeroero remain stubbornly in the background, their motivations and characters remaining obscure and static. I was really looking forward to seeing these characters playing a larger role in events and perhaps interacting with Sean in a less oblique way but Baker seemed intent on focusing on the more tangible aspects of Sean's struggles and his relationships with the villagers and travelers he encounters. Baker does a good job here but, given the short length of the novel, a few extra pages vis-a-vis the mythological characters and plot exposition could have gone a long way.
As with the other mythological elements, Baker does a great job introducing and weaving in the mythological aspects of the Kurangaituku – a large, vicious bird like monster that emerged after the plague started – but doesn't really capitalise on this good foundation, and doesn't really provide a satisfying conclusion (for my taste) to this story arc. Like the Maeroero, I would liked to have seen more of Kurangaituku as well as the taniwha, and perhaps seen them interact with Sean and the other characters a bit more.
There is a strong pro environmental message throughout the book (alongside a borderline anti-technology message) but there's nothing too preachy or obtrusive in terms of slowing the story or rendering characters as caricatures instead of people.
As a New Zealander, it's always interesting to read about places I know and how another person might view them. But, just like the plot, I would have preferred a bit more detail on the places Sean passes through to help strengthen my connection with the dystopian aspect of the story. As it stands, there's still something enjoyable about reading about places you know, even if they are just glimpses. Along with Sean's travels through the various small towns of NZ, the inclusion of local slang and pop culture references really helped situate the novel and make it feel uniquely NZ though some terms might be distracting for those unfamiliar with Kiwi parlance.
Overall, this is a story that feels like a yarn being told by a friend at the local pub. It's short, filled with action and easily relatable though just missing that hook and those finer details that could have really drawn me in.
There's quite a dark tone throughout with flashes of humour mostly coming in the form of sparse snatches of dialogue. This is realistic given the setting and circumstances, and the weight of Sean's predicament and loss never seems to leave which adds to this realism and provides the level of intrigue and empathy necessary for an engaging protagonist.
Baker does well to balance exposition and introspection with action and character interaction. The scenes flow quickly, which helps to maintain a fast pace although this comes at the expense of a really fleshed out and detailed plot. As part of this fast pace, chapters are regularly punctuated with action scenes that do lose a bit of their bite as the story unfolds, not because they aren't told well, but because of their shear frequency. While the fast pace makes the book easy to read it wasn't enough to really pull me in like I hoped it would.
Sure we have a fleshed out protagonist and a reasonable sense of place but the plot is so vaguely defined that it only serves to detract from the apparent significance of Sean's journey. He is essentially guided by no more than the ambiguous dreams of a relative stranger recommending that he travel south. This may be an adequate motivation for Sean but it left his story without a real sense of purpose and so his journey felt a little aimless, as if he was just walking around expecting the plot to find him (which it never really feels like it does). This vagueness persisted through other important aspects of the story as well, namely the intentions and motivations of the apparent antagonists.
The Maeroero felt like nothing more than an outline whose apparent connection to Sean seemed tenuous at best. The initial lack of detail serves well to establish an element of mystery but that mystery doesn't really feel like it pays off as the plot progresses and the Maeroero remain stubbornly in the background, their motivations and characters remaining obscure and static. I was really looking forward to seeing these characters playing a larger role in events and perhaps interacting with Sean in a less oblique way but Baker seemed intent on focusing on the more tangible aspects of Sean's struggles and his relationships with the villagers and travelers he encounters. Baker does a good job here but, given the short length of the novel, a few extra pages vis-a-vis the mythological characters and plot exposition could have gone a long way.
As with the other mythological elements, Baker does a great job introducing and weaving in the mythological aspects of the Kurangaituku – a large, vicious bird like monster that emerged after the plague started – but doesn't really capitalise on this good foundation, and doesn't really provide a satisfying conclusion (for my taste) to this story arc. Like the Maeroero, I would liked to have seen more of Kurangaituku as well as the taniwha, and perhaps seen them interact with Sean and the other characters a bit more.
There is a strong pro environmental message throughout the book (alongside a borderline anti-technology message) but there's nothing too preachy or obtrusive in terms of slowing the story or rendering characters as caricatures instead of people.
As a New Zealander, it's always interesting to read about places I know and how another person might view them. But, just like the plot, I would have preferred a bit more detail on the places Sean passes through to help strengthen my connection with the dystopian aspect of the story. As it stands, there's still something enjoyable about reading about places you know, even if they are just glimpses. Along with Sean's travels through the various small towns of NZ, the inclusion of local slang and pop culture references really helped situate the novel and make it feel uniquely NZ though some terms might be distracting for those unfamiliar with Kiwi parlance.
Overall, this is a story that feels like a yarn being told by a friend at the local pub. It's short, filled with action and easily relatable though just missing that hook and those finer details that could have really drawn me in.
May 11, 2025
Türkiye'de pek bilinmeyen bir yazar ve eser. Ben de ders kapsamında okumuştum ve hakkında akademik bir yazı da yazdım. Yeni Zellanda edebiyatı, Maori kültürünü merak edenler için ilginç olacaktır. Ayrıca bir virüs hikayesi, ülkede neredeyse herkesi öldürür, kalanların yeni bir yaşam kurmaları için Batının kapitalist sisteminden kurtulup, kendi özlerine, yani doğaya ve bireye saygılı Maori kültüre geri dönmeleri gerekmektedir. Doğanın kendini yenileyebilmesi için ona saygı duyulması ve bunun insanlığın geleceği için tek çözüm olduğunun bilinmesi gerekir.
March 22, 2019
The last book I borrowed from Wellington Central Library before it closed indefinitely due to earthquake risk.
April 7, 2016
Thrilling mix of Maori mythology and dystopian action told by strongly New Zealand characters and setting. Fits well with other more recent end-of-the-world/survival novels. Excellent choice for reluctant senior student readers.
July 15, 2012
Post-disease holocaust Aotearoa with Maori mythology and environmental message. Good stuff.
August 16, 2018
It’s a good premise, and the story its interesting, but I think it might be better appreciated by people familiar with Te Reo and Maori traditions and folklore. I sense that something was lost for me since I’m not that familiar with most of the Maori references.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews