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Into the Fracking Fields
Into the Fracking Fields is based on these fracking causes earthquakes, large earthquakes over 7 on the Richter Scale have occurred along the Mississippi River, there are large shale deposits in the Mid-South, and earthquakes have resulted in catastrophic nuclear disasters. --- The kids in the border town watch the prisoners get off the trains and load up on the bus. Alice has heard the rumors of the people who stayed, their proximity to Nuclear One, their cancerous lumps. Her friend Carmen is driven to see the fracking pad where his father was killed – and Michael, unfortunately, is the only one that can get them there.
ebook
Published July 1, 2020
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About the author
Steven William Simon
5 books8 followersSteven W. Simon is a poet, writer, and author of the new novella I Think I’m Jewish. He writes through the lens of an outsider, that’s how he’s always felt, and where he’s comfortable. When not writing, Steven’s on the mats wrestling or practicing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, as that’s the only place where the world makes sense to him. Steven lives and works out of his home near Chicago.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
September 29, 2020
This is definitely a mesmerizing read, though it takes a few chapters for the story gain momentum. At first, I didn’t know what to think of the abundance of description given to just about everything. The reader is sometimes even provided a head-to-toe itemization of what a character is wearing. However, certain details are piled atop one another in sentence fragments, mirroring the way random objects are piled physically within the scenery. It’s a poetic conveyance of how utterly disarrayed the surroundings are. Even the grammatical errors and unexpected switches in character point-of-view feel intentionally done, creating the disjointed tapestry of a landscape and collective psyche demolished.
They’re demolished because the world we’re placed in is the aftermath of a nuclear, Chernobyl-like disaster. Three preteen kids adventure into a forbidden area to find out if the legend of the “Frog People” is true. These are people who refused to abandon their homes after the disaster and thus suffered radiation poisoning, causing their throats to balloon like a frog’s. What the kids find instead is a window into another, much different world in which their understandings and values are profoundly altered. It’s a dystopian coming-of-age story like few others I’ve ever read. I’m sure some might attack this novel for breaking so many novel-writing rules, but sometimes, every now and then, a story calls for it.
They’re demolished because the world we’re placed in is the aftermath of a nuclear, Chernobyl-like disaster. Three preteen kids adventure into a forbidden area to find out if the legend of the “Frog People” is true. These are people who refused to abandon their homes after the disaster and thus suffered radiation poisoning, causing their throats to balloon like a frog’s. What the kids find instead is a window into another, much different world in which their understandings and values are profoundly altered. It’s a dystopian coming-of-age story like few others I’ve ever read. I’m sure some might attack this novel for breaking so many novel-writing rules, but sometimes, every now and then, a story calls for it.
September 30, 2020
A Decent Dystopian Lite Novel Hobbled by Odd Pacing and Word Choices
What Worked for Me: The author captures many modern-day anachronisms people will recognize, from Halliburton to fracking fields. They also capture the tone of how a company works in PR vs. the interests of the public. The characters work at the base level without too much headache. The exploration from The Normal outside the fields, into the first prison camps, and further into 'Eden' and back gives us an odd reflection on what normal and abnormal are. After all, are the terrors cut off from the world and external manipulations that bizarre? My praise stops there.
What Didn't Work for Me: While the book keeps moving, the pace marches on in a monotonous fashion. There was never a point in the story that served as a climax. No motive exists minus the kids want to explore beyond. Sure Carmen wants to learn something about his family's past, and the other kids want to see the Frog People. But we never get any interesting tie ins which build that up. Likewise, the rising action which should push the kids along continues to flatline, following their basal interest from the beginning. There should be a climax with some rising tension driven by the kids heading into perceived 'danger,' as Nate and Jeremiah go off to retrieve them. But that's ultimately subverted by the reality at the heart of the fracking destroyed zone. Again, we're left flatlined.
The Gist of It:>/b> "Into the Fracking Fields" is a decent little dystopian book that has a lot to mirror against our modern frame of reference, but ultimately cannot create a motivating narrative that captures the mind. I think it's read-worthy for how cheap it is but don't enter expecting a grand satire. Likewise, with how flat the story arcs and with as many anachronisms as it contains, I think if you're interested, read it now. Cause it's shelf life is pretty limited.
What Worked for Me: The author captures many modern-day anachronisms people will recognize, from Halliburton to fracking fields. They also capture the tone of how a company works in PR vs. the interests of the public. The characters work at the base level without too much headache. The exploration from The Normal outside the fields, into the first prison camps, and further into 'Eden' and back gives us an odd reflection on what normal and abnormal are. After all, are the terrors cut off from the world and external manipulations that bizarre? My praise stops there.
What Didn't Work for Me: While the book keeps moving, the pace marches on in a monotonous fashion. There was never a point in the story that served as a climax. No motive exists minus the kids want to explore beyond. Sure Carmen wants to learn something about his family's past, and the other kids want to see the Frog People. But we never get any interesting tie ins which build that up. Likewise, the rising action which should push the kids along continues to flatline, following their basal interest from the beginning. There should be a climax with some rising tension driven by the kids heading into perceived 'danger,' as Nate and Jeremiah go off to retrieve them. But that's ultimately subverted by the reality at the heart of the fracking destroyed zone. Again, we're left flatlined.
The Gist of It:>/b> "Into the Fracking Fields" is a decent little dystopian book that has a lot to mirror against our modern frame of reference, but ultimately cannot create a motivating narrative that captures the mind. I think it's read-worthy for how cheap it is but don't enter expecting a grand satire. Likewise, with how flat the story arcs and with as many anachronisms as it contains, I think if you're interested, read it now. Cause it's shelf life is pretty limited.
June 17, 2022
I found this book to be incredibly poetic, which was surprising to me considering the rough topic of poverty. Somehow the author managed to imbue such a difficult and at times frightening novel with a sense of magic that will make you nostalgic for childhood. The three main characters are all so amazingly human in their own unique coming of age stories, mirrored by the adults they encounter in their dystopia-laced quest to chase an imaginative childhood rumor. Overall a great coming of age story and an excellent tribute to childhood in the lower class.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews