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The Sleep of Reason #1
Cascade
In the wake of a worsening climate crisis, magic runs rampant and demons roam across the Canadian prairies. A long-dead god stirs in the Pacific Ocean, while the wilderness is choked by invasive, screaming grass.
The Cascade has shattered political stability, leaving a scandal-plagued government clinging to power in Ottawa. As catastrophe looms ahead, a precognitive political rainman, Ian Mallory, stands between run-of-the-mill corruption and a nightmarish, dystopian future. It is up to a diverse and unlikely band of activists, scientists, journalists, and one underpaid, emoji-spell wielding intern to save their beleaguered country from its own worst impulses.
The Cascade has shattered political stability, leaving a scandal-plagued government clinging to power in Ottawa. As catastrophe looms ahead, a precognitive political rainman, Ian Mallory, stands between run-of-the-mill corruption and a nightmarish, dystopian future. It is up to a diverse and unlikely band of activists, scientists, journalists, and one underpaid, emoji-spell wielding intern to save their beleaguered country from its own worst impulses.
403 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2022
11 people are currently reading
226 people want to read
About the author
Rachel A. Rosen
5 books56 followersRachel A. Rosen is an activist, graphic designer, and for her sins, a high school teacher. In a previous life, she published two long running anarchist ‘zines and designed the uniform for the Christie Pits Hardball League.
She is the author of Cascade, Blight, and, with Zilla Novikov, the co-author of The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die. More of her writing can be found in Beyond Human: Tales of the New Us, Instant Classic (That No One Will Read), The Dance, and Trollbreath Magazine. Rachel co-hosts the Wizards & Spaceships podcast with David L. Clink
(www.wizardsandspaceships.ca), and freelances as a book cover designer.
She lives in Tkaronto (Toronto), where she is the harried personal assistant to two cats. Her website is www.rachelrosen.ca.
Buy Cascade: https://mybook.to/cascade or https://bppress.ca/shop/
Buy Blight: https://books2read.com/u/mYVl9P or https://bppress.ca/shop/
She is the author of Cascade, Blight, and, with Zilla Novikov, the co-author of The Sad Bastard Cookbook: Food You Can Make So You Don't Die. More of her writing can be found in Beyond Human: Tales of the New Us, Instant Classic (That No One Will Read), The Dance, and Trollbreath Magazine. Rachel co-hosts the Wizards & Spaceships podcast with David L. Clink
(www.wizardsandspaceships.ca), and freelances as a book cover designer.
She lives in Tkaronto (Toronto), where she is the harried personal assistant to two cats. Her website is www.rachelrosen.ca.
Buy Cascade: https://mybook.to/cascade or https://bppress.ca/shop/
Buy Blight: https://books2read.com/u/mYVl9P or https://bppress.ca/shop/
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September 30, 2022When the climate apocalypse awakens monsters and magic, a group of misfit Canadian activists try to prevent catastrophe by working inside the system. Can the master's tools dismantle the master's house before the second wave of supernatural devastation?
If you've lived in this world for any length of time, you can probably guess the answer, even without Ian's precognition. But you still reach for hope. You debate trash television with good friends, you raise an aloe vera plant or a child, you fall in love. You march or write or teach or–you try, in your own way, to navigate your way through the labyrinth to a happy ending.
Cascade is a very hard book for me to review because I've been on a journey with this novel. When I met Rachel A Rosen, Cascade was unfinished. I read along as she wrote it, laughing at the jokes, wincing at the truths, decimating the semi colons. And more than that. In many ways, the character arcs of the novel mirror journeys I've been on in my own life. It's a hard thing to read the climate science and know I'm living in the end days. It's hard to look at a world where so much has already been lost and know the devastation is only beginning. Cascade holds a mirror to our world, and I see myself reflected back.
Rachel A Rosen is a very good writer, and Cascade is a very good book. I don't know what else to say, but I'm excited to talk about it with you when you finish reading it.
If you've lived in this world for any length of time, you can probably guess the answer, even without Ian's precognition. But you still reach for hope. You debate trash television with good friends, you raise an aloe vera plant or a child, you fall in love. You march or write or teach or–you try, in your own way, to navigate your way through the labyrinth to a happy ending.
Cascade is a very hard book for me to review because I've been on a journey with this novel. When I met Rachel A Rosen, Cascade was unfinished. I read along as she wrote it, laughing at the jokes, wincing at the truths, decimating the semi colons. And more than that. In many ways, the character arcs of the novel mirror journeys I've been on in my own life. It's a hard thing to read the climate science and know I'm living in the end days. It's hard to look at a world where so much has already been lost and know the devastation is only beginning. Cascade holds a mirror to our world, and I see myself reflected back.
Rachel A Rosen is a very good writer, and Cascade is a very good book. I don't know what else to say, but I'm excited to talk about it with you when you finish reading it.
June 17, 2022
"On a blistering September morning, four months before magic tore the country a brand new asshole, Tobias Fletcher stood in front of his wife, a dizzying array of choices before him, all of them wrong."
Hilarious, diverse, and visceral.
I couldn't put this down. This would be a dystopian world were it not alarmingly recognisable. It's an alternate history, fantasy, political satire, I don't even know how to categorise it. If you enjoyed reading Baru Cormorant or The Fifth Season, or have ever watched Avenue 5 and thought it was the best thing ever, you'll love this. Every single sentence is a treat.
Hilarious, diverse, and visceral.
I couldn't put this down. This would be a dystopian world were it not alarmingly recognisable. It's an alternate history, fantasy, political satire, I don't even know how to categorise it. If you enjoyed reading Baru Cormorant or The Fifth Season, or have ever watched Avenue 5 and thought it was the best thing ever, you'll love this. Every single sentence is a treat.
May 11, 2022
Cascade is a seamless mix of Cosmic horror, urban fantasy, and House of Cards politics with stunning prose and an incredible cast of characters. Rachel Rosen invites us to peer with her through Canada's skin to examine its viscera and read our future in our nation's entrails. In the same vein as Charles Stross's Laundry Files and China Miéville's Bas-Lag, Cascade is as much about the failures of electoral politics and journalism to stop fascism and climate change as it is about the shattering of reality by magic and Cthulhu rising from the sea.
Grim, funny, and hopeful, Cascade gives us a cast of characters that live and breathe on the page from all walks of Canadian life, from the land defender Jonah to the emoji witch Sujay, from marine biologist Blythe to straight-laced photojournalist Tobias. Dearest of the cast to my heart is Ian, a sarcastic Newfie and self-professed wizard at the heart of Canada's new government in a world changed by the titular Cascade-a disastrous event that brought magic into the world. He's gay, grumpy, and grey (no not his hair-all colour has faded from his entire body) and just barely holding the government and the country together. The slow burn romance between him and Jonah is my entire heart.
Cascade is our present, and like Ian, Sujay, and Jonah, we will need to fight for our future.
Grim, funny, and hopeful, Cascade gives us a cast of characters that live and breathe on the page from all walks of Canadian life, from the land defender Jonah to the emoji witch Sujay, from marine biologist Blythe to straight-laced photojournalist Tobias. Dearest of the cast to my heart is Ian, a sarcastic Newfie and self-professed wizard at the heart of Canada's new government in a world changed by the titular Cascade-a disastrous event that brought magic into the world. He's gay, grumpy, and grey (no not his hair-all colour has faded from his entire body) and just barely holding the government and the country together. The slow burn romance between him and Jonah is my entire heart.
Cascade is our present, and like Ian, Sujay, and Jonah, we will need to fight for our future.
August 28, 2022
Hard to describe this book. Cynical Harry Potter meets House of Cards meets The Day After Tomorrow meets Cthulu. The prose is wonderful, full of pithy remarks (see highlights) and insightful. The characters are so deeply flawed, there's hardly any redeeming quality to any of them, yet they are all lovable, in some distorted way, maybe because of... how naive they are? How helpless? Confounded?
Nothing much happenes for most of it, except that the End of the World looms. Which is pretty much how it feels to be alive right now.
I really don't have much to say about it. It's great. For children of all ages.
I read it because Peter Watts said it was finally someone showing those bloody hopepunks what's what. He was right about that. I don't know what more recomendation any novel needs than giving the finger to hopepunk.
Also, I really want to watch that show, now...
Nothing much happenes for most of it, except that the End of the World looms. Which is pretty much how it feels to be alive right now.
I really don't have much to say about it. It's great. For children of all ages.
I read it because Peter Watts said it was finally someone showing those bloody hopepunks what's what. He was right about that. I don't know what more recomendation any novel needs than giving the finger to hopepunk.
Also, I really want to watch that show, now...
June 17, 2022
Cascade is a big book, but it's well worth the investment as it just gets better chapter by chapter as it draws you into its fantastical dystopian world. The main characters are well-developed and multi-dimensional. I really loved Iain, Jonas and Sujay and I hope the next book in the series is out soon as I really need to know what happens next.
I wasn't sure if this book was going to be my bag, but it works on so many different levels that I was soon hooked. If you are into magic, fantasy, sci-fi or just a great story, this book is for you.
I wasn't sure if this book was going to be my bag, but it works on so many different levels that I was soon hooked. If you are into magic, fantasy, sci-fi or just a great story, this book is for you.
September 30, 2022
There's so many reasons to love this book aaaaaaand I'm going to start with a really bad one. If Rachel A. Rosen is the type of author to read reviews, please don't hate me. Don't shun me. I knew this book and me were going to get along very well when one of its blurbs described it as (loose paraphrase) 'finally a book to make the hope punks shut the fuck up...' and the book's opening was catching, and the jokes were hitting, but I REALLY knew we were tight friends when we got to
The brown note.
You see, the brown note was something I had never bothered to google (and I think I'll keep it that way). It was something I would joke about with my partner. But I'd never heard anyone else talk about it or read about it anywhere. Ever. And then there it was! Just... IN CASCADE?! If you're not aware... well, it's this frequency (?) sound (?) I'm not entirely sure, because the not-googling, but it's a noise/sound/frequency that makes you shit yourself irretrievably upon hearing. Nobody is immune to the brown note. Like magic! (And it serves a small, but crucial part in the plot of Cascade.)
What does magic want? Is what the players of Rosen's world are trying to figure out. This world is not much different than ours, run also on online rumors, exploiters and exploited, powderkeg relations, misinformation, guilt, corruption, ideals gone sour, and a big pile of those stones paving that proverbial road to Hell. Cascade asks us, what if there was magic? Not the idealized separate-worlds JK Stromboli and the Chamber of Haunted Lasagne type of magic--but what if our world, our problems, our shit to unshit--and then suddenly, magic? Like it or not, incorporated into our world, our society, and our politics? Is magic trying to help or hurt; is it here to save us or wipe us out for running this planet into the ground? Or... is it neutral? As apathetic and childish as a god?
More broadly, Cascade asks us: how do we deal with loss? The loss of relationships, social face, elections--health and our sanity--our ideals and hopes--how do we lose macro matches and micro wars again and again and again and still get up to fight another day? (Or at least, get up to make another terrible joke?)
Alternating POVs between an up-and-coming sorcerer's apprentice--her wraith of a boss who can see the future --a journalist teetering between 'doing what's right and doing what needs to be done'--a climate scientist first and foremost married to the ocean... Rosen explores a world much like ours, you know, just on the brink of a Cthulhu-force about to unleashed, and the magically-enhanced political clusterfuck that comes before and after.
4D characters; a whiplash political plot that ramps UP (not down); great dialogue (accents and colloquialisms ENSNARE me, ok?); and just the right touch of body-horror. This book has everything: brains, heart, vision, and a sphincter! Rosen is one of my great author finds of 2022--and I know you all have a to read list bulging to hell and back, still. I recommend you bump Cascade over the velvet rope and onto your READ NOW list, because (in a slightly altered dimension) this IS our current timeline!
The brown note.
You see, the brown note was something I had never bothered to google (and I think I'll keep it that way). It was something I would joke about with my partner. But I'd never heard anyone else talk about it or read about it anywhere. Ever. And then there it was! Just... IN CASCADE?! If you're not aware... well, it's this frequency (?) sound (?) I'm not entirely sure, because the not-googling, but it's a noise/sound/frequency that makes you shit yourself irretrievably upon hearing. Nobody is immune to the brown note. Like magic! (And it serves a small, but crucial part in the plot of Cascade.)
What does magic want? Is what the players of Rosen's world are trying to figure out. This world is not much different than ours, run also on online rumors, exploiters and exploited, powderkeg relations, misinformation, guilt, corruption, ideals gone sour, and a big pile of those stones paving that proverbial road to Hell. Cascade asks us, what if there was magic? Not the idealized separate-worlds JK Stromboli and the Chamber of Haunted Lasagne type of magic--but what if our world, our problems, our shit to unshit--and then suddenly, magic? Like it or not, incorporated into our world, our society, and our politics? Is magic trying to help or hurt; is it here to save us or wipe us out for running this planet into the ground? Or... is it neutral? As apathetic and childish as a god?
More broadly, Cascade asks us: how do we deal with loss? The loss of relationships, social face, elections--health and our sanity--our ideals and hopes--how do we lose macro matches and micro wars again and again and again and still get up to fight another day? (Or at least, get up to make another terrible joke?)
Alternating POVs between an up-and-coming sorcerer's apprentice--her wraith of a boss who can see the future --a journalist teetering between 'doing what's right and doing what needs to be done'--a climate scientist first and foremost married to the ocean... Rosen explores a world much like ours, you know, just on the brink of a Cthulhu-force about to unleashed, and the magically-enhanced political clusterfuck that comes before and after.
4D characters; a whiplash political plot that ramps UP (not down); great dialogue (accents and colloquialisms ENSNARE me, ok?); and just the right touch of body-horror. This book has everything: brains, heart, vision, and a sphincter! Rosen is one of my great author finds of 2022--and I know you all have a to read list bulging to hell and back, still. I recommend you bump Cascade over the velvet rope and onto your READ NOW list, because (in a slightly altered dimension) this IS our current timeline!
June 16, 2025
Magic has returned to the world, but not in a pixie dust way, no, magic is a gut response to suffering or injustice or whatever we can't accept. Isn't that right? Or — "What does magic want?" Magic is new. It came to Vasai Singh first, and now there are lots of Magic-Affected Individuals.
One wizard, Ian, knows magic isn't just for fun and it would be terrible if bad actors weaponized it, but it's hard not to show off sometimes. For this reason and others, many people aren't thrilled about wizards in power, and Ian knows it. A sketchy guy named Eric Greenglass doesn't like nature. How can you not like nature? Well maybe if it's shriekgrass which is very literally grass that shrieks, a new species that is intelligent and knows what is happening to the world; maybe if that's what nature is now, you can go ahead and hate nature.
Industrialism has warmed the planet, and this has brought about The Cascade. Climate apocalypse is here, I mean here in our reality and also here in this story, and what Cascade makes me think about is: Out of all solutions I've tried to brainstorm to rectify planetary crisis, why haven't I ever thought of magic? We could all gather our feelings and become superpowered and fix the world magically, right? It is obvious!
I feel as though you are right now making a face as though I'm "giving birth to an entire litter of echidnas," but I can do little about it because my magic is weak. This is a clever book that is simultaneously funny and serious.
When I read it a second time, I wrote about it. BTW, the sequel has come out.
One wizard, Ian, knows magic isn't just for fun and it would be terrible if bad actors weaponized it, but it's hard not to show off sometimes. For this reason and others, many people aren't thrilled about wizards in power, and Ian knows it. A sketchy guy named Eric Greenglass doesn't like nature. How can you not like nature? Well maybe if it's shriekgrass which is very literally grass that shrieks, a new species that is intelligent and knows what is happening to the world; maybe if that's what nature is now, you can go ahead and hate nature.
Industrialism has warmed the planet, and this has brought about The Cascade. Climate apocalypse is here, I mean here in our reality and also here in this story, and what Cascade makes me think about is: Out of all solutions I've tried to brainstorm to rectify planetary crisis, why haven't I ever thought of magic? We could all gather our feelings and become superpowered and fix the world magically, right? It is obvious!
I feel as though you are right now making a face as though I'm "giving birth to an entire litter of echidnas," but I can do little about it because my magic is weak. This is a clever book that is simultaneously funny and serious.
When I read it a second time, I wrote about it. BTW, the sequel has come out.
November 29, 2022
If Terry Pratchett was a pissed off revolutionary, this is what he would've written. This book will hurt you and you will love it.
October 16, 2022
Rachel Rosen is masterful at building worlds and creating relatable characters. She has created a Canada that's once recognizable and yet completely different from the country we know and love (I love Canada even if I don't get to live there). The book focuses on the cataclysmic event, the Cascade, which leads to emergence of magic in the world, and the consequences of how MAIs (magic-affected individuals) impact every aspect of normal life. One of the main characters works for the government, at once possessing great power to affect the decisions made for so many people on the daily basis, and at the same time powerless for mundane political reasons that affect anyone working for any government in the world. He is a totally lovable prick... and I was right to worry about his fate. But to say more would be spoiling it.
More impressions include as follows:
I learned quite a bit about the Canadian government - let's just say that magic doesn't improve it too much, LOL.
I could tell it was going somewhere dark when I started reading, don't think it's a spoiler for anyone. However, the speed of disintegration and change in the world we almost know and love took me by surprise. By the end of it I was hoping for a glimmer of light - and my hopes were confirmed, at least in some aspects. I am very relieved there's a sequel.
I was taken in by the characters - I wanted most of them to be my friends (or enemies, I'd be honored LOL), and despite this being a book about magic, even people who were wizards seemed incredibly human and fallible, and subject to everyday pains that we all suffer through on the daily basis (and then some in the world that R. Rosen had built). The scenes of searches of darker colored individuals in the airport and the humiliations everyone looking for employment is subjected to were particularly horrifying (beyond the truly horrifying fantastical details).
My favorite character was probably an Indian girl, an apprentice to the main character (MAI I described above) who ends up playing a larger role in the overall story, I believe, than we may initially realize. I wanted to invite her in for tea and cookies!
My other favorite detail was the interwoven discussion of a popular show in that universe, Night Beats. I swear I'd watch the hell out of it.
I'm in a state of pleasant withdrawal but also experiencing flashbacks as I often do with the best horror or sci-fi books. I'd say it's as haunting in this regard as some visions of my other favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors, like Ray Bradbury (longing/emotion along with visions of the future) and Tanith Lee (the kind of characters you'd die for if they were real).
Love it - buy it - tell the others. If you enjoy magical realism, or politics, or just screwed up humans who make bad decisions, this is a book for you! I want the author to succeed so she writes more.
More impressions include as follows:
I learned quite a bit about the Canadian government - let's just say that magic doesn't improve it too much, LOL.
I could tell it was going somewhere dark when I started reading, don't think it's a spoiler for anyone. However, the speed of disintegration and change in the world we almost know and love took me by surprise. By the end of it I was hoping for a glimmer of light - and my hopes were confirmed, at least in some aspects. I am very relieved there's a sequel.
I was taken in by the characters - I wanted most of them to be my friends (or enemies, I'd be honored LOL), and despite this being a book about magic, even people who were wizards seemed incredibly human and fallible, and subject to everyday pains that we all suffer through on the daily basis (and then some in the world that R. Rosen had built). The scenes of searches of darker colored individuals in the airport and the humiliations everyone looking for employment is subjected to were particularly horrifying (beyond the truly horrifying fantastical details).
My favorite character was probably an Indian girl, an apprentice to the main character (MAI I described above) who ends up playing a larger role in the overall story, I believe, than we may initially realize. I wanted to invite her in for tea and cookies!
My other favorite detail was the interwoven discussion of a popular show in that universe, Night Beats. I swear I'd watch the hell out of it.
I'm in a state of pleasant withdrawal but also experiencing flashbacks as I often do with the best horror or sci-fi books. I'd say it's as haunting in this regard as some visions of my other favorite sci-fi and fantasy authors, like Ray Bradbury (longing/emotion along with visions of the future) and Tanith Lee (the kind of characters you'd die for if they were real).
Love it - buy it - tell the others. If you enjoy magical realism, or politics, or just screwed up humans who make bad decisions, this is a book for you! I want the author to succeed so she writes more.
July 6, 2025
I reread Cascade in anticipation of the release of its sequel, Blight, so I am updating my review. The second time around, I am once again impressed by the fineness of the writing and the breadth and depth of the story’s sweep. This is a novel with great compassion for its warts-and-all characters, which is ironic given what a clusterfuck of a plot it subjects them to.
Imagine having the magical ability to foresee the future, only to foresee that, in all possible timelines and regardless of any choices made, a world-spanning catastrophe is fated to occur. Would someone with that ability be so different from all of us, in our time?
After all, we also see a climate catastrophe looming, perhaps mitigable but no longer avoidable. Humanity’s ecological depredations, sadly familiar in our own reality, have in the world of Cascade awakened long-dormant magic within the earth, a destructive power of Lovecraftian indifference to the humanity it is annihilating.
Some humans—call them wizards—are capable of using or controlling this magic; others fear this new power and the way wizards arrogate authority to decide the fates of many. What we fear, we seek to destroy. Even in a slow armageddon, humanity remains pettily human, so this eco-spec-fic is in large part political, dwelling on a secretive wizard who works within the Canadian government to effect needed changes, and on other political actors who oppose him, struggling against their own powerlessness before limitless incomprehensible magic.
That powerlessness, in the novel, is analogous to our own powerlessness against political currents and the malign elite in our world’s varied hierarchies. We too face the prospect of eco-disaster—of which the mystery of magic, the unfathomable power of the natural world, is a cognate—and this disaster is caused and furthered by political malingering, by the willingness of some Ivy League mediocrity to consign unnamed masses to their graves in his pursuit of reelection. In the end, what stops humans from saving the world? Other humans.
As things worsen in Cascade, the human instinct to impose one’s will on others, immediately taking advantage of any crisis for petty power (because, in the face of apocalypse, all power is petty) informs how the powerful exploit public fear, scarcity, and instability to indulge longtime axes-to-grind. Out come the jackboots and guns. In presenting us this maelstrom of our species’ ugliest side, the novel challenges us to consider human limits: our inability to live by our ideals, our failure to be who we must. Is humanity its own greatest enemy? Humanity, in the form of those closest to us, is also the thing we love enough to fight for. This love and fight often drive our worst behavior—which brings us back to being our own worst enemy. The novel shows these dynamics in characters across the political landscape, from prime ministers and media tycoons to researchers and anarchists.
The narrative voice is often one of ironic levity, until it swerves into dead serious tension. Many of the characters are outsize, their passions large, and the author demonstrates willingness to delve into multiple characters at different points along the opinion spectrum. Eventually there is great emotional heft in their experiences of loss. Cascade is a novel driven by an inner moral urgency, political without being superficially polemical, ultimately moving and inspirational of sober consideration of real perils our own world faces.
Imagine having the magical ability to foresee the future, only to foresee that, in all possible timelines and regardless of any choices made, a world-spanning catastrophe is fated to occur. Would someone with that ability be so different from all of us, in our time?
After all, we also see a climate catastrophe looming, perhaps mitigable but no longer avoidable. Humanity’s ecological depredations, sadly familiar in our own reality, have in the world of Cascade awakened long-dormant magic within the earth, a destructive power of Lovecraftian indifference to the humanity it is annihilating.
Some humans—call them wizards—are capable of using or controlling this magic; others fear this new power and the way wizards arrogate authority to decide the fates of many. What we fear, we seek to destroy. Even in a slow armageddon, humanity remains pettily human, so this eco-spec-fic is in large part political, dwelling on a secretive wizard who works within the Canadian government to effect needed changes, and on other political actors who oppose him, struggling against their own powerlessness before limitless incomprehensible magic.
That powerlessness, in the novel, is analogous to our own powerlessness against political currents and the malign elite in our world’s varied hierarchies. We too face the prospect of eco-disaster—of which the mystery of magic, the unfathomable power of the natural world, is a cognate—and this disaster is caused and furthered by political malingering, by the willingness of some Ivy League mediocrity to consign unnamed masses to their graves in his pursuit of reelection. In the end, what stops humans from saving the world? Other humans.
As things worsen in Cascade, the human instinct to impose one’s will on others, immediately taking advantage of any crisis for petty power (because, in the face of apocalypse, all power is petty) informs how the powerful exploit public fear, scarcity, and instability to indulge longtime axes-to-grind. Out come the jackboots and guns. In presenting us this maelstrom of our species’ ugliest side, the novel challenges us to consider human limits: our inability to live by our ideals, our failure to be who we must. Is humanity its own greatest enemy? Humanity, in the form of those closest to us, is also the thing we love enough to fight for. This love and fight often drive our worst behavior—which brings us back to being our own worst enemy. The novel shows these dynamics in characters across the political landscape, from prime ministers and media tycoons to researchers and anarchists.
The narrative voice is often one of ironic levity, until it swerves into dead serious tension. Many of the characters are outsize, their passions large, and the author demonstrates willingness to delve into multiple characters at different points along the opinion spectrum. Eventually there is great emotional heft in their experiences of loss. Cascade is a novel driven by an inner moral urgency, political without being superficially polemical, ultimately moving and inspirational of sober consideration of real perils our own world faces.
July 3, 2022
So, I was told this book was, "a political thriller about Canadian politics in a wizard apocalypse." I must say political books are generally one of the genres I steer clear of most fervently. However, wizards and apocalypses are right down my alley. So I thought why not, let's give it a try.
At first I have to admit that I was a bit confused as to what was going on in the world. There was no summery of the cataclysmic events that had transpired leading up to where the book begins. Only after reading over half the book are you able to piece together a rough idea of the damages and turmoil that has made the world what it is and the political changes caused by them. But, this could be the fact that the setting was less the focus and rather the political intrigue that was meant to capture the readers interests. I just kept finding myself wanting to know what happened? What could these wizards I hear about do? How common were they? What exactly was the Cascade event? Most of my questions were answered, I just needed some patience.
As quite possibly the first political thriller book I have read I would say I was quite pleased however. I will be the first to admit I have a rather low opinion of politics and politicians in general, however the characters were portrayed in a way I found to be well constructed and even refreshing in their (in my opinion) noble goals and ideals.
Overall, I would say I had no issues or hesitation in finishing Cascade, it is unpredictable and keeps you guessing about the setting and what happened until the end, and even then it writes as if there is much more to come. I think that a second read through with my knewly aquired knowledge about the setting would however increase my enjoyment of the read. If I get wind of a second book in this setting written by Rachel I will definitely read it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
At first I have to admit that I was a bit confused as to what was going on in the world. There was no summery of the cataclysmic events that had transpired leading up to where the book begins. Only after reading over half the book are you able to piece together a rough idea of the damages and turmoil that has made the world what it is and the political changes caused by them. But, this could be the fact that the setting was less the focus and rather the political intrigue that was meant to capture the readers interests. I just kept finding myself wanting to know what happened? What could these wizards I hear about do? How common were they? What exactly was the Cascade event? Most of my questions were answered, I just needed some patience.
As quite possibly the first political thriller book I have read I would say I was quite pleased however. I will be the first to admit I have a rather low opinion of politics and politicians in general, however the characters were portrayed in a way I found to be well constructed and even refreshing in their (in my opinion) noble goals and ideals.
Overall, I would say I had no issues or hesitation in finishing Cascade, it is unpredictable and keeps you guessing about the setting and what happened until the end, and even then it writes as if there is much more to come. I think that a second read through with my knewly aquired knowledge about the setting would however increase my enjoyment of the read. If I get wind of a second book in this setting written by Rachel I will definitely read it.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
June 27, 2022
Cascade is the first book in a new dystopian series, with elements of urban fantasy and horror, set in a world heavily affected by climate change. In what are called thin places, magic has broken through the veil of the world and introduced MAI’s (Magic Affected Individuals). For others, being exposed to these wells of magic is perilous, as an overdose can turn humans to demons.
Cascade is a fast-paced, well written, multi-layered story, told with wit and dark sarcasm and told through the eyes of five very different characters. It provides us with a dreadful depiction of a heavily climate changed world—a world not that far away in reality, if we don’t take measures—laced with magic, demons and politics. Which one of these that is the most dreadful is open for discussion.
The interaction between the characters is the strongest facet in the book. Thanks to old friendships and despite disagreements, they try to trample their way through a tangled political forest, where traps and mirages easily lure those lost. That, together with the environment Rachel A. Rosen skillfully paints, are, in my opinion, the icing on the cake. The characters’ individual agendas and goals drive the story forward, along with ancient forces and the gears of the political system, now with magic as the lubricant. Or is it a stick in the wheel?
I’m eagerly awaiting what twists and turns of events Tobias, Jonah, Sujay and the others will have to endure in the next book of the series.
Disclaimer:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
Cascade is a fast-paced, well written, multi-layered story, told with wit and dark sarcasm and told through the eyes of five very different characters. It provides us with a dreadful depiction of a heavily climate changed world—a world not that far away in reality, if we don’t take measures—laced with magic, demons and politics. Which one of these that is the most dreadful is open for discussion.
The interaction between the characters is the strongest facet in the book. Thanks to old friendships and despite disagreements, they try to trample their way through a tangled political forest, where traps and mirages easily lure those lost. That, together with the environment Rachel A. Rosen skillfully paints, are, in my opinion, the icing on the cake. The characters’ individual agendas and goals drive the story forward, along with ancient forces and the gears of the political system, now with magic as the lubricant. Or is it a stick in the wheel?
I’m eagerly awaiting what twists and turns of events Tobias, Jonah, Sujay and the others will have to endure in the next book of the series.
Disclaimer:
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 14, 2022
A fantastic story that imagines a world where the world has cracked open to give certain people magical abilities, and how the political world responds to them.
Like many first books in a series, Cascade can be a bit slow at first. Several characters are introduced, which I found a bit difficult to keep track of, but Rosen does a great job of letting them all find their place, and it comes together very nicely in the third part of the book.
By the end of the book, I was hooked, and the ending sets things up for what promises to be a great sequel that I'm looking forward to reading.
Like many first books in a series, Cascade can be a bit slow at first. Several characters are introduced, which I found a bit difficult to keep track of, but Rosen does a great job of letting them all find their place, and it comes together very nicely in the third part of the book.
By the end of the book, I was hooked, and the ending sets things up for what promises to be a great sequel that I'm looking forward to reading.
June 30, 2022
There are more and more of the science fiction novels that I'm reading that seem as if I know, or should know, the authors. This is definitely one such.
A fantasy/science fiction mashup that involves gritty politics and neutral magic and is set aggressively in Canada, this is a nihilist-friendly novel with a diverse cast of characters, and a pretty interesting set of villains.
It's long, and the build up is slow, and maybe there's an artistic point to that (this story is significantly about the inertia of modern life that we all see acted out every day); dragged for me, but then, it's a brutal story that is close to our lives, so it makes sense that it would be hard. Characters are compelling, premise is appealing, and there's a sequel on the way, so... yeah. I'll be checking it out.
A fantasy/science fiction mashup that involves gritty politics and neutral magic and is set aggressively in Canada, this is a nihilist-friendly novel with a diverse cast of characters, and a pretty interesting set of villains.
It's long, and the build up is slow, and maybe there's an artistic point to that (this story is significantly about the inertia of modern life that we all see acted out every day); dragged for me, but then, it's a brutal story that is close to our lives, so it makes sense that it would be hard. Characters are compelling, premise is appealing, and there's a sequel on the way, so... yeah. I'll be checking it out.
July 6, 2022
Rock falls, almost everyone and everything dies. Looking forward to book 2.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 31, 2022
This book takes the Canada so many of us can see but have a hard time naming and paints it, adding, for good measure, magic and apocalypses.
One of the critical wins in this novel is painstaking care to create smart, real, fallible and interesting protagonists we support, acting as best they can to solve things. A lot of the time I ask "why didn't the characters just" as I watch disaster unfold: not so here. It I initially wasn't sure why we spent so long in the halls of Canadian power, but the narrative payoff is worth it as things unravel, and we, along with the characters, know that this isn't a simple fix, because we were there with them as they tried.
The novel is also funny, sarcastic and caustic in all the right ways.
Whether you are Canadian or not, you'll come out knowing Canada better, having been thoroughly entertained, and waiting with baited breath for the sequel.
One of the critical wins in this novel is painstaking care to create smart, real, fallible and interesting protagonists we support, acting as best they can to solve things. A lot of the time I ask "why didn't the characters just" as I watch disaster unfold: not so here. It I initially wasn't sure why we spent so long in the halls of Canadian power, but the narrative payoff is worth it as things unravel, and we, along with the characters, know that this isn't a simple fix, because we were there with them as they tried.
The novel is also funny, sarcastic and caustic in all the right ways.
Whether you are Canadian or not, you'll come out knowing Canada better, having been thoroughly entertained, and waiting with baited breath for the sequel.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 29, 2022
Cascade is mind-blowingly good - part urban fantasy, part apocalyptic horror, and part political thriller. House of Cards meets Lovecraft (minus the racism obvs.) meets, perhaps Nalo Hopkinson, with a strong side-order of Joe Abercrombie's grimdark humour.
Cascade, the first of what is to be the Sleep of Reason trilogy, is set in near-future Canada, in a world where climate breakdown has triggered the sudden release of magic into the world - the Cascade, which took place 20 or so years before the book starts. The influx of magic gives powers to some, but mostly worsens the unfolding ecological collapse, with magical wellsprings creating no-mans-lands filled with Shriekgrass, and where people risk being turned into demons.
In this dystopian-but-familiar setting, a fragile left-leaning government has come to power, aided by precognitive wizard Ian Mallory, an ornery asshole who is nonetheless using himself up to try to do what he can to mitigate or at least delay even greater catastrophe. Like Benedict Jacka's seer Alex Verus, Mallory sees not one inevitable future, but all possible paths leading from different choices, although his foresight is more long-range and less "which way do I dive to dodge the bullet" than Verus's.
Mallory is just one of a range of complex, well-drawn, sympathetic characters (even the awful ones) coming from a range of political, social, and magical perspectives, and indeed, though in some ways the central character, he is never the POV one, which is split between the other principles, a narrative device which works very well IMO.
Along with great, well-paced storytelling and the intricate characterisation, the quality of writing, the visual and emotional imagery, is just stunning, and often heart-rending. In what is a desperately bleak setting, the author maintains both a sometimes laugh-out-loud sense of humour, adorable geekery (with plenty of meta as the characters compare their lives to familiar fantasy worlds), and deep human compassion.
It is just awesome and everyone should read it. (Though be prepared for it being very dark).
Cascade, the first of what is to be the Sleep of Reason trilogy, is set in near-future Canada, in a world where climate breakdown has triggered the sudden release of magic into the world - the Cascade, which took place 20 or so years before the book starts. The influx of magic gives powers to some, but mostly worsens the unfolding ecological collapse, with magical wellsprings creating no-mans-lands filled with Shriekgrass, and where people risk being turned into demons.
In this dystopian-but-familiar setting, a fragile left-leaning government has come to power, aided by precognitive wizard Ian Mallory, an ornery asshole who is nonetheless using himself up to try to do what he can to mitigate or at least delay even greater catastrophe. Like Benedict Jacka's seer Alex Verus, Mallory sees not one inevitable future, but all possible paths leading from different choices, although his foresight is more long-range and less "which way do I dive to dodge the bullet" than Verus's.
Mallory is just one of a range of complex, well-drawn, sympathetic characters (even the awful ones) coming from a range of political, social, and magical perspectives, and indeed, though in some ways the central character, he is never the POV one, which is split between the other principles, a narrative device which works very well IMO.
Along with great, well-paced storytelling and the intricate characterisation, the quality of writing, the visual and emotional imagery, is just stunning, and often heart-rending. In what is a desperately bleak setting, the author maintains both a sometimes laugh-out-loud sense of humour, adorable geekery (with plenty of meta as the characters compare their lives to familiar fantasy worlds), and deep human compassion.
It is just awesome and everyone should read it. (Though be prepared for it being very dark).
October 7, 2022
This was not a fun book, and a fair chunk of it felt like a slog to get through, and I eventually realized that was actually the point.
Despite the magic and the demons and the cyberpunk pirates, this is a painfully realistic take on the human struggle to affect change in the face of encroaching doom in a society that lacks the will to collective action. This book is the commiseration of Job for everyone who's ever looked at global climate crisis or governments teetering on the edge of fascism and torn at their hair because they feel like nothing they can do, while having to maintain their daily lives, can make a difference in the face of both societal indifference and the malevolence of a few in positions of power.
At around 40% of the way through, I asked myself why I was continuing to read yet another chapter of characters maneuvering through tedious political drama when there were much more interesting things happening elsewhere in the narrative world, when it struck me that this is how most of us are experiencing the decline and fall of Western civilization. It's banal, and tedious, and anyone with half a brain can see it happening, but we can't do a damn thing about it and meanwhile we still need to pay our mortgage and feed ourselves.
Maybe the second half will feature hope and heroics. Meanwhile, this is a well-written book that's sharp and witty and brings a painfully believable imaginative world to sit with you and say "Yeah, we're all fucked".
Despite the magic and the demons and the cyberpunk pirates, this is a painfully realistic take on the human struggle to affect change in the face of encroaching doom in a society that lacks the will to collective action. This book is the commiseration of Job for everyone who's ever looked at global climate crisis or governments teetering on the edge of fascism and torn at their hair because they feel like nothing they can do, while having to maintain their daily lives, can make a difference in the face of both societal indifference and the malevolence of a few in positions of power.
At around 40% of the way through, I asked myself why I was continuing to read yet another chapter of characters maneuvering through tedious political drama when there were much more interesting things happening elsewhere in the narrative world, when it struck me that this is how most of us are experiencing the decline and fall of Western civilization. It's banal, and tedious, and anyone with half a brain can see it happening, but we can't do a damn thing about it and meanwhile we still need to pay our mortgage and feed ourselves.
Maybe the second half will feature hope and heroics. Meanwhile, this is a well-written book that's sharp and witty and brings a painfully believable imaginative world to sit with you and say "Yeah, we're all fucked".
August 29, 2022
Magic and politics and futility and hope all blended together. The characters are human and wonderful and flawed and sometimes terrible. It is hard to hate almost anyone. Even those you may not agree with Rachel makes you love. Some of the things you could guess easily, but there were still a lot of surprise to me anyway. Can hardly wait for wait is next. Keep wielding your magic, Rachel and readers!
June 15, 2023
Environmentalism and eco-collapse, magic realism and politics collide in Cascade with a side dish of queer romance, activism and robust alternative earth world-building. The characters are realistic, rough around the edges politicians, academics and activists and not all their actions are noble. In fact you can see how all of humanity got to be here, the characters feel capable of screw-ups and great things but nobody is flawless and that contributes to the true-to-life feeling of the climate catastrophe and a sense "You are here" is very present.
This book is more than eco-fiction or fantasy. It goes outside both genres and expands what's possible for both.
The world is torn apart by a global catastrophe which returns magic and magic-users to our world at a time when mankind has pretty much screwed things beyond recognition and things couldn't be darker. The magic that has been unleashed is not playing nice and maybe what magic wants is entirely different than what people have planned.
This book is more than eco-fiction or fantasy. It goes outside both genres and expands what's possible for both.
The world is torn apart by a global catastrophe which returns magic and magic-users to our world at a time when mankind has pretty much screwed things beyond recognition and things couldn't be darker. The magic that has been unleashed is not playing nice and maybe what magic wants is entirely different than what people have planned.
April 19, 2025
What a story! I'm a fan of dystopian stories and fantasy stories and this blends them seamlessly! Trying to summarize this book would basically result in a novella so I will say that you should just read this book. It's written in multiple POV, but what really draws me in is how each character is unique and has different opinions and perspectives. Character A has a different view of character B and C, and C views A and B different, and B has a completely different view of the situation. I'm explaining it weird but it makes sense once you start reading. But is is a fantastic novel and I devoured it!!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
October 30, 2023
Finally, a realistic pre-apocalypse
Okay, so take The Thick of It and shake with Will Ferguson's Bastards and Boneheads; sprinkle in some classic Canadian comedies; spike with the IPC climate reports, and serve boiling hot with brutal honesty.
This book is kind of a slow burn, and the political drama is intense to follow even for a Canadian, but the patience is worth it. Rich with excellent comedy and wordplay, despair, and a vibrant anarchism that does not merely hope, but kicks back at darkness even in a losing battle. I was also particularly impressed that the descriptions of magic just felt really realistic in terms of how a government would handle them.
Ian and Sujay are tattooed on my heart. I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this book.
In a word, I recommend it.
Okay, so take The Thick of It and shake with Will Ferguson's Bastards and Boneheads; sprinkle in some classic Canadian comedies; spike with the IPC climate reports, and serve boiling hot with brutal honesty.
This book is kind of a slow burn, and the political drama is intense to follow even for a Canadian, but the patience is worth it. Rich with excellent comedy and wordplay, despair, and a vibrant anarchism that does not merely hope, but kicks back at darkness even in a losing battle. I was also particularly impressed that the descriptions of magic just felt really realistic in terms of how a government would handle them.
Ian and Sujay are tattooed on my heart. I have a feeling I'll be coming back to this book.
In a word, I recommend it.
December 20, 2025
Sorry, this book has so many ingredients that would make it a good read for me, but it all didn't add up, sadly. It has magic, activism, wit, Canada, and I used to hang out with the author back in the days and we were even friends. But I just didn't want to continue reading after 80 pages, it didn't stick with me somehow. Maybe a thing that English is not my first language so I don't get all the references or slang expressions, but I just couldn't follow, the point of view changes each chapter just when you start to be inside the narrating person, and at some point they go somewhere to Alberta and something magic happens and you don't understand what, and then there's some catastrophy (?), maybe the same as the magic thing but not sure since it also involves Toronto in a way (??), but the next day they are in the office again and making fun of each other. I mean, writing this, it seems fine and interesting, but to me it all was too unbalanced. Other readers seem to like this book quite well, maybe it just didn't click with me. (I wish it would have.)
September 10, 2022
Deeply political, this book reminds me of L. E. Modesitt Jr.'s Imager Portfolio, if the Imager Portfolio had included hints of cosmic horror and occurred in the center of a magical and ecological apocalypse.
At first, I was deeply confused as to the setting and world. There is no quick-and-easy summary of the cataclysm which forms the basis of the setting, and there is no mercy for someone who doesn't take the time to digest the prose word by word. As I progressed through the book, I could piece together the fragments to form a mostly complete image of the past, and that image served as a mirror for the future of this world.
This is not a book for someone who wants a quick, light, easy read. In order to stay abreast of the narrative, you have to dig deep, think about the implications buried in the text, and put the puzzle pieces together using your own brain power. If you want a deeply intriguing literary sci-fi which will help you examine your own world view through themes involving climate change, racism, and political corruption, then I highly recommend it!
A wonderful book for someone who can read between the lines.
**I received an ARC copy from the author in return for an honest review.**
At first, I was deeply confused as to the setting and world. There is no quick-and-easy summary of the cataclysm which forms the basis of the setting, and there is no mercy for someone who doesn't take the time to digest the prose word by word. As I progressed through the book, I could piece together the fragments to form a mostly complete image of the past, and that image served as a mirror for the future of this world.
This is not a book for someone who wants a quick, light, easy read. In order to stay abreast of the narrative, you have to dig deep, think about the implications buried in the text, and put the puzzle pieces together using your own brain power. If you want a deeply intriguing literary sci-fi which will help you examine your own world view through themes involving climate change, racism, and political corruption, then I highly recommend it!
A wonderful book for someone who can read between the lines.
**I received an ARC copy from the author in return for an honest review.**
September 22, 2025
So, I was almost ready to DNF because this book's beginning has so many non-sequiturs, it borders on incomprehensible. The sentence structure adds a lot to this.
All of this is completely resolved by the 40% mark. I have no idea whether the author just needed a little longer to get in gear or if this was a me-problem.
Never mind, the pace is fast, the cast is diverse and grows into their respective personae and I loved the political message as well as the modern language.
Absolute recommend if you can manage a bit of patience for the beginning.
All of this is completely resolved by the 40% mark. I have no idea whether the author just needed a little longer to get in gear or if this was a me-problem.
Never mind, the pace is fast, the cast is diverse and grows into their respective personae and I loved the political message as well as the modern language.
Absolute recommend if you can manage a bit of patience for the beginning.
July 16, 2023
This book sparkles with wit, shines with immersive, detailed prose, stings with caustic commentary, and charms with deeply reflective observations. The characters have more depth and dimension than any I think I have ever read. It's quite astounding. I mean, Rachel Rosen is so good at detailing the workings of a person that I actually think I have met these people. I bought this book at the Ottawa Book Expo last year and now and I can't wait for book two.
did-not-finish
December 12, 2025DNF @ 26%
This is an incredible, complex, insanely intelligent, well-thought-out, frankly brilliant book about Canadian politics in the wake of world-shattering magical climate change. But I emphatically did not vibe with it and after 4 weeks and 25% it was too much work to keep forcing myself through.
This is an incredible, complex, insanely intelligent, well-thought-out, frankly brilliant book about Canadian politics in the wake of world-shattering magical climate change. But I emphatically did not vibe with it and after 4 weeks and 25% it was too much work to keep forcing myself through.
July 23, 2025
DNF, not bad but not my cup of tea.
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