Stillicide is a really interesting concept for a book setting, that’s greatest strength was in building the mechanics of a future world (which didn’t feel far off). Where it didn’t work for me was that I found it hard to connect to the storyline or characters. I would understand what was happening (mostly) within a moment but it all got muddled in the larger story. So I honestly didn’t know what was happening and tracing the path of most of the characters. However, that doesn’t mean it won’t work for someone else. It really just wasn’t a good fit for myself, but I see that it has merit..

Quite a frightening look at a possible future for our planet. Water has become scarce, and the lengths to what people will go to for this valuable commodity are amazing. Through these stories, the struggle for survival is identified and explored.

There is a lot going on here that I loved. The imagery, and the flow, and the underlying sense of urgent, life-or-death matters, and the quiet fatalism of this prose all blend together to make this work a satisfying read. Some reviewers felt a little adrift given the formlessness of the storytelling but I enjoyed the drift and flow. On the page the language is poetic but it also feels a little distancing. I felt critical of the way the women characters in particular seem more like abstractions than living characters. But this could well be an artifice of the minimalist style, and I have the feeling that in its original expression, as a series of radio plays, this feeling wouldn't be so strongly present.

What an inspirational book of love and loss - and the impact of water and farming. I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

Fresh water has become scarce and is now a commodity.  The Water Train brings water to the city, but is constantly being sabotaged and must be closely guarded.  Glaciers are now being towed in as a source of fresh water.  An Ice Dock must be constructed to support the giant glacier, moving entire communities in its wake.   As news of the displacement from the Ice Dock spreads, the lives of several people become entwined by the element that keeps us alive. 
Stillicide is defined as:  a continual dripping or the servitude of eavesdrop binding a servient tenement to receive from the dominant tenement rainwater from the eaves of a building located on the latter.Stillicide is a collection of short stories all taking place within the same time frame around a future dystopian city in England struggling to receive fresh water.  At first, the stories all seem a bit disjointed, but they do give a good sense of place.  Through the eyes of the storytellers, a world where humans continue to live their daily lives as yet another catastrophe of our own making threatens to dismantle everything.  To make coffee, we harvest the respiration from trees, protests emerge as the impact of the Ice Dock is made imminent.  The writing creates the feeling of a slightly off-kilter normal or a boring dystopia.  Despite the world crashing down and the inherent risk of running out of fresh water, people are continuing on with their own drama, motivations and human needs.  As the stories continue, the connectedness becomes apparent and the power of nature over human life is shown.

This book was received for free in return for an honest review.

Cynan Jones' Stillicide is a collection of short accounts related to a not-too-distant future where water in London is scarce and current sources have been attacked by protesters. Tensions are ignited when the government orders the displacement of several families to build a passageway and dock for boats to tow icebergs through.

I wasn't aware that Stillicide was a group of radio broadcasts when I read it, which explains a lot. The book is very succinct, and as I was reading through I wished for a lot more world building. The concept was incredibly interesting, and I would have loved for that to be expanded on. However, as I came to the end, I realized this wasn't the goal of the book and may have bogged it down. I think the author gave just enough to allow you to build your own world and society around the theme, while telling the stories of a few characters living there.

Note: I recieved a free ebook copy of Stillicide from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I'm a reading purist who prefers reading to listening to audio recordings and knowing little about a book's story before reading it. In the case of Cyan Jones's Stillicide, the opposite is preferable:

These short stories were originally written for BBC radio, then compiled for publication by Granta, and now due for release November 17th in what most likely will be a beautifully designed book by Catapult. (It was Catapult's gorgeous publication of Jones's Cove that made me request an ARC of Stillicide.)

I suspect hearing these stories might be the most powerful way to receive them. And comprehension is definitely improved by reading the book's blurb: this is collection of stories about a perhaps not-so-distant future when water is commodified and people are fighting in the streets to protest the hauling of broken glaciers through their towns, displacing their homes.

I enjoyed these stories, but a Kindle ARC is not a good way to read them. They felt fragmented and confusing at times, nevertheless compelling by the end. But if you are Jones fan, consider buying the Catapult paperback in November. They do exquisite books, and Jones is a fine writer.