This is a book that tells us how we might live in the coming decades or even years. It grabbed me from the beginning and I liked how the story went on. It is a book about totalitarianism, how we rely on surveillance, and the direction our societies are heading.

I loved how atmospheric and eerie this book was. Very well written, and gripping from the first page right to the very end.

3.5 stars rounded up

South was an interesting story about the fate of a journalist in a dystopian totalitarian state. The story was instantly fascinating, eerie and menacing - not unlike 1984 or Brave New World. Although I enjoyed reading South, it felt rushed in places, especially the ending left me wanting a bit more. Overall, I reckon this would have been even better in a slightly longer, more fleshed-out version.

In a distinctly Orwellian world increasing immersing itself in totalitarianism, one journalist travels to the titular South for a story and finds himself overstepping some invisible line and becoming a victim of the regime.
It was meant to be a simple enough assignment: spend some time on an oil rig and write about it. For a reporter whose last story tanked, who desperately needs money, it was a no-brainer. But then this got very dark very quickly, which is exactly how it plays out when government and its whims are the scariest thing around.
Told in strategically simple brief sentences (think artwork rendered in thick quick brushstrokes), this novel packs a deceptive weight. It sort of sneaks up on a reader – the darkness, the heaviness of it. First, on the rig, there isn’t much to it, but then once the journalist is taken in, it veers straight into 1984.
Actually, it’s impossible not to compare this novel to 1984, which I’d just read. It has the same tone, the same bleakness, even the near-same arc. It’s also a very good (though not as iconic) read. Intelligent, stark, cleverly subtle, this was pretty good. A worthy dystopian read. A very quick one at that. Thanks Netgalley.

"South": The work of fiction by Babak Lokghomi is a solid rating of 4.25 from me.
Being a reimagination of life under the totalitarian regime, frankly, it is hard for me to rate the author's work, it feels like the work has a solid memoir-like base.
***Plot/Structure-5 points
***Characterization-4.5 points
***Prose-3 points ( granted the author mentions that the writing is very dry, which was pretty fitting for the work)
***Setting- 4 points ( personally would love to have a bit more folklore woven into work, like the idea of menmenda)
***Enjoyment-4.5 points ( just for my personal taste, descriptions like "horny" and such are not more enjoyable, but that is a very personal preference)

It reminded me of the work by Y. Zamyuatin, "We", which is also exploring life under a totalitarian regime, the "seductive agents" regime places to control people, and at the end the death of fight and opposition.
Also, Azar Nafisi's work "Read dangerously" is a very alike memoir, if one wishes to dive into experiences different authors shared.
The symbolism of the wind is veiled in every aspect of the work, which in my understanding the allegory of unrest, and resistance against radical regimes.

***Review with spoilers***
The work portrays the life of different classes, workers, intellectuals, fishermen, and such under the totalitarian regime, their struggles, ways of control and breaking personal will by totalitarian governments, and the physical and intellectual, emotional abuse one faces under such regimes. Rumors, sudden disappearances, and demoralization of character are the tools of the regime.
The work, in my opinion, also touches on the problem of people accepting revolutions ( in this case allegory of the author's assignment) and the optimism and minimal info people have when throwing themselves into the new regime.
The work portrays tools of control- one's usage of only approved canals of information interchange with the world, extreme censorship, tracking of every single cell of the society, the limitation of very basic resources of life, and breaking a person to the point of having no opinion or interest if you are not working for the regime, abuse of drugs to keep people "calm", the disappearances.
I appreciate the author mentioning the hallucinatory aspect of the work, it made my reading experience much better, as throughout the book you keep seeking answer whether what is happening is just a product of imagination, or not.

Would love to read more from the author. The work pretty much kept me on the edge of my seat.