If you are an Ali Smith fan, you will love Gliff!

Gliff is a dystopian novel set in the near future. The common theme that Smith keeps the reader focused on is Brave New World. And set inside that world are two siblings, Briar and Rose, and a horse who is slated for the abattoir.

It is part look back at how Bri and Rose came to be separated from their mother and part look into the reality of life now. Bri is our narrator and they are brilliant. This is a novel I have not stopped thinking about since I finished it and I am very eager for the sequel (Glyph) to come out!

Thanks to Netgalley, Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor | Pantheon for a digital copy of this book. It will be published February 4, 2025.

I really struggled to get a handle on Gliff, Ali Smith’s take on a dystopian novel. I can’t tell how much of the ambiguity in the text is intentional, as Smith does little to world build and allows readers to draw conclusions from the uneasy circumstances surrounding her characters. Smith hits on a lot of big themes fleetingly, from digital surveillance to climate catastrophe. She does not linger on any of these themes, in my opinion, enough for her to leave a unique stamp or interpretation on what the future may hold. In other reviews, I have seen readers draw interesting parallels between scenes in Gliff, and modern political figures and corporations like Amazon. For me this feel like a bit of a jump. I enjoyed the concept of reading a novel like Brave New World from a child’s perspective, but I found the lack of context really frustrating. All this being said, I seem to be in the minority of folks not rating this book 5 stars.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Knopf, Pantheon, Vintage, and Anchor for providing me with an ARC in exchange for my honest review. Gliff is due to publish February 4, 2025 in the U.S.

This is my first by Ali Smith, but I feel the urge to run out and read all her stuff. It's weird because I can give a brief description of what happened over the course of these pages, but also not really be able to tell you exactly what happened? I can't explain it. She took all the words and I have none left.

I received the e-arc from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

This is one of those books that you close and think about. Is the dictator Trump or Putin? Is it set in the near future? What, in fact, happened to Bri's sister, or mother or Lief? And then you wonder. Is it another take on Brave New World, updated to technology and facial recognition and the end of privacy? Whichever of those it is, I found it strangely disturbing and difficult to read, filling me with more questions than answers.

The horse, bound for the glue factory, is an engaging character. But what does he symbolize? And what does the red paint mean? And why does whatever it surrounds get torn down or disappear? These are questions that Ali Smith does not answer. Rather she leaves you to ponder whether what we are doing to our planet and ourselves can result in the world we witness in Gliff.

Thanks to Net Galley and Penguin/Random House for allowing me an early read of this unusual yet fascinating novel.

I initially struggled to get into this, but wow once I was in it I was hooked. Very haunting and moving. This was my first book by Ali Smith and I found it was very quick to read but will definitely stick with me for a long time.

Ali Smith can do no wrong. She writes with such an exacting lens, getting right to the heart of the matter at hand. That matter at hand in Gliff is a near future, where our MC Bri reflects on how they and their sister Rose are left behind by their parents in the midst of political turmoil. Bri and their sister survive on the fringes of society, navigating a wickedly dystopian world.

I haven't stopped thinking about Gliff since I finished reading it. It has a lot to say about the world we inhabit and the future it portends.

Another triumph for Smith. This is a subtle, not especially long yet chilling vision of an autocratic future and two free spirits within it. It relates to Lynch’s recent Booker winner, Prophet Song, in it’s disturbing and infecting vision of future terrors. The sisters seem a little old for their years, but the word play and dialogue and theming are terrific. Hope it wins something.

Ali Smith reinvents the dystopian novel, carefully building a near-future Britain that feels both banal and horrifying with subtlety and indirection. Briar and Rose are adolescent siblings left to fend for themselves in an unfamiliar provincial town after their whistleblowing activist mother and her partner are caught up in a neoliberal techno-oligarchic nightmare of re-education centers for "unverifiables" who resist digital surveillance, algorithmic sorting, corporate hegemony, and environmental degradation.

Having been raised to read dead-tree books rather than interact with screens ("educators") and to distrust authority, they exist on the margins of society, evading machines that paint ominous red circles around the residences of dissidents. Insufficiently aware of the ominous political danger they're risking, they find joy and freedom in taking care of a horse destined for the abattoir, and join a community of squatters living-of in an abandoned school. Several years later, we find Bri working as a supervisor in a parody of an Amazon warehouse staffed by corporate slaves with missing fingers, and reconnecting with someone who once knew Rose, and ponders the dissolution and separation of their family.

Smith perfectly captures the freshness, know-it-all-ness, and inquisitiveness of her young narrator's thought processes, and suffuses their musings with her usual dense and allusive wordplay. Beyond the all-too-real dystopian worldbuilding, I was slightly concerned that Smith has been over-working the same thematic ground, since the characters' sermons upon her regular themes of freedom, art, and beauty sometimes felt reduplicative of the loopy monologues from her Seasonal Trilogy and How to Be Both.

Thanks to Netgalley and Pantheon Books for giving me an ARC of this in exchange for an honest, unbiased review.

This was a very good book! It went over the dangers of the overload of screens that we’re seeing day today. It is a dystopian book with lots of different themes mixed in. The writing was very well done, and it was an entertaining read!

Thank you to NetGalley, to the author, and to the publisher for this complementary ARC in exchange for my honest review!!!

When Ali Smith is at the wheel, a reader knows to strap in for a wild ride. This dystopian excursion into the dangers of a world increasingly being taken over by the proliferation of screens. This is not necessarily the effect of AI, which we are constantly being warned against. But the alienation thanks to the current trend of the lure of a handheld device and its hold over the user. The threat of lithium and its ability to disfigure as its natural supply depletes causing a rise in the harvesting by slaves from outmoded items. The takeover by a regime that in another time would be called fascistic. The abandonment of family. This is a disquieting novel that holds too many truths to be considered totally fictitious.

I enjoyed this book. While still decidedly literary fiction, and with a strong theme of language, this novel is a lot more accessible than some of Smith's other books that play with words and language. This is a dystopian story, following two kids in a world that is becoming increasingly restrictive and authoritarian. If you are used to non-literary dystopian novels this one might feel a bit slow and confusing at times, but the story does hang together and turns out pretty good. I am looking forward to reading the next book to find out what happens next.

Gliff is the Scottish word meaning a transient moment.
The book Gliff is a dystopian novel and part of a set (2nd novel to follow in merely a year!). Bri is our hero as she looks back upon her life - hidden first by her brother and living in a world of screens. It's very complicated but oh so enjoyable to lovers of literature and all things dystopian.
Smith takes a crack at revealing why humanity is important. Let me know if you think she made a good case! #knopfpantheonvintage #gliff #alismith

This uses the dystopian element that I was hoping for from the description. I enjoyed the overall concept and how it worked in this universe. The characters were everything that I was expecting and they worked in this story. Ali Smith wrote this perfectly and enjoyed the way the characters were everything that I was looking for. I hope to read more from Ali Smith and can’t wait for more.

Unfortunately not for me. In a world with SO many books being published, I just don't see this as a must in our collection.

4.25. I snapped up this well-written near-future dystopia in two big bites. Great worldbuilding and use of language (I mean it's Ali Smith, so) and kid characters I had to feverishly turn pages for, hoping against hope it would turn out all right for them. The ending didn't work for me as well as the first 3/4, but I'd still recommend it if you aren't too weary and outraged by the news to handle another Black Mirrorish end-stage-capitalism, technology-is-eating-our-brains cautionary tale.

Ali Smith’s *Gliff* is a captivating exploration of what it means to be human in an increasingly digital world. Smith crafts a story that’s as intellectually engaging as it is emotionally resonant. The narrative follows two sisters left to fend for themselves in a dystopian future, but what really stands out is the way Smith captures the small, vivid moments of joy and discovery amidst the bleakness. Her prose is subtle yet impactful, bringing out the innocence and resilience of the characters in a way that feels incredibly real.

What I appreciated most about *Gliff* is how it makes you think—about who we are, who we could become, and how we relate to the world around us. The dialogue is sharp and often funny, grounding the story in a relatable reality despite its dystopian setting. It’s the kind of book that stays with you, raising questions that linger long after you’ve finished. While the story leaves some things unanswered, it’s clear that this is just the beginning, and I’m already looking forward to what comes next. *Gliff* is a thoughtful, engaging read that offers both depth and subtlety, making it a novel that I’ll definitely be revisiting.

thanks to knopf/ pantheon and netgalley for the e-ARC!

*Gliff* . . .
…..is a Scottish word that has multiple meanings. A glimpse or faint trace. A suggestion. A sudden fright or scare. A brief moment or instant.

In Ali Smith’s *Gliff*. . .
she “explores how and why we endeavour to make a mark on the world. In time when Western industry wants to reduce us to algorithms and data—something easily categorizable and predictable—Smith shows us why our humanity, our individual complexities, matter more than ever”.

I’m still pondering thoughts — wondering about the ‘next story’ …. I’d read it tomorrow if it was available—
—this story is vibrantly imagined. It’s illuminated by the warmth and delicacy of her prose.
It’s emotionally wrenching…. intellectually rigorous… alternately delightful and hilarious…
and deeply affecting.

Ali Smith delivers some killer marvelous dialogue:
“What do you think is the single most important issue facing us in this country today and anything else issue wise facing us today and whether you think immigration is a very big problem and whether you prefer dogs or cats and what you think is a general threat as concerns defence and foreign affairs and homegrown terrorism which toothpaste you use and why?” . . . etc. etc. etc.
“And which social media platforms do you use and what for and which platforms do you like most and least and which do you trust most and least?” . . . etc. etc. etc.

For me … the storytelling was as much an intimate tale between two sisters who have been separated from their mother, and caretaker … [little ragamuffins] …. as it is
anticipatory anxiety driven ….with …
uncertainty concerns
about…
*our future* …..
but it’s that too.

Briar/Brice (*Bri*), is our primary narrator for most of the book. She’s looking back at her childhood journey that she shared with her younger sister, Rose. Two years apart in age — just young teenagers when they were alone in a shabby house to fend for themselves.

Bri:
“Across a busy traffic road, and across another scrubland, my sister in the distance, I knew her by her clothes, was perched up on one of the struts of a wooden fence and leaning over its top”.
“Look at what there is so close to where we live! She said.”
“I climbed up on to the fence too.”
“Seven horses, small and large, all the colours of horse, beautiful, and mangy, were drifting their noses across grass and ripping it with their teeth from the ground, making a sound I’d never heard before”.
Oh ….
[my reading heart] ….
I felt the ‘moment-of-joy’ for these two young abandoned sisters. I felt their innocence down in my toes. They had only seen horses on TV.
Sisters, so hungry themselves — their excitement in pulling handfuls of grass wanting to feed the horses—their urgency, their energy, inspired me.

I loved taking in the way Bri and her sister Rose, observed life - thought about it - even smelled it.
They not only thought that the horses (and especially their eyes), were beautiful, but they noticed that they could see light in its darkness.
The sisters also noticed concurrency—multiple things happening at one time: gentleness, politeness, indifference, and distance.
Bri didn’t know the word for what they were experiencing in the horses eyes until many years later. “The word was:
equanimity”.

A wonderful moment of laugher …. ( ha! sister-love)…
….Bri was feeling irritated with her younger sister, Rose:
“Her happiness had started to annoy me. So I said, I can’t believe you’re being so profligate already”.
“Being so what? she said”.
“Profligate, I said”.
“You are bullying me with words longer than the length of my life, she said”.
“It’s not my problem if you don’t know what words mean, I said”.

There were several other burst-out-laughing scenes.
Little Rose was the wild one - Bri, the carefully responsible one.
Both were priceless! Glorious!
I also enjoyed meeting other children in this story.
Feisty, bossy children …
some feral,
or silent,
or sullen,
all a little ragged.

Sooo much more!!! Much to contemplate… to enjoy … to ponder and ponder and ponder some more.
….Symbolism, rhetorical questions, personal and universal storms, friendship exchanges….and love!
Always love!

“Was a horse more loss to the world, because of no words, or was the horse more found — in the world because of no words”.

“We can’t solve it. But we can salve it”.
“That was something else our mother’d say”.

Whew!!! Amen!
Intellectually, rigorous, cerebral at times — innocent & playful at times —
Beautiful moments … regardless whether or not I fully comprehended all — Ali gave us an extraordinary brilliant, harrowing, heartbreaking, and fascinating story.
LOVE ❤️ 🌎

Profound thank you thank you thank you to Netgalley and Knopf/Pantheon for the ARC!

A new Ali Smith is always cause for celebration - and much like her compatriots Deborah Levy and Rachel Cusk, I always find her works challenging, intellectually dense, and often enigmatic (sometimes even inscrutably incomprehensible) - but in the BEST of all possible ways. Such an immense pleasure to immerse oneself in her gorgeous, elliptical prose and imaginative storytelling. So it is with this latest tome, her first since her magnificent Seasonal Quartet + Companion Piece.

This, the first in a duology, leaves many questions unanswered, that may or may not become clearer when the other volume (Glyph) comes out a year from now- but this gives one more than enough to contemplate till that happens. After finishing it, I immediately went back to the beginning and began reading it again - yes, it's THAT kind of book.

To be utterly reductive, it's a dystopian novel, set in the very near future, and is for the most part (till the very end) narrated by a woman named Briar (aka Bri and Brice), looking back from some years down the road (and an even more formidable future), to a time when she was thirteen and she and her sister Rose became separated from their mother, due to some sinister shenanigans of the current totalitarian political regime. They are left to fend for themselves for the most part, and it is when Rose becomes enamored of a horse scheduled for the abattoir, whom she names Gliff, that their bleak existence finds focus and purpose. For fear of spoilers, I will leave things there - but cannot wait to continue the story as soon as part two becomes available.

how do i even begin to review this?
honestly, of all the words in a dictionary, in the worlds, all the languages
i’m struggling
but it gave me a sense of
how do i say
openness?
belonging? maybe not?
this was a world the future could be
it’s gutting to imagine but we’re partially one foot in that doorway
but we can change that, can’t we?

as i read more i started to understand more, felt my mind splitting apart into different understandings
of who we are, who we aren’t, who others are, or aren’t.
we truly can be. anyone we want to be.