Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for letting me read this advance copy!

Reading any dystopia and being truly swept away in 2025 is difficult: current affairs have been too influential on our perception of reality. This novel feels dangerously of the moment, and therefore quickly dated, at the start: it seems clear that this world is an echo of current fears of fascism in America and the not yet vanished language of the pandemic. Throughout, there is an Orwellian distrust of group-think and a focus on how tradition, hierarchy, and individualism are necessary parts of a functional society.

The protagonist, a self-professed ‘humanist’ and firmly established member of the ‘elite’ or ‘bourgeoisie’ depending on your preferred period of social upheaval, is unwilling to accept the new social order that has taken over his society:

"'This is unprecedented,' he kept repeating, as if the insight might solve their problem."

His daughter, on the other end of the spectrum, embraces the new order with some naivety, but also desperation. It becomes clear as the novel progresses that she is actually extremely intelligent, but is being wilfully naive as she is searching for some form of meaning or hope that she can be part of to create a world that is better and more just than her father’s. She is searching for moral meaning in the future; he found his purpose in the past and is deeply hurt by her rejection of his identity. As a depiction of generational conflict, their relationship is believable and sweet — both have the power to hurt each other, and do, but are also trying to communicate across the divide.

The plot is very readable; Packer has not forgotten to entertain. The allegorical, storyteller’s tone is reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin — science fiction by the way of reality. At the start, it is so close to reality, it threatens to push the reader out of enjoying the imaginary world, although the plot swiftly picks up pace and draws us into the unique conflicts of this universe.

The conflicts in 'The Emergency' (generational divide, societal malaise, virtue signalling, refugees, class and immigration, xenophobia, the control of social media over the young, the cruelty of meritocracy, the danger of mob rule) are ripped from our headlines, and therefore it would be easy for us to draw parallels between our own beliefs and the events of the novel, casting moral judgements on the author’s choices.

However, this also feels like a fruitless exercise. As one example, the Yeoman, who repeatedly refer to themselves as ‘native’ and are legitimately a colonised people with an uneasy relationship with the ‘City’, are shown to be practical and stereotypically connected to nature. However, their young people also appear to be mini-fascists, or violent thugs, corrupting old myths to suit their own ends. This is not dissimilar to their peers in the city, who are also discovering violence, albeit in a different way. A colonialist reading would be easy — Packer refers to the old regime as an empire to make it even easier — but it is also more complex and human than that. It’s about lack of communication, and fear, and how divide is easily sown between people. Perhaps it is also about how the young can be both dangerous and innocent because of their naivety and desire to make a mark on the world.

Packer deftly weaves together different themes of upheaval and identity, but avoids taking a side. Ultimately, this novel is about what it means to be human in a time of generational change. Meaning, in ‘The Emergency’, is found through making connections and trying to communicate even if you don’t understand: this is what all the characters we are rooting for try to do in their own way, to make the world better.