Deprivation (Roy V Marshan, New Dawn)

In Deprivation, Roy V Marshan explores cannibalism as a feature of late-stage capitalism. In the 1973 film Soylent Green, cannibalism is presented as the solution to overpopulation, while in Agustina Bazterrica’s novel Tender Is the Flesh, a new class of humans is bred for consumption after a virus wipes out domestic animals. In Marshan’s novel, institutionalised cannibalism is similarly normalised, as pragmatism and survival largely overcome the moral horror of it. Set on the brink of the 22nd century in an unspecified country following total environmental collapse, people have become the last edible resource. Criminals are reclassified as food, prisons function as abattoirs, and all crimes are effectively capital offences. Luke, who has no memory of why he’s imprisoned, is the subject of a chop-shop memory wipe that has left him with fragmented recollections. Among them is knowledge of a flaw in the prison’s design that could allow him to escape. What follows is a fugitive chase story, as Luke and a fellow prisoner are pursued into the wastes, interposed with strange encounters and flashbacks that reveal the road to this grim future. While the premise is undeniably dark, the novel avoids becoming overly polemical, maintaining its thriller energy and pulling off some exciting twists before the final (not entirely unexpected) reveal. It’s surprising to find a dystopian thriller set in a cannibalistic future that feels more exciting than gruesome, but Deprivation pulls it off. Fans of Blake Crouch are likely to enjoy this fast-paced and unsettling read.

Books+Publishing reviewer: Stefen Brazulaitis has been a bookseller with a special interest in science fiction and fantasy for thirty years and is the owner of Stefen's Books in Perth WA. Books+Publishing is Australia’s number-one source of pre-publication book reviews.

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