Six of the last six novels I’ve recently reviewed for Locus have either been dystopian, post-apocalyptic or both. I thought we’d reached that peak during COVID, but, no, everyone seems to be grappling with an uncertain future. I don’t blame them. As I say in my review, we have never been this close to America tipping over into outright fascism—and I say this as someone who hates labelling everyone and everything as fascist or Nazi.

In State of Paradise, we find ourselves in Florida (near Orlando). The state is in a post-pandemic spiral, with militias, violent crime, and thousands of feral cats, all egged on and exacerbated by a Bible preaching Governor (who may or may not be Ron Desantis.*) and significant weather events (floods are an almost everyday event). Our narrator is a ghostwriter for a famous thriller author (who may or may not be James Patterson.**). Her husband is an unemployed academic working on a book about pilgrimages. They’re both living with the narrator’s mother. It becomes clear that our narrator’s Florida is not our Flordia; it’s somehow a weirder variant.

I adored this novel. It might actually be my favourite book of the year (so far). The epigrammatic style (reminiscent of Jenny Offill, but better), the irony (the story is saturated in it), the fascinating meditation on utopias (which pairs nicely with Adam Robert’s latest novel), the jokes about ghostwriting (made all the more funnier when we meet the “assistants”), the speculative element (which is not what I expected, but suits the tone of the novel).

Would it be nice to read a contemporary genre novel that isn’t dystopian or exploring the nature of dystopias? Yes. But, when they’re written this cleverly, with this much energy, buzzing with imagery and ideas, well, who am I to complain.

*Of course it’s bloody Ron Desantis.

** Of course it’s bloody James Patterson.