The Wave Singer by Greg Michaelson

Given that I'm writing a novel set in a far future, independent (and much flooded) Scotland then I'm wanting to read books that already fit in this mini-genre. Not to steal ideas, but to get an overall inspiration and a sense of what's already out there.

The Wave Singer by Greg Michaelson is the latest such book I've found. Scotland is recovering from an unspecified climate Event and people have fractured into two opposing camps. The Arkists choose members of their group as Wave Singers to sing their landscape and the fragments of their history in a way very reminiscent of Australian aboriginal songlines meanwhile the Colonists hoard left over technology that can no longer be powered.

The nameless narrator of the novel is a young man from the Arkist who may be a future Wave Singer, but who wants to find his way into adulthood a bit before that choice is forced onto him. He finds himself building bridges with the Colonists.

The most impressive thing for me in this novel is how it builds a future world in which there are entirely new cultures (Wave Singing) but the author avoids putting in too much back-story and over-explanation of how the culture evolved. Around this specific element of the new culture are created new forms of family relationships and new attitudes to religion, all of which come together to create a believable future world.

There are also very telling little details, such as the community trying to use sheep to drive machinery, because they know that sheep used to be domesticated, but they've forgotten the details of how!

The Wave Singer by Greg Michaelson published by Argyll Publishing

Other novels about far future climate-changed Scotland include (follow the links to read my reviews)

But n Ben A Go Go by Matthew Fitt.

Writing in the Sand by Angus Dunn.

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And I seem to be 'in the zone' with Etsy Treasuries, I put together another today: Curiosity Cats. 

As ever, red text contains hyperlinks that take you to other webpages where you can find out more.