Moths: A chilling dystopian thriller and a must-read debut for 2021

Product Information

You may also opt to downgrade to Standard Digital, a robust journalistic offering that fulfils many user’s needs. Compare Standard and Premium Digital here. It follows Mary as she contemplates her life before men were driven mad by a toxin and life was upended. Unable to ever return to society, men are now kept in specially treated dust-free facilities for their safety. "The world is quiet, but secrets are kept safe in whispers," the synopsis goes on. "Very few people remember what life was like before the change, but Mary knows. She had a family. She was happy. This is her story. " The threads spell doom for humanity – half of it, at least. All around the world, men are dying in their sleep or turning into rage-fuelled killers. The world, as we know it, ends. However, humanity adapts and society moves on. Moths explores male violence against women, homo-normativity, and gynocracy, and is described by the publisher as “a powerful assessment of life through the lens of a main character in her 70s”.

Forty years ago, the world changed in Jane Hennigan’s Moths. Toxic threads left behind by mutated moths infected men and boys around the globe. Some were killed quietly in their sleep, others became crazed killers, wildly dangerous and beyond help. All seemed hopeless. But humanity adapted, healed and moved on. Definitely not for the squeamish as there is some content likely to upset those with a sensitive heart. In other words, there is colourful content aplenty. But then again, the world’s going to hell, and society is falling down everywhere you look, so what on earth do you expect. Some images will linger long in the memory. I have read and listened to some of the best horror books around ( Weaveworld being one of my all-time favourite books). I can honestly say Moths ranks up there with the best of them for chills down the spine. The graphic imagery is something that will stay with me for a long time. For cost savings, you can change your plan at any time online in the “Settings & Account” section. If you’d like to retain your premium access and save 20%, you can opt to pay annually at the end of the trial. I wanted an older protagonist – one without heroic aspirations. Mary has seen a lot, and her attitude towards the world is pragmatic. As the narrator, she is able to give both perspectives – the old world and the new. Also, it takes a great deal of consideration before she will risk her safety and her secrets. I liked the idea of a reluctant, cautious hero rather than a main character who is desperate to charge into battle.

Another aspect of Mary’s character is her feeling of alienation from the younger women around her. I think this is something everyone feels at some point in their life, politics, technology, social norms, are changing so rapidly that your own ideas are becoming obsolete. The women Mary work with have never known what it’s like to walk down a street clutching a set of car keys like a weapon, or fall pregnant by accident. I think she envies their complacency.

Exploring male violence against women, homo-normativity, and gynocracy, Moths is a powerful assessment of life through the lens of a main character in her 70s. Aremastered and revitalised version of the previously self-published, smash-hit dystopian thriller by the same name, Moths shows us a new, post-pandemic world. It’s certainly a striking, eye-catching cover, which really draws attention to the importance of the dust. It's more common in dystopian novels for women to be the repressed/ inferior sex (Only Ever Yours, The Handmaid's Tale, Future Home of the Living God) so I was really looking forward to exploring this concept.I have read several pieces of pandemic fiction that have a similar premise with a virus that causes individuals to become violent. I hated all those previous books. I chose to take a chance on another book like this and I'm so glad I did. Looking for a way to make it through March Madness? Well forturnately we’ve pulled together our top SFF Books for the month to help put a spring in your step and some Sci Fi into you veins! I liked that the main protagonist was a much older woman who had lived through the outbreak. Mary brought a breath of fresh air to the proceedings that sometimes you lose with younger ones. As a survivor, she and her friend Olivia had a certain rapport which helped bring some humour to the narrative. Thank you, Angry Robot and NetGalley, for the opportunity to read this revised and remastered version of Moths by Jane Hannigan.

Many years later, very few even remember what life was like before the change. Mary does, though, and when an opportunity presents itself, she is faced with soul-searching decisions to make. Will she cling to the only strand of the past she has left or will she risk it all in the name of equality? Mary is a carer in one of the facilities, she is also one of the few people who remember the world the way it was before. But it's dangerous to talk about it, not wise to give the wrong impression. But Mary is careful, she does her job and mainly keeps to herself. No one knows the son that she secretly visits in the sanitorium, no one has any idea of her life before or that she even had a son. Moths is a game changer in dystopian fiction. I loved this book. It's a brilliantly disturbing and disturbingly brilliant work of dystopian fiction set in a world radically altered by a catastrophic series of events, which began 40 years before.

An outstanding debut with a unique voice, drawing parallels with Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World, The Ten Percent Thief crafts an indelible image of a world that has lost it’s humanity, trapped by it’s reliance on statistics and devotion to technology and productivity. Told through a complex mosaic of interwoven stories The Ten Percent Thief is a new masterpiece of science fiction wiriting. This really is dystopian future at its best, a heartfelt admonition of covetous behavour that is inspiring, and hopeful. I will admit that the main reason I read this book is because my friend's mum wrote it and he has been telling me about it for over eight months now (I have been getting very hyped). BUT I will be making my mum and grandma read it next. However, the women of The Union have worked together for the last forty years through many hardships and have built a strong society based on agriculture and recycling. Medicine, and engineering – especially regarding solar power, are prioritised as is education – for women at least. We’re primarily introduced to the world of Moths via Mary – why did you choose Mary to be the book’s protagonist and what can you tell us about her? It's a powerful book nonetheless. The violence enacted by the infected men is horrific beyond measure but also nothing that hasn't been done to a woman by a man in today's world. Finding a world that has been turned upside down is nothing new. But now we have a society where women are the dominant power and men are marginalised. The themes explored in Moths are extremely relevant such as sexism and freedom, but unlike books such as The Handmaid's Tale, the boot is on the other foot. The men of this world are enslaved, not just for health reasons if you get my meaning.

I wanted to imagine and write about a society that wasn’t governed by men and to escape preconceived notions of hetero normativity and feminine essentialism. So, I needed a vehicle to get rid of the vast majority of men for an extended period of time. I considered a disease, but I wanted it to be fast-moving and airborne, surrounding the world in days rather than weeks. Then I saw the article on the BBC about toxic caterpillars and began tentatively plotting out the story. As I wrote I leaned into the creepy reputation of moths to create atmosphere. I realised moths are perfect for this kind of dark storytelling – how they swarm around a light, how they sit dead still on surfaces as if lying in wait. There’s something about caterpillars that give me chills. The spiky hairs and the bright colours – it’s like an instinctive part of me screams don’t touch them!Definitely not for the squeamish, as some content is almost certainly likely to upset those with a sensitive heart. In other words, there is colourful content aplenty. But then again, the world is going to hell, and society is falling everywhere you look, so what on earth do you expect? Some images will linger long in the memory. I have read and listened to some of the best horror books around. I can honestly say Moths ranks high with the best of them for chills down the spine. The graphic imagery is definitely something that will stay with me for a long time. All around the world men are turning into crazed killers or dying in their sleep, as toxic threads find passage on every breath of wind. Women run all the facilities and government, there are also women running all the facilities and centres, women caring for the men in those centres. Yet the world keeps turning, there are men being born though very few. Women are encouraged to “visit” with the men in the facilities and are rewarded if a child is borne from such a visit. He didn’t. He was too busy doing the dishes and considering the latest trends in navy blue M&S trousers, to worry his pretty little head about such things. How do you treat the trans community in the novel?