The City in the Middle of the Night

Last updated
The City in the Middle of the Night
The City in the Middle of the Night.jpg
First edition
Author Charlie Jane Anders
Cover artistMark Smith
CountryU.S.
LanguageEnglish
Genre Climate fiction
Publisher Tor Books
Publication date
2019
Media typePrint Hardcover
Awards Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel
ISBN 978-0-7653-7996-2

The City In the Middle of the Night is a 2019 climate-fiction novel by Charlie Jane Anders. [1] It is set on a tidally locked planet, where human life, surrounded by hostile alien life, is mostly divided between two archetypically different urban sites. The main story focuses on two characters whose actions take them outside of the cities.

Contents

It explores themes of personal relationships, mixed with coverage of contemporary social and political issues as depicted in its alien setting.

Summary

The story takes place in the far future, on a tidally locked planet called "January". Humans live in the twilight zone, between the boiling heat of the sun-facing side and the frozen wasteland of the night side. Local inhabitants are mostly divided between two diametrically opposite urban locations: Xiosphant, an authoritarian city where citizens' actions are tightly controlled and any deviation is severely punished, and Argelo, a wild anarchy run by competing criminal gangs. On the fringe, traveling between the cities, are groups like the Citizens, who take the road as their home.

The plot alternates between two principal characters. Sophie, from Xiosphant, has both a position in an elite university and a crush on Bianca, her school roommate who is also a student radical. Sophie is expelled from the city and thrown into the freezing wilderness when she takes the blame for a theft committed by Bianca. There, she is rescued by the "crocodiles", who are not dangerous predators like humans think, but an intelligent native species, present long before the humans, which communicates telepathically. Sophie learns to communicate with them, and, with their aid, covertly returns to Xiosphant, with the understanding that she will continue coming back to visit them. [2]

The second main protagonist is Mouth, a former Citizen disturbed by the group's violent destruction on the road, as she attempts to build a new life as a trader. The two story arcs rapidly coalesce, with the connection being initially catalysed by Bianca looking for help with her political plans. This rapidly evolves into a series of dangerous travels that take the characters across the planet, from Xiosphant and Argelo to the unknown wilderness. [2]

Background

Anders was amongst the founders and editors of the science-fiction and technology website io9 before stepping down to concentrate on her writing career. [2]

Writing in The Atlantic , the author notes how her interest in tidally locked planets led her to write the story. She states that exploring scientific research on the subject led her to describe how human life could adapt on such a planet, although there is an inevitable trade-off between accuracy and dramatic requirements. [3]

Reception

Rebecca Evans, writing for the Los Angeles Review of Books , notes how the book's alien setting, which is far from any realistic depiction of climate change, is a "critical form of defamiliarization" and a way to discuss a familiar contemporary subject without retreading old tales. She compares the dichotomy between the two urban centers to Le Guin's The Dispossessed , and remarks how Anders employs the contrast between the two to probe philosophy and ethics, with the "raw, painful honesty" of the characters and their diversity helping to convincingly portray the larger issues, social and environmental, which are the focus of the novel. [2] Jason Sheehan, reviewing for NPR, describes the book as "a story about how grand social ideas break, and who gets hurt worst in the breaking", a fable-like tale of action and adventure which, through an intimate depiction of intrapersonal relationships, takes a look "at our moment in history" through the distorting lens of its setting. [4] According to Adam Roberts of The Guardian , it is a "millenial's novel", and the characters, sometimes judgmental and self-righteous, ultimately also show sophistication and passion, combining to deliver a heartfelt tale. [5]

Anders' story diverges from other works in its genre not so much because of the underlying themes, but in how it strays from the recognisable cautionary tales and instead lays out an approach to living meaningful lives amidst a devastated environment. [2] It is a long story whose main narrative, according to Roberts, is that of the possible rapprochement between humans and aliens who live in an atmosphere of mutual disgust. He notes that this is "well done", although not particularly original, comparing it with plot lines from Star Trek episodes featuring Captain Picard. [5]

The novel was nominated for the 2020 Arthur C. Clarke Award [6] and the 2020 Hugo Award for Best Novel, [7] and won the 2020 Locus Award for Best Science Fiction Novel. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anne McCaffrey</span> Irish science fiction writer (1926–2011)

Anne Inez McCaffrey was an Irish writer known for the Dragonriders of Pern science fiction series. She was the first woman to win a Hugo Award for fiction and the first to win a Nebula Award. Her 1978 novel The White Dragon became one of the first science-fiction books to appear on the New York Times Best Seller list.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philip José Farmer</span> American science fiction and fantasy writer (1918–2009)

Philip José Farmer was an American author known for his science fiction and fantasy novels and short stories.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">C. J. Cherryh</span> American speculative fiction author (born 1942)

Carolyn Janice Cherry, better known by the pen name C. J. Cherryh, is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has written more than 80 books since the mid-1970s, including the Hugo Award–winning novels Downbelow Station (1981) and Cyteen (1988), both set in her Alliance–Union universe, and her Foreigner series. She is known for worldbuilding, depicting fictional realms with great realism supported by vast research in history, language, psychology, and archeology.

<i>The Mote in Gods Eye</i> 1974 novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

The Mote in God's Eye is a science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, first published in 1974. The story is set in the distant future of Pournelle's CoDominium universe, and charts the first contact between humanity and an alien species. The title of the novel is a reference to the Biblical "The Mote and the Beam" parable and is the nickname of a star. The Mote in God's Eye was nominated for the Hugo, Nebula and Locus Awards in 1975.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Annalee Newitz</span> American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction

Annalee Newitz is an American journalist, editor, and author of both fiction and nonfiction, who has written for the periodicals Popular Science and Wired. From 1999 to 2008, Newitz wrote a syndicated weekly column called Techsploitation, and from 2000 to 2004 was the culture editor of the San Francisco Bay Guardian. In 2004, Newitz became a policy analyst at the Electronic Frontier Foundation. With Charlie Jane Anders, they also co-founded Other magazine, a periodical that ran from 2002 to 2007. From 2008 to 2015, Newitz was editor-in-chief of Gawker-owned media venture io9, and subsequently its direct descendant Gizmodo, Gawker's design and technology blog. As of 2019, Newitz is a contributing opinion writer at The New York Times.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martha Wells</span> American speculative fiction writer (born 1964)

Martha Wells is an American writer of speculative fiction. She has published a number of fantasy novels, young adult novels, media tie-ins, short stories, and nonfiction essays on fantasy and science fiction subjects. Her novels have been translated into twelve languages. Wells has won four Hugo Awards, two Nebula Awards and three Locus Awards for her science fiction series The Murderbot Diaries. She is also known for her fantasy series Ile-Rien and The Books of the Raksura. Wells is praised for the complex, realistically detailed societies she creates; this is often credited to her academic background in anthropology.

<i>Catch the Lightning</i>

Catch the Lightning is a novel by Catherine Asaro in the Saga of the Skolian Empire, also known as Tales of the Ruby Dynasty. The novel won the 1998 Sapphire Award for Best Science Fiction Romance and the UTC Readers Choice Award for Best Science Fiction Novel.

<i>The Quantum Rose</i> 2000 novel by Catherine Asaro

The Quantum Rose is a science fiction novel by Catherine Asaro which tells the story of Kamoj Argali and Skolian Prince Havyrl Valdoria. The book is set in her Saga of the Skolian Empire. It won the 2001 Nebula Award for Best Novel and the 2001 Affaire de Coeur Award for Best Science Fiction. The first third of the novel appeared as a three-part serialization in Analog magazine in the 1999 May, June and July/August issues. Tor Books published the full novel in 2000.

<i>The Cherryh Odyssey</i> 2004 collection of essays about C. J. Cherryh, edited by Edward Carmien

The Cherryh Odyssey is a 2004 collection of essays by various academics, critics and authors about American Hugo Award-winning science fiction and fantasy author, C. J. Cherryh. It was edited by author and academic, Edward Carmien, and was published by Borgo Press, an imprint of Wildside Press as part of its Author Study series. Locus Magazine put the book on its "2004 Recommended Reading List", and Carmien received a nomination for the 2005 Locus Award for Best Non-fiction book for The Cherryh Odyssey.

<i>Old Mans War</i> 2005 novel by John Scalzi

Old Man's War is a military science fiction novel by American writer John Scalzi, published in 2005. His debut novel was nominated for the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 2006.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlie Jane Anders</span> American science fiction author and commentator

Charlie Jane Anders is an American writer and commentator. She has written several novels as well as shorter fiction, published magazines and websites, and hosted podcasts. In 2005, she received the Lambda Literary Award for work in the transgender category, and in 2009, the Emperor Norton Award. Her 2011 novelette Six Months, Three Days won the 2012 Hugo and was a finalist for the Nebula and Theodore Sturgeon Awards. Her 2016 novel All the Birds in the Sky was listed No. 5 on Time magazine's "Top 10 Novels" of 2016, won the 2017 Nebula Award for Best Novel, the 2017 Crawford Award, and the 2017 Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel; it was also a finalist for the 2017 Hugo Award for Best Novel.

<i>Saturns Children</i> (novel) 2008 novel by Charles Stross

Saturn's Children is a 2008 science fiction novel by British author Charles Stross. Stross called it "a space opera and late-period [Robert A.] Heinlein tribute", specifically to Heinlein's 1982 novel Friday.

<i>Alien Secrets</i> 1993 novel by Annette Curtis Klause

Alien Secrets is a children's science fiction novel by Annette Curtis Klause. It was first published in 1993. The book is in over 1400 libraries, according to WorldCat.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model</span> Short story by Charlie Jane Anders

"The Fermi Paradox Is Our Business Model" is a science fiction short story by American writer Charlie Jane Anders. It was first published in the online magazine Tor.com August 11, 2010.

<i>Ancillary Justice</i> Science fiction novel by Ann Leckie (2013)

Ancillary Justice is a science fiction novel by the American writer Ann Leckie, published in 2013. It is Leckie's debut novel and the first in her Imperial Radch space opera trilogy, followed by Ancillary Sword (2014) and Ancillary Mercy (2015). The novel follows Breq—who is both the sole survivor of a starship destroyed by treachery and the vessel of that ship's artificial consciousness—as she seeks revenge against the ruler of her civilization. The cover art is by John Harris.

<i>All the Birds in the Sky</i> 2016 novel by Charlie Jane Anders

All the Birds in the Sky is a 2016 science fantasy novel by American writer and editor Charlie Jane Anders. It is her debut speculative fiction novel and was first published in January 2016 in the United States by Tor Books. The book is about a witch and a techno-geek, their troubled relationship, and their attempts to save the world from disaster. The publisher described the work as "blending literary fantasy and science fiction".

<i>The Litany of Earth</i> 2014 fantasy novella by Ruthanna Emrys

The Litany of Earth is a 2014 fantasy/horror fiction novella by Ruthanna Emrys that is the beginning of The Innsmouth Legacy series by Emrys. The novella revisits the H. P. Lovecraft story "The Shadow over Innsmouth" and was first published on Tor.com.

<i>Interference</i> (novel) 2019 science fiction novel by Sue Burke

Interference is a 2019 science fiction novel by American writer and translator Sue Burke. It is the second novel of her Semiosis Duology series, the first being Semiosis (2018). Interference was first published in October 2019 in the United States by Tor Books. The novel takes place on the planet Pax about 100 years after the events in Semiosis when a new expedition from Earth arrives.

<i>The Race</i> (Allan novel) 2014 novel by Nina Allan

The Race is a 2014 science fiction and literary fiction novel by English writer Nina Allan. It is her debut novel and was first published in August 2014 in the United Kingdom by NewCon Press. A second edition of the book, in which an appendix was added, was published by Titan Books in July 2016. This new edition is the first book of a two-book deal Allan signed with Titan in 2015; the second book is The Rift, published in 2017.

Victories Greater Than Death is a 2021 young adult science fiction novel, the first installment in the Unstoppable trilogy by Charlie Jane Anders. The novel focuses on Tina Mains, a teenage girl who is secretly a clone of an alien war hero who is called up for service in galactic war after the beacon implanted in her activates.

References

Works cited

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.