BOOK REVIEW: The City in the Middle of the Night by Charlie Jane Anders

Cover, the City is the Middle of the Night. Review by Markus McDowell

Charlie Jane Anders. The City in the Middle of the Night. Tor Books; 1st edition (February 11, 2020). 368pp.

WOULD YOU GIVE UP EVERYTHING TO CHANGE THE WORLD?
Humanity clings to life on January―a colonized planet divided between permanently frozen darkness on one side, and blazing endless sunshine on the other.
Two cities, built long ago in the meager temperate zone, serve as the last bastions of civilization―but life inside them is just as dangerous as the uninhabitable wastelands outside.
Sophie, a young student from the wrong side of Xiosphant city, is exiled into the dark after being part of a failed revolution. But she survives―with the help of a mysterious savior from beneath the ice.
Burdened with a dangerous, painful secret, Sophie and her ragtag group of exiles face the ultimate challenge―and they are running out of time.
WELCOME TO THE CITY IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT
Amazon.com description

This is unique novel in that it employs typical science fiction tropes (done quite well) to address issues of colonialism, class structure, fear of the unknown, and the struggle of making sense of a world that seems to make no sense. Along the way, it is also a story of “young people trying to make their way through an uncaring, corrupt and intermittently violent world” (from The Guardian review).

This reminded me a bit of Herbert’s Dune, in its broad scope of world-building and geo-political struggles. Yet it is not as removed from our world as is Dune, and thus relies less on the science. Still, the “otherness” of the aliens, and the one human who “gets” them, are much like Herbert’s work.

The concept is excellent, as is the plot, and was quite a fascinating read through the beginning. The world that Anders has constructed is well done, especially her introduction of the aliens native to the planet and the subsequent unfolding about what they are really like. Yet there could be more: apart from the societies of the humans and the aliens, we learn little about the planet itself, even in passing. Why is it like this? Why was it colonized?

Worse still, the characters, while not uninteresting, are rather flat and predictable. A female protagonist who is a misunderstood and unsure outcast because she has insights others do not. Her best friend who is a socialite (not a good person who later comes to realize it). A cadre of people who meet every character trope in an “off-world” adventure. No one really surprises us as readers (that is not to say the story doesn’t contain surprises).

It was still an entertaining read, and I appreciate the attempt to critique modern society through the lens of a future world. Yet it really says nothing about that in the end, other than it is difficult for humans to navigate a cold, uncaring world. I struggle with what the theme might be. Maybe, “Keep trying because something good might happen, but probably not?”

As my readers know, I don’t need answers from a novel that addresses the human condition, but I do want to be made to think. As fascinating as this world and the story might be, there was no challenge to think differently—the issues are those we have all heard countless times.

The novel was nominated for the 2020 Hugo Award (won by Arkady Martine’s A Memory Called Empire—see my review here.) Not surprising it was nominated, these awards often lean towards novels that both include inventive world-building, climate change issues, and modern social/political issues.

Anders is the author of All the Birds in the Sky, Victories Greater Than Death in the young-adult Unstoppable trilogy, and a short story collection entitled Even Greater Mistakes. Her fiction and journalism have appeared in The New York Times, The Washington Post, Slate, McSweeney’s, Mother Jones, the Boston Review, Tor.com, Tin House, Conjunctions, Wired Magazine, and more.