Book Review: The Offset (2021) by Calder Szewczak

Book Review:

 The Offset (2021) 

by Calder Szewczak

   First of all, Calder Szewczak is not one person, it's two, an arrangement you see infrequently in European literature and almost never at all in the Anglo-American world.  One is Natasha Calder the other Emma Szewczak.  Together they penned this interesting variation of dystopian fiction where the set up is that every child born needs to choose one of their parents to be sacrificed  on their 18th birthday.  Cheery, I know!  Calder Szewczak's dystopia is set in London, where Miri, a street urchin who happens to be the daughter of the scientist in charge of humanities last attempt at saving the world:  Planting radioactive resistant trees enough to cover the whole of Greenland (Don't ask it is extremely complicated!).  

  Miri, who, it must be said, does not come across as sympathetic in any way shape or form, has already declared that it will be her famous scientist mother to die, rather than her retired doctor mother.  The narrative shifts between the perspective of Miri and famous scientist mom- while Doctor Mom does her best to convince Miri to kill her, Doctor Mom, and not famous scientist mom.   Meanwhile famous scientist mom has discovered something amiss with her world saving tree farm and must investigate.

  There is much to like in The Offset, particularly the straight forward portrayal of a world where having children is frowned upon- they call it anti-natalism in this book, and it isn't entirely clear to me that they are supposed to be unsympathetic, but personally I've often wondered why more people aren't explicitly anti-having children.  Seems like an eminently reasonable position considering (gestures vaguely) all this but how could one even voice such an opinion in public without being castigated.   Life, after all, is precious, unless the baby is born in one of the many places on Earth where human live is almost worthless, in which case, good luck!

  On the other hand, the story snaps off at novella length, with a non-resolution that is seemingly going for some kind of O'Henry ending ala The Gift of the Magi.