Tropic of Kansas: A Novel

In a near-future alternative America, the country had turned into an authoritative state with drones and a government monitoring and controlling everything and everyone. When the novel starts, it appears that it is a future America as it is now but the clues keep adding up - some small and easy to miss, other much bigger (if nothing else clues you in, the assassination of Ronald Reagan in 1981 will get your attention when it is mentioned). It is an alternative history without getting too away from where we are - some things happened different but the main storyline survived thus allowing current politics and trends to still be valid and in play - with a bit of a twist. Nothing extremely bad happened - but the small changes tipped the show more country in one too many wars, added more stress to the internal issues and tipped the whole country into something new.

The novel alternates between two viewpoints - Sig, a young teenager who does what he needs to so he can keep alive, and Tania, a government employee with somewhat unorthodox connections who is asked to track him down due to her past connection with him - Sig used to live with her family for awhile so she considers him a brother. The story can get almost choppy at parts - the chapters are usually very short and you get yanked out from the story just when it starts picking up. On the other hand that structure mirrors the fractured country so it actually makes sense. Their meeting is inevitable, Tania's reluctance to work inside of the system she belongs to is obvious from the start so there is never even a hint of this novel not going where it is going.

At the heart of the novel is a rebellion - Americans finally trying to get back the freedom which was lost in the last decades. The country is bleak and it is not just the political system that had changed - the changes had allowed the devastation of the land as well, leaving only pockets of people and land that looks almost normal. We learn what happened slowly - sometimes with a character explaining it, sometimes just with a hint and sometimes just because some of the story parallels ours and you can draw your own conclusions (sometimes wrongly).

It is not an easy novel to read - between the story itself and the style, it can get almost tedious in places and especially towards the middle it feels like a slog. But then again, that mirrors the history it is being shown to us and as such it is logical. The lack of exact time markers for most of the story can add to the confusion but they can be worked out from the story and their lack is intentional - time moves differently depending on what you are doing and history is written in larger increments.

Even if you do not like the style, the story should make you think. Just because our history was a bit different does not mean that we cannot end up in similar situations. Plus seeing the collapse not because nature or a war devastated the country but because history led to it almost naturally is a bit scary. Even scarier when you realize how little it can take for history to go that way. Or how easy is for some of it to happen.

The author refuses to really give America a happy ending - it would not belong in the novel. But through the novel there is hope - and that will need to be enough. show less

This story exists within a dystopian future America, where the central portion of the country is a political and economic wasteland know as the Tropic of Kansas. The story follows Sig and his foster sister Tania in separate narratives through this harrowing tale of a broken America.

Brown paints the picture of this grim future with unrelenting realism. It is a cruel world that feels like the natural evolution of today's vitriolic political climate. Perhaps because of this, it can be a hard story to read sometimes; the sense that this might be the world our children inherit is depressing, and always close to the surface of the narrative. It is a testament to Brown's skill as a writer that the story pulls you onward despite this grim show more milieu. There is no doubt after only a few paragraphs that you are in the hands of a master storyteller.

Sig is a feral youth on the outside of the law. At the story outset he is deported from a Canada standing apart from the chaos in America, and is delivered into a detection center. He escapes and heads south, fighting and fleeing the whole way. Through his eyes we encounter the desperation and ugliness of the dispossessed people on the fringe of this dystopia. Tania, on the other hand, begins the tale as a government investigator, but with no illusions about the compromised nature of the politicians she serves under. As her story progresses, she learns more and more of the ugly innards of this system, and finds herself increasingly ostracized.

As you might guess, the narrative threads of Sig and Tania eventually come together. I won't add any plot spoilers as to how this all wraps up, but I will say that there is no neat and tidy happy ending. In fact, such an ending would be a poor fit for this tale. This is a clear cautionary tale that has no room for joy. This might be a novel to avoid if you're prone to depression; however, if you can handle the bleak possibilities of this possible future, you'll be treated to a gripping tale by a skilled writer. show less

It’s the near future and the USA has degraded into an authoritarian state. We follow the initially disconnected journeys of brother and sister, Sig and Tania, as they’re swept up by events that lead them both to prominence in the resistance.

Tension is maintained throughout. There’s a pleasing resonance, as they get out of scrapes, each similar, but bigger than the last. The finale has an expansive feel with many moving pieces on the board.

Sig is a memorable character. Likeable for his toughness, absence of self-pity and the breadth of his survival skills.

Brown is a sharp observer of political undercurrents and understands the operation of power in America. Delighted to have discovered another politically savvy science fiction writer.

Tropic of Kansas by Christopher Brown is a highly recommended dystopian/political satire set in the alternate reality of a future, fractured USA.

Sig was an illegal from the USA hiding in Canada, until he was caught and sent back over the border wall into the area that was once Minnesota. Now the Midwest is just part of a wasteland of warring factions and provincial militia groups. This area has been dubbed The Tropic of Kansas and is known for the third world lawlessness that thrives there and the various greedy leaders who control parts of it. Sig, the son of political dissidents, is a survivor and escape artist. He essentially trusts no one. He's difficult to keep as a prisoner because he will find a way to escape. He will also find a show more way to survive.

Tania was once Sig's foster sister. Sig's mother dropped him off at her house for Tania's mother to care for when her arrest was imminent. Tania is now a government investigator. She got into a little trouble in Washington D.C. and is now looking for Sig to rectify her mistake and to try to get her own mother free from imprisonment. When Tanis goes searching for Sig, she comes to terms with her own past and perhaps the direction of her future.

Chapters alternate between Tania and Sig. You'll be rooting for Sig as he manages to escape from one predicament, betrayal, and impressionist after another. You'll also be hoping Tania sees the light, and the corruption of the government, and finds Sig along with a new goal for herself.

Brown takes present ideological differences, technology, factions, and widely different beliefs among citizens in the USA today and escalates all of it into a dystopian setting while setting his characters into this action packed satire. It's a wild ride through politics, drones, guns, and bullies. It's also an easy to read novel, with short chapters that avoid much detailed descriptions of settings or other characters. This is entertaining - certainly a good airplane book. It is worth noting that you should anticipate that Brown will hit you over the head with pc politics along with the expectation that you will naturally believe all that he believes. But, since this is also set in an alternate reality USA, it is much easier to just go with the flow and accept any precautionary statements that might be leached out of the adventure.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of HarperCollins.
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https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/2065858412 show less

Tropic of Kansas is set in America at an undisclosed point in the future where the country has collapsed due to income inequality, corporate greed and environmental catastrophe.

We follow a brother and sister as they traverse the country for differing reasons. The story was okay, but it seemed like it really could have used chapter subtitles indicating how much time is passing so you're not trying to work out what precisely is going on at times. Overall, the feeling was of a disjointed story rather than a well flowing stream. I also found the ending to be rather a let down considering the topics covered throughout.

In the end, it had a lot of things going for it, but just didn't bring it all together in a good execution.

Good bones, occasional brilliance, but uneven and lumpy. Inaccurate firearms talk. Still, plausible and scary. A worthy library read. 2.9 stars.

Like an updated Eclipse series by John Shirley. You have rebellion, fascism, grassroots organizing, counter-cultures, mercenaries, corporations. Focus is only on the U.S. though. Main lead guy is cool.