Those Beyond the Wall came at me like a combination of Vonda McIntyre’s The Exile Waiting and a “post-apocalyptic iconoclastic road warrior” novel from the eighties. (Though it might also be said to be a “post-apocalyptic iconoclastic road warrior novel as written by someone who is NOT a conservative, kinda racist anti-intellectual gun nut.” That also works.) Our Protagonist is a mechanic/runner called “Mr. Scales.” Our Protagonist works for the “emperor” of a community called Ashtown, which has repeated conflicts and well-justified beefs with the walled city of Wiley.
A number of mysterious murders both inside the city of Wiley and in Ashtown causes the emperor to put Mr. Scales on the case. (It turns out that Mr. Scales at one point lived inside the city as a citizen but ended up in Ashtown as a young teen. She’s the best able to get into the city without a “day pass” and without being randomly attacked by the Wiley police force.) She’s partnered with another runner named Mr. Cross who she has some history with. Extremely bad history with–but the only possible back up for Mr. Scales because he’s white, and will be able to walk in without being asked if he has a permit.
This leads to a complicated story that is both about an invasion from an alternate universe and also about ruthlessness in the service of creating a better world. (Where it actually creates a better world.) This is an angry and violent novel, full of angry and violent people–but the violence here is cathartic rather than for it’s own sake, or to glorify the idea of humanity being inherently violent. The anger is directed toward injustice and the cruelty of systemic racism.
Those Beyond the Wall is a fast-paced novel that packs in a lot of tension. (To the point where I ended up peeking at the end to make sure it had a relatively happy, non-horrific ending.) A significant theme that I found interesting was about the creation of stories and the use of propaganda to create support for civil justice actions. This theme has ties to the theme of “ruthlessness in the name of creating a better world,” in a number of heartbreaking ways. Overall, I really enjoyed this novel which was a good balance between “thought-provoking” and “action-adventure with lots of boom for your buck.”
This review is based on a galley copy received from NetGalley.
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