This Fragile Earth is set in England in the not too distant future. Technology has advanced, with Artificial Intelligence running many tasks that were once done by humans. The environment is in a very bad place, and humans are struggling to get by.

Because of the reliance on technology, the moment everything switches off, civilisation disappears. Quickly.

I wasn't sure what to expect with this book. I've read a lot of dystopian novels, and they follow a similar format - a virus wipes out the population, and the male protagonist finds himself pretty much enjoying being on the run. This Fragile Earth is nothing like this.

What struck me was how very realist this novel is. The behaviours of Sig, our protagonist, are less than honourable at times, but that's normal. Wise holds a mirror up to the reader and aka, "What would you do?" The problems faced by the characters in this book could genuinely happen to humans at any time.

The story is a little slow to begin with, but Wise does well to introduce us to the future world. It's a place similar to ours, but there are hints that all is not well.

Once the pacing changes, we are flying. I felt genuinely uncomfortable when Jed, the prococuous (yet terribly innocent) six-year-old asks his mother tough questions about their lives, and what was happening.

This Fragile Earth is great. If you enjoy dystopian fiction, read this.

Thanks to Susannah Wise, Gollancz, and NetGalley for this copy.

In the near future, a changed London where AI is the way of life, Signy and Matthew lead a difficult life where they've only really stayed together for the sake of their six-year-old son, Jed. Then, the technology that runs their world stops working. Usual methods of paying no longer works, so it's back to physical money where people have it. Phones, smart door locks and electric cars stop working. Electric and gas are cut off, then water stops running and the pollination drones that are vital to the world start behaving weirdly. People go missing and soldiers take to the streets as London is no longer safe.

As the blurb states, "a shocking incident sends Signy and Jed on the run, desperate to flee London and escape to the small village where Signy grew up", which kind of ruins a part of the book as you then know something is going to happen to Matthew. The tagline of "how far would you go to protect your family" should say "how far would you go to protect your child" because it certainly doesn't stretch to protecting Matthew, as she's arguably to blame for his demise.

The story is told from Signy's perspective and follows her thoughts, which has some good advantages later in the book, but to begin with, it didn't always work with some random sentences that just don't flow with the rest of the narrative so it took a bit of getting used to. In the second half of the book though, this style really shines and helps add to the worry and panic of what's happening around her.

That life could go to shit so quickly because of peoples reliance on technology is very plausible. As someone that works in IT, tech is my life. And as we move forward with things and technology becomes smarter, simple things like door locks can become a problem if they are relied on too much. This is also where I have another problem with the book though - everything electronic seems to stop working except for what runs on a battery, so phones will work (and be useless), laptops and you'd think cars would too, but no. All electric cars stop, despite being battery operated. I focused on this a lot, which bothered me.

Then there's Signy. She is not a likeable character. Being in her head, so to speak, you get a sense of what she's like. Yes, she's a mother who just wants to protect her son. But she also lies to him constantly. She tells herself that she's a good person and then a few sentences later she's refusing to give a pregnant neighbour any of the water that she's stored up before relenting and giving her a cup's worth. A random family she bumps into shares their food with her and Jed and she lies about some jelly beans so she doesn't have to share them with the family who were so kind to her. She's impulsive, makes rash decisions, panics a lot (which is understandable) and refuses to accept that Jed has a serious disease until it's almost too late. Constantly calling Jed "love" though really grated on me.

I also struggled with the sons age. Jed is described as being six years old, but at times seems younger and will then speak like he's much older. My nephew was six not long ago and it's not how I imagine a six-year-old to be. Although this is a future world, where things are wildly different technology-wise so I can give it a pass as who knows how their school teaching is. That or he's a genius kid. I had no idea how old he was though and kept flicking between visions of him being younger and older than he actually is - I should have read a bit more of the blurb before reading! Jed however, is the star of the book.

It seems like a lot of negatives, but as the book went on, it got better as you get into her mind more. The random sentences where her mind wonders became part of the frantic nature of the book and showed the stress of the whole situation. It also becomes clear that she has no idea of how much time has passed, as a few times she says that something happened yesterday only for Jed to correct her, which she refuses to accept. It makes looking back on certain parts with a different light than with the initial read. Was day five of the technology blackout really day five, or was it something like day seven? She's not looking at things with a clear mind and that becomes more apparent as you go through the book.

Looking back at it now, it makes a change to read a book where the main character is far from perfect. She has a lot of flaws, even if she can't see them or sees them after she's done or said something that isn't what a good person would do, and it's highlighted by the family they meet on the motorway on their journey to find her mother. They are lovely, a couple with children who all love each other and want to share their food with Signy and Jed because they recognise how the world has gone and that people need food to survive. Her thoughts, good and bad, are laid bare throughout and despite how she's clearly losing her mind as the book progresses, her bond with Jed is abundantly clear through all the problems and emotions.

With the state of Signy's mind at the end, you end up questioning how much of the finale is actually happening and real. Maybe it all is, maybe it isn't. Who knows, and I like that. Signy's problems and unlikeability make the journey through her thoughts worthwhile, especially since Jed is likeable and you feel sorry for him more and more as the book goes on. For the first quarter of the book, I thought I was going to struggle to finish it. The second half I ended up reading in an afternoon. It's a book that if you stick with it, the style grows on you and significantly adds to the story. Sure, there are flaws in the book, but ultimately I'm glad I stuck it out.

Rating: 4/5

As a side, if I'd read this pre-COVID, I'd have said there's no way people would descend into chaos as quickly as they do in the book with panic buying and general dickisness. We all know better now though with how people quickly cleared the shelves in great quantities, leaving people unable to buy food or toilet roll.

I always like to think, that if the end of the world came, that people would rally around each other and work together to try and make things better, in the manner of most disaster films ever shown, that humanity is not just the proverbial virus with shoes, but a species worth it's place at the top of the food chain.

The simple truth is that we're not, as individuals we're bold, adventurous, witty, capable and clever, but when the veneer of civilisation breaks down, humanity is only skin deep, and a mob is a creature with a few hundred legs and no brain.

This is where This Fragile Earth begins...

The reason for the breakdown in technology is never explained, only that one day the technology stops working, in an instant all humanity laid equal, and with that, survival of the fittest becomes the new law of life. I was a single parent, so the thoughts that run through Signy's head as she tries to keep Jed safe through all the things that happen rang very true, the panic for your children is always more intense than your fear for yourself, and even though the days of the book are numbered, there is an underlying feeling that Signy's thoughts are often haunted by fear and solitude, that while she tries to keep it together on the outside, there's no way to keep it together on the inside, and that's where we are for the whole book.

Which brings me to the reason for five stars. Throughout the book, we see that Signy has definite moments where life is not the way she imagines it, where desperation forces choices that you could not imagine making in the life you're in right now. At the end of the book, things turn upwards with such alacrity that you can't help but wonder if her mind has failed completely, and that she's imagining the happy ending, to spare herself the darkness of the world, even the last lines suggest that things are too good to be true, and that everything will be fine, and for a book written so darkly, you have to wonder if that's the happiness, or the final darkness.

Excellent book, well recommended.

In a near future world in which everything – utilities, transport, agriculture, communications, medicine, even pollination - is run by a single centralised computer system, what happens when that computer shuts down? This Fragile Earth is the tale of one family trying to survive in their new world.

I found the novel to be a bit of a mixed bag. The background was well developed, but was imparted quite preachily on occasion, usually via Jed, the six-year-old son of the main character, Signy. The scenario is plausible, but I thought the events stemming from the power cuts happened way too quickly. The protagonists irritated me, often acting in implausible ways, especially Signy. The plot itself was decent enough, but the journey through it was frustrating.

This Fragile Earth is Wise’s debut novel, which I’ve taken into consideration in my rating, but this is not a book I’ll be recommending to friends.

I received an advance reading copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Not just your run of the mill apocalypse disaster thriller. To start with its set in a near future where everything is automated / online / on the cloud, right down to simple things like your door locks. What do you do when the power goes out? When the internet equivalent goes off all at once? Then there's some complicated but interesting algorithm hints and clues narrated by a shocked and unwell mother trying to keep her family alive. The writing is quite stream of consciousness style and I honestly lost sleep because I didn't want to put this down (even more than usual for me and books). Really interesting and thought provoking even though I'm not sure I liked the ending or to be honest understood all of the algorithm stuff. With respect to the ending it just felt a bit rushed.

The question is “What would you do to protect your family if the world stopped working?”, well I think the answer to that is anything, I’d do anything, well I’d like to think I’d do anything but until you are in that situation you just don’t know how you will react.

Signy finds herself in that situation and as everything she knows falls apart before her eyes will she able to keep her son safe?

It is set in a near future London, technology runs every little thing from your standard household Alexa to your smartphone to your bin collections. If you use it to navigate your day then you can guarantee it involves technology. Signy lives a quiet life with her young son Jed and her husband Matthew, a life where they just go through the motions of everyday humdrum. That all stops the day the power goes out.

When the power goes out this young family find they can no longer rely on any of their tech and with the rest of London they wait and hope the power comes back on, except it doesn’t, then the water stops working and in a matter of days the cruel and selfish people start to arrive. The ones who will break in to your house, force you to give up your food and destroy your life. When they arrive of Signy’s doorstep her life takes a horrific turn which leads her to leave her home and head to the home of her Mother.

Leaving London may not be as easy as she hoped, talks of oddly behaving drones and other strange things unnerves her but she has one goal and that is to make sure her family is safe because it doesn’t look like the power is going back on any time soon.

I really enjoyed this, tech is everywhere I mean I’m writing this on an iPad with my laptop as a riser and my mobile phone sits to the side near my mouse and Apple Pencil, if they broke what would I do? Technology makes our lives easier but when it breaks down it can be horrific. This book shows a world where nearly everything is automated somehow even the bees are little drones. It doesn’t feel like it is that far off.

The characters in this book are very believable and that includes six year old Jed. He was written perfectly they way his character acted your could almost here Signy sigh after yet another question from her young son.

This was a really interesting book which will stick in your head for a while after.

This book feels like a not to near future for us as humans currently. Completely reliant on computers to get us through life, the rise of smart homes controlling every function of our lives, bees being on the brink of extinction. This book is well written and poignant. I did find the first chapter a little slow but it picked up and then I enjoyed it more and more. The only character I did struggle with a little was believing Jed was as young as he is, he's either a genius or has been written slightly older than he should. Although I don't have kids, so what do I know! All in all, a great novel and different to what I usually read so I was glad for a change! Many thanks for the ARC.

I loved the premise of this book, everyone is reliant on technology for everything. Food, water, medicine, electricity, heating, cars, everything is reliant on the technology controlling it. We all know that technology can go wrong, so imagine that every aspect of your life relies on it?

The world building was excellent, it was described simply but effectively. I could easily picture everything that Signy was seeing, and her invasive thoughts were a realistic way of showing the impact that everything was having on her as she tries to find a way to survive and to keep her son safe as the world around them is on turmoil.

Compelling and taut with tension.
It is astounding that the science behind the dystopian vision of the future is so credible. The prose so crisply written that you journey alongside SIgny and Jed immersed in the eerie setting,
Adored Jed who is the sweetest little boy, so wise beyond his years.
Although at times horrifying and a stark warning. This tale brims with the beauty of love.
Highly Recommended

This Fragile Earth is set in the near future in a world where everything is run by computers - gas, electric, even special pollen drones exist after the bees became extinct. But then one day, everything just stops working, and the world is plunged into chaos. The story follows Signy and her young son Jed as they flee London and begin the journey to the village Signy grew up in. 

The plot started out slow but soon picked up. The character development was fantastic, so I found they carried the story whilst establishing the plot. I liked the mystery surrounding what had actually happened. Obviously we know the computers have stopped working but we don’t know why and it’s significance until later in the story. It was intriguing and kept me reading. 

The world building was incredible. I really enjoyed the additional aspects of the world, but also the things that stayed the same kept me grounded. I was especially interested in the pollen drones - it was an interesting addition to the story. 

The characters were interesting and felt real. I loved Jed - for someone so young, he packed quite a punch. He was intelligent and curious, and he really added something to the story. The bond he and his mother had was also quite heartwarming to read. 

The writing was stunning. The author really got inside Signy’s head and I felt every emotion, every moment that happened in the book felt as if it were happening right in front of me. It tugged at my heartstrings. Overall, this is a brilliant take on a post apocalyptic world, so unique with great characters.