47North, April 18, 2017.
Five Stars
Dreams Before
the Start of Time is the follow-up to Charnock’s
2015 novel, Sleeping Embers of an
Ordinary Mind, which I also reviewed here. Although both can be read
independently, they serve to enhance each other in unexpected and meaningful
ways. While Sleeping Embers was
filled with exciting new concepts, Dreams
expands Charnock’s earlier ideas into the fully realized world she has created
here.
Dreams speculates on the progress of human fertility, taking the
scientific advances of today to their extreme conclusions – although it all
feels very possible and real. In a near-future London, two friends find
themselves pregnant – one by choice using a sperm donor, and the other by
chance with her casual boyfriend. Both women decide to raise their babies in
non-traditional families – Millie co-parents with her sister, while Toni (one
of the protagonists from Sleeping Embers)
decides to forge a relationship with her child’s father while determinedly
living apart. The novel follows the progress of fertility forward through time,
as Toni and Millie’s descendants embrace ever new technological advances in the
creation of babies.
In this possible-future world, infertility is no
longer an issue – both men and women can create a child by themselves, using
their own stem cells. Laboratories filled with artificial wombs are home to designer,
genetically modified fetuses. Traditional pregnancy is now seen as shameful and
irresponsible, when safer alternatives are readily available. Charnock does not
seem to imply that these advances are negative or positive, but simply issues
that we will be forced to consider objectively as human progress marches
forward.
In the five generations that follow from Toni and
Millie’s pregnancies, readers are forced to consider the ethics of reproduction
– and what it truly means to be a parent, when biology is no longer a
prerequisite. There are moral questions about altering the genetic structure of
fetuses, as well as the emotional implications of reproduction without
responsibility. However, other than the more advanced scientific issues, these
concerns are really not all that different than what we face now. Situations
that seem shocking are actually closer than we think.
The interconnected stories feature recurring
characters from the two families, with distinct voices and personalities. Despite
this book being labelled as science fiction, and being filled with fascinating,
original ideas, it is above all a complex character study. Although men and women
no longer need each other biologically to reproduce, this is still a story
about relationships and their many complications. These are unique people in unusual
situations that may soon be commonplace. This is speculative fiction with a
feminist slant, and the world needs more of it. I can’t wait to read whatever
Charnock writes next.
I received this book from 47North and NetGalley in
exchange for an honest review.
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