Bannerless

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnaham

Length: 9 hrs and 39 mins

Publisher's Summary

A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice investigator to question what she's learned about the foundation of her population-controlled society.

Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn't just surviving but thriving by some accounts, building something new on the ruins of what came before. A culture of population control has developed in which people, organized into households, must earn the children they bear by proving they can take care of them and are awarded symbolic banners to demonstrate this privilege. In the meantime, birth control is mandatory. Enid of Haven is an Investigator, called on to mediate disputes and examine transgressions against the community. She's young for the job and hasn't yet handled a serious case. Now, though, a suspicious death requires her attention. The victim was an outcast, but might someone have taken dislike a step further and murdered him?

In a world defined by the disasters that happened a century before, the past is always present. But this investigation may reveal the cracks in Enid's world and make her question what she really stands for.

©2017 Carrie Vaughn (P)2017 Recorded Books

Original take on dystopia

I'm always surprised at how some of the best books have so few ratings or reviews.

I read a lot of dystopian novels, and most are pretty unoriginal, which can be ok if you like the characters. But too many are filled with cardboard characters, silly love triangles, and insta love. This was not.

I sought out other books by the author, which is probably the best endorsement! One was a good as this (Discord's Apple), the other standalone novel (Martians abroad) not so much.

Dystopian Novel with a Detective Twist

If the world as we knew ended, what would a stable society look like? The author answers this through the character’s journeys, both in the present-day and through flashbacks ten years ago.

The narrator did a good job depicting this character, both age-wise and in a deliberate manner. It reminded me of the series “Girl with a Gun” in terms of a strong female narrator. It was slower-paced than other science-fiction I often listen to, which frequently includes tropes such as “The fate of the world/galaxy depends on our heroes.” It merged the detective and science-fiction/dystopian genres quite well.

The summary hints at some critical revelation from the investigation, that I either missed or it didn’t materialize. Regardless, I enjoyed it and will be listening to the next one sometime in the future, when I’m ready a slower pace again.

Should not be listed as sci-fi.

This books is more Little House on the Prairie than it is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel. Yes, it takes place in the future after the collapse of civilization, but that's almost irrelevant for all the service the story does it. You get a scant few pages worth of any discussion of it and then what's left is a rather mundane murder mystery. i would not have given the story 2 stars if I'd known what I was getting but I went in thinking it was one kind of story and got a totally different one. But since I was expecting one sort of story based on the listing and got this one, two stars it is.

The main character is decent enough but if you take away the post-apocalyptic aspect of the whole thing you've got a farm house murder for rather boring reasons and by the end I was just... "meh". If you like non-convoluted who-dunnits then this will serve well enough. If you like post-apocalyptic sci-fi, this one is a hard pass.

Utopian Western detective story

A medieval story in the future with climate change wrecking havoc, and living in villages is the norm. Everyone is altruistic except when they’re not. And there are no guns.

Carrie Vaughn is the best!

Always are drawn in by her characters! Great female leads and plots! Can’t wait to hear the sequel!!!

Makes you think

I enjoyed it, but it makes you think about what could happen. Good Characters. Good follow on to Bannerless

One of my favorite authors

Carrie Vaughn pens another great read - or in this case another great listen. Engaging characters and storyline.