Zoo City by Lauren Beukes, Book Review

Imagine a world where, after committing a crime, you come across a familiar animal. Neither you nor the family member can stand being away from each other, making it obvious to everyone that you did something very, very wrong: now you’re a zoo, or a “little animal” or a dozen other names, you might even be seen as a witch. , and you’re certainly ostracized, even if your sin wasn’t that big (there’s no rule that sin triggers you to become an “animal”). Zinzi December, a former journalist and former drug addict, spent some time in prison for murder, had a sloth as her constant companion, and is now trying to pay off the debt her former drug addiction created. She does it by finding lost things (it’s a magical gift she got after the sloth became her mate), by Nigerian scams she does for the guy she owes a lot of money to, and then gets a case of a missing boy singer. . , a new music star in South Africa.

Now, she usually doesn’t do missing persons, because her gift is good for things, but the money is good (even if her employer and partners, two zoos, are repulsive), and she’s desperate to pay off her debt. So she takes the case and begins her journey to the dark side of Johannesburg. She will have the help of her sloth and her boyfriend (a zoo with a mongoose), she will get in touch with her old associates, some will help her, others will create more trouble than help, but in the end it will be mainly her . and her laziness trying to survive in a world that she sees as scum.

in the world of ZooCity, if you commit a crime, or if you commit a sin (and who doesn’t?), you may find yourself with a companion animal. Your age, ethnicity, race, religion, social status do not matter in this. The animal you receive does not have much to do with the nature of your sin/crime. A terrorist can get a penguin, a nine-year-old can get a cobra, a petty thief can get a tiger. The “animalized” have been studied by scientists, but no one was able to find a rule.

In some countries, “animals” go to prison (even if they didn’t commit any crime, or if their crime wasn’t something you’d normally end up in prison for) or are killed by default. In others, they can freely walk the streets, but they are being ostracized in other ways, they are always being suspected of something, they cannot rent apartments in some parts of the cities, or get rooms in hotels, etc. Adding to the fear of being “animalized” is the fact that anyone can become one of them at some point, because who is free from sin?

The world of ZooCity It is the most fascinating of this novel. The characters are interesting and believable (it was refreshing for me to read about the African protagonist), the plot is good, the writing is flawless, but it’s the world of “animals” that caught my attention. The world-building approach at Lauren Beukes ZooCity is closer to the sci-fi approach than urban fantasy: that is, a new thing (“Zoos”) is introduced, and then the impact of that thing on society and some examples of that society (a former convict, a refugee from another country, a music producer, some poor children near the sewer system, a famous singer, a terrorist, etc.) is explored, and explored in detail, without ever overloading the main story. What also contributed to my enjoyment in this novel was the communication between the “animals” and their animal companions, although humans and their animal companions have some basic awareness of each other’s feelings, intentions, and ideas, albeit through that consciousness can communicate their needs to each other, there are no talking animals, the world is not similar to the fables of Aesop or Narnia.

ZooCity is a fascinating urban fantasy novel with a science fiction approach and noir thriller elements that describes a near future in Johannesburg where zoos, humans who have a pet after committing a sin, try to survive in a hostile world, seen through the eyes of a strong and believably flawed female lead. It’s a captivating, thought-provoking novel with dark humor and an enjoyable read for lovers of urban fantasy, science fiction, film noir, or just a good, well-written book.