There are books that start with a bang and then simply fade away. And then there are those that gradually unfold a wide canvas of the author’s intentions, a deep idea, and unexpected plot decisions. «Iska» by Yaroslav Linder from the publishing house «NK-Bohdan is one of them. If you’re looking for contemporary Ukrainian fiction with a dash of dystopia and cyberpunk, then pay attention to this novel. However, not everything is as good as we would like, but we will discuss all this in the review below.
Pluses:
a stylish high-quality edition with a lasso that immediately shows its genre; an interesting world; unexpected plot twists and ending; interaction between man and machine; the book raises important and relevant issues
Minuses:
the beginning of the novel develops slowly, which may put off some impatient readers; some of the characters' actions are as annoying as they are; the general secondary nature of the ideas involved
«Iska» / «Іска»
Author Yaroslav Linder
Publisher «NK-Bogdan»
Language Ukrainian
Number of pages 256
Cover Solid
Year of publication 2024
Size 145×215 mm
Website bohdan-books.com
In the center of the story is a fictional city from the future, and people live in the Golden Age — the ideal era after the great war between the Horde and the Alliance that raged 200 years ago. But now, after the victory of the latter, people have united into a single large society. Here, robots help everyone, they are companions for boys and girls from the age of 16, they are partners, cleaners, and partners in realistic virtual games.
The protagonist is a young man living in this carefree town where every day is similar to the last. His everyday life is accompanied by Iska, a mechanical maid who guesses her master’s wishes before he even voices them. She is perfect, submissive, and impeccable in her service. Every evening, they immerse themselves in a virtual world together, where they reenact the heroic battles between the Alliance and the Horde, destroying enemies to the last man.
Over time, the hero begins to notice strange things in this seemingly perfect picture. The town’s inhabitants are too carefree, their reactions are too formulaic, and events are too predictable. These observations cause him to question whether this world is real. Isn’t it just a scenery created to hide the truth? But soon, the hero’s life will undergo such dramatic changes that he cannot even imagine, and the world he lived in will fall apart.
The events of the novel «Iska» take place on the territory of the former Ukraine. In terms of its plot content, it is a wild combination of «We» Zamyatin», «Brave New World» by Aldous Huxley, «The Matrix», «The Terminator», and a wide variety of post-apocalyptic stories.
Stylistically, «Iska» is confident, and it is almost impossible to tell that this is the author’s first book: his language is simple, precise, but not dry. It is clear that he is very well-read, but he deliberately simplifies the text so that it will appeal to a wide range of readers.
There is something cinematic in the way Yaroslav Linder builds scenes. It’s as if the reader’s imaginary camera moves through a fog, where only a part of history and the world is clearly visible, and the rest has to be speculated. The book does not give ready-made images, does not simplify moral dilemmas. The characters here are not heroes in the classical sense, but rather figures in the shadows, forced to act in circumstances where any choice is a compromise.
Although she is a mechanical servant, Isca appears to the reader not just as a robot, but as a symbol of the hero’s inner world, his doubts, fears, and hopes. Her behavior, reactions, and interaction with her master make us wonder: is she just a machine or is she something more? And she plays an important role in the story.
At the same time, the characters are often annoying because they do strange, illogical, stupid, and ridiculous things. But all of this is done as if on purpose, because in this way the author wants to show that these people are disconnected and not adapted to life at all. They are completely dependent on the androids they have invented. They are only busy consuming and playing games and know literally nothing. And when such people are confronted with a cruel reality, an almost nuclear explosion occurs in their lives, and most importantly in their minds, changing them forever.
The theme of war in «Iskra» is not direct, but it echoes through various references and references, hints and omissions. The writer also combines elements of science fiction, psychological thriller, and cyberpunk well, and most importantly, he raises important topics: free will, the nature of reality, the role of technology in human life, and our dependence on it.
The ending of the novel is unexpected and interesting. The story is both complete and capable of continuation because the hero was left with a choice. And the writer decided to do so because it is known that Yaroslav Linder is currently working on the second part.
«Iska» is definitely not a genre breakthrough even in Ukrainian literature because we have already read or seen all this somewhere. But this is a very good debut, which is easy to read and adequately perceived. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to remember anything from this book in a year, but it entertained me, and it wasn’t boring to read. This, in my opinion, is the main thing to expect from genre literature.
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