New America: Awakenings

2020 is a year that will be remembered in infamy for a long time; it will become a chapter or multiple chapters in future history and science books. The November election will also be historic, and perhaps also infamous, and what happens after will set the stage for the future of America as a country. New America: Awakenings by Tyler Davis is one possible America that five years ago would’ve been seen as dystopic science fiction and impossible to actually happen. Nowadays, we’re not so sure. New America: Awakenings makes 1984 look rather tame.

Colt is a teenager, but he doesn’t get to be a normal teenager doing normal teenager things, because he lives in a very different America, where a fascist dictator is in full reign, with the supposed backing of God and the Christians who blindly and unquestioningly follow him. Sound familiar? “Of course, things like privacy, cell phones, and the internet were things of the past in New America.” In this alien country, those suspicious of others not following the rule of the President and his authority and decree can call on the red phone and expose them. If their suspicions are confirmed, then those accused are rounded up and taken for public execution by guillotine. Because traitors and rebels will not be tolerated. The atheists, homosexuals, and many other groups have already been persecuted. The Muslim population is currently under attack, as the government looks to eradicate them from American soil.

“As all the heads collected in the bin, the cheering erupted, and the chanting, ‘God Bless America,’ started.”

Colt lives with his parents and eight-year-old sister, Eliza, in a rundown house. They struggle to get by on protein bars, their sole food doled out to them by the government. They do their best to keep low and unnoticed, especially from that woman Katherine who lives nearby, always preaching and proselytizing, and looking to turn someone in and get them executed. Colt’s father, Kyle, wants to help his friends who are Muslim, but knows it will not be an easy task. Colt wants to help too, but must make his own decisions and choices as he is considered his own man now, not always in agreement with his father about what they should do, and more importantly, how they should best protect their family.

Davis does a great job of painting a sad, horrific picture of a destroyed America, where there seems little else but suffering. But he also provides hope through his characters. While there are a few typos, they actually work for the story, as Colt is recounting his story in this harsh world, and it isn’t always accurate and correct. The result is a sobering tale that pushes the limits of the reader’s senses and emotions, but at the same time, keeps them reading on, wanting to know what will happen next, and how they will survive.