This book has an interesting premise but appears lacking in the delivery of said premise. There are several pages full of lucid, insightful prose carrying underlying social and political commentary about Singapore’s questionable democracy, but beyond these, the reader is left alone in contemplating the full repercussions of the Evil Government that the book describes. The story itself starts off well but soon appears to be driven by the sheer, unrealistic luck of the protagonist and the people around her who appear to have no flaws or character development at all. The relationships between the characters are bland and not fully explored in the depths that I feel they could have been. Still, it was refreshing to read a book about such a novel concept and I can only hope that this will pave the way for many more (although perhaps, better thought-out) books to come.

I met Judith Huang recently and got a signed copy of this book. She came to my school and did a workshop. It was really inspiring. This book was amazing and mystical, I loved it. There were some parts I did not understand, though.

"What she allows to bloom in these pages is that sense of wonder so lacking in our prosaic, pragmatic lives. It is something worth holding on to, as we ponder how best we can, through our choices, make space for others in our society." - Olivia Ho, Straits Times (full review: https://www.straitstimes.com/lifestyle/arts/profound-societal-concerns-in-an-easily-digestible-adventure)

"An impeccable local fable of authoritarian unimaginativeness....If indeed the beginning was the Word, the prime mover of this novel is a skillful wordsmith. Here, the prose bounds as its fauna bounds; it is fleet as its winged creatures; it is rich and deep and confident and aspirational. Huang’s writing at its most inspired, as we have here, is magisterial." - Wong Wen Pu, Mackerel (full review: http://www.mackerel.life/sofia-and-the-utopian-imagination/)

Book available from the publisher: https://shop.epigrambooks.sg/collections/new-releases/products/sofia-and-the-utopia-machine

Localbooks.sg: https://localbooks.sg/collections/new-arrivals/products/sofia-and-the-utopia-machine

and directly from me: https://www.ebay.com.sg/itm/Sofia-and-the-Utopia-Machine-Signed-First-Singaporean-Edition/302868690843

www.judithhuang.com

Sofia’s dad, Peter, disappeared 7 years ago and neither she nor her mother Clare ever knew where he went. Sofia, girl living in a Mid-Level flat, meets Julian (a boy from the Canopies) online, and he tells her about the Utopia Machine. The machine piques her curiosity and she sneaks into her mother’s lab in Biopolis, and ends up activating the Utopia Machine, which brings her into a parallel universe in which she gets to play Goddess and shape it to her will. But activating the machine also brings with it repercussions and Sofia finds herself a political fugitive.

I think the world-building in this book was pretty well done. I’m not that familiar with Singapore literature, but the use of mythologies and folk tales seems like a good starting point in a genre that I guess isn’t that commonly seen in SingLit: the young adult dystopia. The story fits in folk tales and narratives from the universe Sofia created, all of them nostalgically Southeast Asian. The book architecturally crystallises Singapore’s stratified society in the split of this speculated Singapore, split into the neglected Voids, the Mid-Levels, and the exclusive Canopies. I liked this book more for its critique of elitism and the myth of meritocracy than for the plot, which I’m afraid didn’t stand out to me so much, but I guess that’s the point. The disheartening thing (but also what I liked) about the conclusion was just how believable it was, this helplessness against a panoptic state that you can’t fight, that you can’t save everyone from, that the only solution is to run away. I think it’s worth the read if you’re into young adult dystopia, but it won’t be about empowered young rebels who topple governments because that’s not how it’s going to work here.