Mesmerizing, beautiful, and thought-provoking, Arnold's post-apocalyptic novel will stick with you forever.
The Electric Kingdom tells the story of a world in the not-so-distant future ravaged by a deadly Fly Flu, leaving a shell of the world behind and few survivors doing everything in their power to stay alive. Among the survivors are eighteen-year-old Nico and her dog Harry, on a quest devised by Nico’s father to Manchester to find a mystical portal that Nico thought only existed in stories; a twelve-year-old artist named Kit raised in an abandoned cinema and dreaming of a time when he will be able to see beyond the world of his small town; and the mysterious Deliverer, who lives Life after Life attempting to put the pieces of the world back together. As swarms of Flies roam what is left of the earth, these survivors navigate the woods of New England, crossing paths and meeting others along the way, each on their own path to find light, beauty, and meaning in a world gone dark.
The Plot & The World
Can I just start by saying that this book was simply mesmerizing? I mean truly mesmerizing and eye-opening, especially during today’s time, which I think greatly came as a result of David Arnold’s descriptive and beautiful writing style. And it was simply unlike anything that I have ever read. Deadly Flies that can devour a person within seconds? A mystical portal that should only be a thing of stories? An ode to art and storytelling? Plus a loyal dog (SPOILER: the dog doesn’t die!)? This book was everything I could have wanted in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic book, especially with everything going on in today’s world. This book is the type to stick with you for days and, even though it can sometimes be hard to follow or completely understand, to be something that you will keep coming back to, pondering, and deconstructing in the future. Despite taking place in a dark and semi-distant future, I really enjoyed the message that this book was conveying about discovering love, companionship, and beauty in a world gone dark and the importance of art, storytelling, and other people in general in finding life and meaning, with these aspects being things to hold onto when the rest world is falling apart and out of one’s control.
To be honest, it was hard to get into the book originally because of everything going on, but a few chapters in I was sucked into this post-apocalyptic world alongside Nico, Kit, and the Deliverer and, while it was sometimes hard to completely understand what was going on (especially when it came to the portal and the Deliverer), it was hard to escape to the overall story and its timeliness. Through following these three characters (with most of the story, however, strongly focused on Nico with Kit close behind), the story follows three different storylines that merge and converge at some points—Nico on a quest to Manchester to find a mysterious portal, Kit surviving in and then later traveling outside of an abandoned town, and the Deliverer attempting to piece the world back together one day at a time. While all these characters’ direct goals are different, they all ultimately wish for the same thing—to survive in a ravaged world and to discover themselves along the way.
Furthermore, anytime that I read a dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic novel, I always pay attention to the world to see how the author has taken our world and transformed it in the future, including how “believable” it is. This is my first time reading a dystopian book set so close to our current time (the story takes place in 2043 and I am used to books taking place much later) and Arnold blew it out of the park! As someone from New England, I loved all the nods to New England businesses, towns/cities, and landscape and scenery (I LOVED Arnold’s inclusion of Books-A-Million). I also found the world and the circumstances leading to its post-apocalyptic state (deadly, genetically engineered Flu Flies) to be quite shocking and believable at the same time and I enjoyed learning about how people came to navigate the world and the circumstances that they have been thrust into.
The Characters
I absolutely LOVED the characters in this novel! I really liked the various characters that were introduced both in terms of the main characters and the side characters. I also enjoyed learning about the different circumstances that brought the characters to the points that they are when the novel takes place and seeing how different people and characters have responded to the Flies and the state of the world. Additionally, I liked exploring the different dynamics and relationships between the various characters, especially between Nico and her father, Nico and Kit, and Nico and Lennon and seeing these relationships grow and change throughout the course of the novel.
Nico: I absolutely loved Nico! Despite growing up during the time of the Fly and living in a small Farmhouse in the middle of the woods, Nico finds ways to bring joy into her life, especially through books, which I can relate to. I enjoyed witnessing Nico’s character growth throughout the story, learning to trust in her father, herself, as well as in others and finding comfort in traveling with other people as opposed to being alone with her dog, Harry. I loved her determination to accomplish her goal and how fierce she could be in protecting herself and her friends. I really liked her relationship with her father and how despite believing his stories of the mythical portal in Manchester to just be stories, she trusts him enough to venture from the home that is all she has even known to travel there and leave her father behind, even though she knows that she will most likely never see him again. I also LOVED her relationship with Kit and how she became like a big sister to him and how she worked to protect him and keep him safe.
Kit: Like with Nico, I also loved Kit. I really enjoyed his outlook on the world, including his dreams for a bigger future outside of the town where he had lived his entire life, and how smart he was about the current world as well as the world before the Flies. Despite being so young, he was definitely wise beyond his years and I was shocked by how he put things about his world and the world before the Flies (our current world) in perspective and I was surprised by his insight. I did find Kit to be a bit naïve at times despite how smart he seemed, but this is most likely a result of his age as well as how he did not grow up in the world before the Flies, learning about this world from his books and his mother, Dakota. I liked his relationship with his mother, Dakota, as well as with Monty and Lakie and then later with Nico.
The Deliverer: I was really intrigued by the Deliverer’s character and trying to figure out who they actually were (the reveal really surprised me, although I should have seen it coming). I liked how the Deliverer’s chapters were written in first-person as opposed to third-person like Nico and Kit’s chapters, which really allowed for me to understand their thoughts and feelings about everything going on and their secluded life, I just wish that there were more of them towards the beginning and middle of the book opposed to dominating the end of the novel. I was also very intrigued by the Red Books that the Deliverer lived by and used to go about their daily activities, although I did want to know more about the specific actions that the Deliverer took and how they came to these decisions.
Like the main characters, I also really liked the side and minor characters, especially Lennon (I enjoyed the bonds that he formed with Nico, Kit, and Nico’s dog, Harry, and his dedication to them as well as learning about his past). I do wish, however, that we got to learn more about the fates of the side characters. While there was some closure towards the end, I kind of wanted to know more about what happened to them and what their lives are like after separating from the main protagonists. I also wish that these characters were a little more developed in some places and that we got to know more about their pasts.
The Mythical & Mystical Aspect
The entirety of this book carried its own sort of “mythical and mystical” aspect—Nico’s quest, the world, the writing. Despite being set in our world (albeit a post-apocalyptic version of our world around twenty-five years in the future), the story almost carries the feeling of taking place on a different plane from our own, which I think comes greatly as a result of Arnold’s writing style, which is very descriptive, beautiful, introspective, and just really makes you think. While it was sometimes difficult to completely understand the portal from Nico’s father’s stories that Nico is traveling to, especially how and why it works, I was still very intrigued by Nico’s journey and the portal as a whole, although I do wish that there was more of an explanation behind it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy reading dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy novels or even people who would like to be able to discover a source of light amidst the darkness. This book is definitely going to stay with me for a while and I cannot wait to read more of Arnold’s work in the future!
The Plot & The World
Can I just start by saying that this book was simply mesmerizing? I mean truly mesmerizing and eye-opening, especially during today’s time, which I think greatly came as a result of David Arnold’s descriptive and beautiful writing style. And it was simply unlike anything that I have ever read. Deadly Flies that can devour a person within seconds? A mystical portal that should only be a thing of stories? An ode to art and storytelling? Plus a loyal dog (SPOILER: the dog doesn’t die!)? This book was everything I could have wanted in a dystopian, post-apocalyptic book, especially with everything going on in today’s world. This book is the type to stick with you for days and, even though it can sometimes be hard to follow or completely understand, to be something that you will keep coming back to, pondering, and deconstructing in the future. Despite taking place in a dark and semi-distant future, I really enjoyed the message that this book was conveying about discovering love, companionship, and beauty in a world gone dark and the importance of art, storytelling, and other people in general in finding life and meaning, with these aspects being things to hold onto when the rest world is falling apart and out of one’s control.
To be honest, it was hard to get into the book originally because of everything going on, but a few chapters in I was sucked into this post-apocalyptic world alongside Nico, Kit, and the Deliverer and, while it was sometimes hard to completely understand what was going on (especially when it came to the portal and the Deliverer), it was hard to escape to the overall story and its timeliness. Through following these three characters (with most of the story, however, strongly focused on Nico with Kit close behind), the story follows three different storylines that merge and converge at some points—Nico on a quest to Manchester to find a mysterious portal, Kit surviving in and then later traveling outside of an abandoned town, and the Deliverer attempting to piece the world back together one day at a time. While all these characters’ direct goals are different, they all ultimately wish for the same thing—to survive in a ravaged world and to discover themselves along the way.
Furthermore, anytime that I read a dystopian and/or post-apocalyptic novel, I always pay attention to the world to see how the author has taken our world and transformed it in the future, including how “believable” it is. This is my first time reading a dystopian book set so close to our current time (the story takes place in 2043 and I am used to books taking place much later) and Arnold blew it out of the park! As someone from New England, I loved all the nods to New England businesses, towns/cities, and landscape and scenery (I LOVED Arnold’s inclusion of Books-A-Million). I also found the world and the circumstances leading to its post-apocalyptic state (deadly, genetically engineered Flu Flies) to be quite shocking and believable at the same time and I enjoyed learning about how people came to navigate the world and the circumstances that they have been thrust into.
The Characters
I absolutely LOVED the characters in this novel! I really liked the various characters that were introduced both in terms of the main characters and the side characters. I also enjoyed learning about the different circumstances that brought the characters to the points that they are when the novel takes place and seeing how different people and characters have responded to the Flies and the state of the world. Additionally, I liked exploring the different dynamics and relationships between the various characters, especially between Nico and her father, Nico and Kit, and Nico and Lennon and seeing these relationships grow and change throughout the course of the novel.
Nico: I absolutely loved Nico! Despite growing up during the time of the Fly and living in a small Farmhouse in the middle of the woods, Nico finds ways to bring joy into her life, especially through books, which I can relate to. I enjoyed witnessing Nico’s character growth throughout the story, learning to trust in her father, herself, as well as in others and finding comfort in traveling with other people as opposed to being alone with her dog, Harry. I loved her determination to accomplish her goal and how fierce she could be in protecting herself and her friends. I really liked her relationship with her father and how despite believing his stories of the mythical portal in Manchester to just be stories, she trusts him enough to venture from the home that is all she has even known to travel there and leave her father behind, even though she knows that she will most likely never see him again. I also LOVED her relationship with Kit and how she became like a big sister to him and how she worked to protect him and keep him safe.
Kit: Like with Nico, I also loved Kit. I really enjoyed his outlook on the world, including his dreams for a bigger future outside of the town where he had lived his entire life, and how smart he was about the current world as well as the world before the Flies. Despite being so young, he was definitely wise beyond his years and I was shocked by how he put things about his world and the world before the Flies (our current world) in perspective and I was surprised by his insight. I did find Kit to be a bit naïve at times despite how smart he seemed, but this is most likely a result of his age as well as how he did not grow up in the world before the Flies, learning about this world from his books and his mother, Dakota. I liked his relationship with his mother, Dakota, as well as with Monty and Lakie and then later with Nico.
The Deliverer: I was really intrigued by the Deliverer’s character and trying to figure out who they actually were (the reveal really surprised me, although I should have seen it coming). I liked how the Deliverer’s chapters were written in first-person as opposed to third-person like Nico and Kit’s chapters, which really allowed for me to understand their thoughts and feelings about everything going on and their secluded life, I just wish that there were more of them towards the beginning and middle of the book opposed to dominating the end of the novel. I was also very intrigued by the Red Books that the Deliverer lived by and used to go about their daily activities, although I did want to know more about the specific actions that the Deliverer took and how they came to these decisions.
Like the main characters, I also really liked the side and minor characters, especially Lennon (I enjoyed the bonds that he formed with Nico, Kit, and Nico’s dog, Harry, and his dedication to them as well as learning about his past). I do wish, however, that we got to learn more about the fates of the side characters. While there was some closure towards the end, I kind of wanted to know more about what happened to them and what their lives are like after separating from the main protagonists. I also wish that these characters were a little more developed in some places and that we got to know more about their pasts.
The Mythical & Mystical Aspect
The entirety of this book carried its own sort of “mythical and mystical” aspect—Nico’s quest, the world, the writing. Despite being set in our world (albeit a post-apocalyptic version of our world around twenty-five years in the future), the story almost carries the feeling of taking place on a different plane from our own, which I think comes greatly as a result of Arnold’s writing style, which is very descriptive, beautiful, introspective, and just really makes you think. While it was sometimes difficult to completely understand the portal from Nico’s father’s stories that Nico is traveling to, especially how and why it works, I was still very intrigued by Nico’s journey and the portal as a whole, although I do wish that there was more of an explanation behind it.
Overall, I really enjoyed this book and I would definitely recommend it to those who enjoy reading dystopian, post-apocalyptic, and fantasy novels or even people who would like to be able to discover a source of light amidst the darkness. This book is definitely going to stay with me for a while and I cannot wait to read more of Arnold’s work in the future!