The Word

Reviews / Votes

One idea can jinx a whole country in less than a lifetime....

Rhydian is one of five teenagers born into his generation with the Word - a preternatural power that enables them to compel other people to obey. Along with his best friend Jonno, almost-grown-up Rachel, and Cadi, he is studied and experimented on in a facility called the Centre. When they learn that the Centre's purpose is to turn them into weapons of war, the teens go on the run.

How did this brutal fortress Britain emerge? Here, babies are stolen from mothers whose identities are stripped away at will. Protesting crowds are mesmerised, and children who disobey are killed in cold blood.

Exploring themes of coercive control, disinformation and fundamentalism, The Word shows how kindness can emerge when we resist power, practise resistance, and show vulnerability. Combining speculative elements and emotional truths, it is essentially a coming-of-age story, in which brave young individuals fight to keep hold of who they are in a dehumanising world.

JL George was born in Cardiff, and has recently returned there after a spell living in Pontypool. She writes weird and speculative fiction. Her work has appeared in magazines and anthologies, including Fireside, Curiosities, and Gwyllion, and she was a 2019 Literature Wales bursary recipient. A graduate of Manchester and Cardiff universities, her academic interests lie in literature and science, the nineteenth-century Gothic, and the classic weird tale. jl-george.com

'Page-turning... highly visual, pacey writing... [an] honest and tender depiction of young LGBTQIA+ love.' Wales Arts Review

'A book that doesn't shy away from the harsh realities of the world, exploring themes of coercive control, disinformation and fundamentalism.' - The Big Issue

'Thrilling... a page turner... the strategies George describes to punish dissent... are all too recognisable... a clever, compassionate story.' - Sarah Tanburn, Nation.Cymru

'An unsettling book that works beautifully on many levels... a great adventure story with survival and rebellion at its heart.' - The Western Mail

'For readers of Margaret Atwood and Kazuo Ishiguro.' - The Bookseller

'The best dystopian fiction crisscrosses time and makes us reflect upon our present. Here is a vital new voice... fusing flashes of poetic beauty with naturalistic dialogue, set in a futuristic landscape. Could well encapsulate the post truth world we find ourselves in. A powerful, necessary work.' Patrick Jones, playwright, Everything Must Go

'This is a brutal environment, where children who disobey are killed in cold blood. Whether it is a satire about the brutalities of war or a dystopia about a new religious cult, The Word is a fascinating read.' Cathryn Summerhayes, literary agent at Curtis Brown

'A pacey novella which balances big concepts such as ethics, language, propaganda and control with a human story of flight and finding love and trust where you can.' Gwen Davies, editor of New Welsh Review

'Has the vibe of a cult late 70s British sci-fi TV show - one of those clever, bleak, violent ones where you wonder how they slipped it past the higher ups. It explores its fantastical premise thoughtfully - ruminating on the ways in which language can be both a force for liberation and for oppression. Plus there is a charming will-they-won't-they gay teen love triangle at the centre of it all anchoring its weighty themes.' Lloyd Markham, author of Bad IdeasChemicals -- Publisher: New Welsh Review In this dystopian future, Britain is a country beset by the threat of war with Europe; there are bombings and restrictions, and all foreigners are a threat. The internet, mobile phones and computers have been declared dangerous for health; all are scarce, and the internet is available only intermittently. People are frightened, isolated and divided, and most are unaware that there are other darker agendas being pursued. Without internet access, the populace is fed an exclusive diet of government information. They have no idea what is really going on.

Rhydian and Jonno are teenage boys on the run from 'the Centre' and they, at least, are aware of some of the government's less benevolent plans and programmes.

The boys were taken from, or handed over by, their parents and brought to the Centre, along with two girls, because they were observed to have the power of 'the Word'. With the Word these children can control the minds of others. They can make people behave exactly as they tell them to. The authorities want to make use of this power, and the boys are on the run because they have seen where the tests and experiments they've been subjected to are heading.

The boys hide in run-down, abandoned houses. They can see the bomb damage and decrepitude of their country. The government blames the bombings on the Europeans, but a worn leaflet Rhydian finds suggests the attacks are red-flag operations, designed to keep the people scared and obedient.

The military are after them, searching door to door. The boys are hiding in an empty house, listening to the soldiers booting down doors, getting ever closer. Then they see, at the end of the empty street, a wall of loud speakers being towed into place. The boys know what is coming next: the recorded Word is going to be used against them.

With deft expertise, JL George brings together diverse characters to form a tense, well-structured narrative. From the lonely and homeless mother-to-be, Irena, who innocently accepts help from a religious group, only to find they have a somewhat different agenda from the one she expected, to the earnest and well-meaning deaf teacher, May, who is coerced into teaching at the Centre, because, of course, someone who is deaf is unaffected by the Word and makes the perfect teacher for the children there.

And then there's Sioned, whose twin sister has already been taken by the Centre and who's now on the run with her little sister, Nerys, who also has the Word. Nerys is the most powerful of them all and not yet old enough to understand the implications of her power. The sisters have to procure false ID and passports and escape across to the continent, not knowing what will meet them there. Europe is an unknown enemy to the British now, but where else can they go?

JL George has written a tense and gripping novel, close enough to our current times to feel unsettlingly possible, where an authoritarian government controls the narrative and keeps the population in a state of fear, seeking to maintain power by exploiting whatever means are available, including the weaponizing of children with an unusual ability. -- Lucy Walter @ www.gwales.com