I was in elementary school when Star Trek: The Next Generation popped up on tv. My parents watched it, so I watched it, too. That was the beginning of my interest in science fiction and in space. Different aspects of sci-fi are attractive to me. The majesty and wonder of space are what I enjoy the most (ex. Contact, Rendezvous with Rama, Sunshine). The terror of the unknownalso fits sci-fi well (Alien, Europa Report, Ex Machina, Sunshine again). As my nerdy high school compatriot Peter once observed, sci-fi is good for exploring societal issues in a way that isn’t as immediately aggressive or threatening as a more on-the-nose story can be (Dune, Starship Troopers). It’s a flexible and engrossing genre.
Katorga features all of these subcategories in a way that I enjoyed very much, especially as a political scientist. I don’t want to give too much of the story away (although the title might for history buffs), so here are the bones of the story: Doug is a veterinarian. A dystopian government has brought peace to earth, so long as everyone cooperates (you know how it goes). In this system, Doug has done well for himself and his family. In the middle of the night, Doug is called on by his government for assistance. As a true believer, he is happy to help. However, they maybe be asking for something that he is unwilling to give.
Katorga is short, but it is well-paced and full of interesting settings, characters, and culture. It avoids the increasingly common mistake of exposition dumps and instead lets the reader absorb and infer a lot of context and setting. I gave it four stars because while I really enjoyed it, some of the humor and dialogue seemed abruptly out of place within the context of the story. The Kindle version is priced pretty fairly for a story of this length.