Much has been written about Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah’s novel Chain-Gang All-Stars. Shortlisted for lots of prizes, probably ending up on many top ten end of year lists – this novel is a stunner for a reason. The story is timely and captivating, the stakes are high. It’s terrifying and beautiful. But before we talk about the story, I would like to heap praise on this author for the craft (I really struggled over this word – it isn’t QUITE what I mean but it’s close) of the novel. Sometimes as I read I am aware that the novel is well written. I am aware that it’s telling me a story that has social importance. It’s teaching something about humans and our souls and how we exist in the world. This is wonderful, it’s why I read. But also, sometimes those novels don’t grab me and make me want to keep reading. It’s not as though I don’t like the novel, just that I’m not enthralled by it. I pick it up to read because I have time to read and this is what I’m reading. This novel had that quality that made me excited to sit down and read again.
Set in a near-future United States, the novel is sort of like a more socially aware, grown up Hunger Games. Rather than pit children against each other for mindless entertainment, this dystopic version of our future creates the world of “hard-action sports”: prisoners on death row who fight against one another, gladiator style, to the death. Between battles, they travel in “chains”, groups of prison-affiliated fighters. Each person on the chain is called a Link, and each Link has a rank, ranging from the newbies all the way up through something called a Grand Colossal. Survival for three years earns you your freedom – and yet almost no one has ever achieved this.
Adjei-Brenyah does not shy away from the reality of the world he creates. He takes us deep into the psyche of various Links, some before they “consented” to be a part of a Chain, others as they approach their supposed freedom. We are invited into board rooms where plot twists in the next season are debated (all that travel in between battles is extensively documented by drones and aired as a reality television show about the lives of the Links).
Who is responsible for this violence? We are watching the Links themselves commit murder, over and over again – it is kill or be killed. And they themselves must reckon with whatever crime they have committed that lead to death row. And yet, as they murder again and again, they must deal with what this does to their soul. Is it the guards who are to be held responsible? The families watching from their living room (or the wealthy who can afford front row seats)? The corporations who sponsor the show, tattooing the Links with company logos? The board members in their suits who twist the rules just so in order to squeeze out more money from an eager, passive audience? A small group of people fight against this – but what power do they have?
Peppered throughout the book are footnotes that are used to excellent effect. These footnotes provide accurate historical context that is true to our world – notes about the prison-industrial complex that is an absolute blight on our collective souls, that exists around us right now. As I sit here drinking my coffee, blithely writing about books, so many suffer in our bloated prison system that goes beyond inhumane in so many places.
Adjei-Brenyah writes powerfully, giving us a story that matters without veering into preaching. I was invested in the relationships, and I wanted to know what might happen to each character. Would they find forgiveness, or love, or whatever else they might be searching for? It’s a hard story to read in many ways, for the violence and injustice, and yet the author rewards us for looking with open and clear eyes.
The author notes that he was inspired by the work of Ruth Wilson Gilmore, Angela Davis, and Mariame Kaba. He’s also inspired by groups like the Unity Collective and the Rockland Prison Justice Project. This was a fascinating way to engage with work being done to bring more justice to the world, with allegorical fiction that is inherently moral.