Mandate: Thirteen-review

Intro

(Please note that I was given a free copy of Mandate: Thirteen for review, I received no compensation)

Mandate: Thirteen by Joseph Dowling was a book that wobbled between engagement and scorn. The scorn was due to what I thought was The Handmaid’s Tale rip-off with more lame pop culture references with too many POV switches within chapters. But the product was very engaging all the same, with thrills aplenty.

Writing

In the dark dystopian world of the UK (post-Brexit), fertility rates have plummeted. As a result, the extremist Christian ruling party has decreed that all fertile teenagers are sent to local schools where they submit to become breeding mares...

When I reached the end of the first chapter, I feared this would be a Handmaid’s Tale ripoff. But this time, Offred will be played by a girl called Hope, and her father will save her from becoming a breeding sow. This was the first time I cringed at this; the second was the use of Hope as the name of the daughter, who, despite being well-written, has a name that screams lazy metaphor in the shape of a person. Micheal is trying to save Hope from being killed by the government- cringe. I know Impact Winter has used the same tactic, but I suppose I didn’t mind as Hope was there, as another person wasn’t protecting her, and it wasn’t so obvious.

I also didn’t like the clumsy pop culture references like Game of Thrones (spelled differently) or the use of current modern apps like Meta in the story. I fear it will date the book as soon as publication occurs. Considering how Meta has been going in the real world, I suspect the presence of Meta and VR in Mandate: Thirteen will become like the flying cars and rotary telephones of the 1950s science fiction setting.

There was also the problem of shifting perspectives intentionally. Every time I felt in the zone, I was keen to see how Micheal and Hope would get out of the latest situation before we suddenly switched to another perspective.

The pacing keeps screeching to a halt and changing gears suddenly. However, this would improve as the shifting POVs between Micheal, Hope, and their hunters heightened the tension.

So I have spent a few paragraphs criticizing Mandate Thirteen, but now I want to give some positives cause I did overall enjoy this book. The Handmaid’s Tale comparison only fits the setting and some of the government policies. Otherwise, it's a story about fatherhood and parental love. The chemistry between Micheal and Hope is rather charming and feels like an authentic father-and-daughter relationship. Hope is not a screaming idiot who cannot do anything but (in her childish way) tries to help her dad whenever she can. She is scared, she is brave, and she has a personality. I will say the same for Micheal, who doggedly tries to save his daughter from the government rape factories, even killing her. But he is also an ordinary guy trying to survive. And I found him very relatable.

The pacing is excellent, aside from the initial distributions in shifting POVs. Joseph Dowling does a decent job of exploring extremist ideologies and depicting said ideologies in a manner that might have seemed over the top 20 years ago but now seem tame.

Conclusion

There were times when I groaned, and there were times when I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next twist or obstacle for Micheal and Hope to overcome. Joseph Dowling is a decent author with a good voice, but he needs a little more practice to iron out some cringe pop culture references or lectures. Also, he needs to ease out the multiple POVs within single chapters.

Acknowledgments

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