Presented by Verity Rose
As a fan of the Fallout and The Last of Us games, A Quiet Place (2018), and John Marsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began series, I usually go into survival-style, post-apocalyptic stories with high expectations. I grew up loving the classic ‘choose your own adventure’ stories since so many characters in traditional survival and post-apocalyptic novels were unrelatable to an Aussie girl like myself. That’s probably why Marsden’s Aussie teens in Tomorrow When the War Began felt so realistic to me. Ever since, I’ve been searching for a book with the same scared but brave Aussie characters that inspire me as much as Ellie did in Marsden’s novels. That was until I read Emma Lord’s debut novel Anomaly and fell in love with the lead character, Piper Manning. Feisty, cautious, resourceful, and brave, Piper is everything you’d expect to see in a survival story lead and more. Piper struggles and struggles a lot. She tries and fails but learns from her failures and succeeds, which is so refreshing in the current literature landscape, where it feels like all ‘strong female characters’ are naturally talented without any training.
Set in a post-apocalyptic Australia, a mysterious virus has infected every human and killed most of the world’s population. Piper Manning is simply trying to survive each day with her well-trained but cheeky dog, Griff. Still grieving the world she knew, Piper’s life becomes increasingly dangerous after saving a mysterious boy named Seth from mind-feeding Reapers, all while hiding the dangerous and uncontrollable power inside her. After saving Seth’s life, Piper and Seth make a deal to find human survivors to get back to their loved ones (if their loved ones are still alive). With their sassy mascot, Griff, Piper and Seth travel the Mountain Ranges of New South Wales, cautious but secretly hoping their trust in each other pays off. Like most characters in Anomaly, Seth is a mystery that makes us not trust him one bit. We don’t know his motives, backstory, where he’s from, or why he’s never heard of Star Wars! Quite realistically, everyone in this book has trauma. Everyone has lost someone from the virus, leading them to do things they cannot fully explain. One thing I loved about Lord’s characterisation is that the line between ‘good’ and ‘bad’ is blurred, where the ‘good guys’ do terrible things and the ‘bad guys’ do good. Perhaps it’s just another trope of the survival genre. However, Lord delved into the human condition and mind when faced with trauma, which elevated the events and characters throughout the story.
The parallels between depression and PTSD are clear and so well conveyed through the mind and life-feeding monsters in Anomaly, the Reapers, who trap their prey by making them relive their worst memories. These kinds of monsters have appeared in other fantasy novels, such as the Dementors in Harry Potter and the Valg in Throne of Glass, but what stands out about the Reapers is that they prey on humans after a global pandemic. Reflective of the COVID-19 pandemic, I think it’s safe to say that everyone has lingering trauma from that time, and–as stated in Anomaly–trauma is the monster we must face post-pandemic. Piper deals with heavy survivor’s guilt from both before and during the virus, which Lord has presented so organically that she truly feels like a real person who survived the COVID-19 pandemic. With Anomaly set in Australia and its on-page descriptions of panic and chaos resembling that seen during the COVID-19 pandemic, the story feels more realistic and relatable, making it even more terrifying.
Unlike many stories set in Australia, Lord did not shy away from the Australian setting. Her characters and setting are unapologetically Aussie with clippy slang, recognisable environment, and iconography. 2017’s film Cargo and the iconic Mad Max films portray Australia as a plain, hot desert and bush, whereas Anomaly dives into South-East New South Wales’s forest and bushland and uses that to build a rich setting. The climate and sounds of the mountain ranges are beautifully conveyed, truly capturing Australia’s unique environment. The eucalyptus trees and their smell, the scorching bitumen, crazy magpies, and monstrous thunderstorms are highlighted rather than reserved for the story’s backdrop. Lord appreciates and respects the Aussie landscape, which is evident in her book. Cultural cringe is a big thing in Australia, but I don’t think there’s a single person who will read Lord’s descriptions of the ‘silken surface’ of lakes and ‘indigo layers’ of sunset and not be proud of the Aussie landscape.
Anomaly is the kind of book where you don’t struggle to visualise what’s happening on-page. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if this novel is adapted for the screen. From the moment I began reading, I was itching for more and was sorry to close the book as I wanted to stay with Piper and Seth in their world. Anomaly sets the stage for a vast and detailed universe with plenty of lore for supernatural lovers like myself to be engrossed in. I do hope there are one or more sequels released because this universe and its workings are so fascinating that I simply demand more from this world and its characters I have fallen in love with.
Emma Lord has put her best foot forward with her novel Anomaly, and I cannot wait to read more from this insanely talented writer. For supernatural, post-apocalyptic, and survival-thriller fans, Anomaly is a must-read. I highly recommend this book to every young Aussie reader and writer. You won’t be disappointed.
Special thanks to Affirm Press and Emma Lord for sending ScratchThat Magazine an early copy of Anomaly. I had the honour of interviewing Emma Lord last month, so please check out that interview to learn more about what ScratchThat has to offer.
Verity Rose (she/they) is a Meanjin-based screenwriter and novelist working on the Semester 2 2024 Research Team at ScratchThat Magazine. She has been writing stories her whole life and has studied screenwriting at universities since she was sixteen. Verity consistently incorporates the new experiences and ideas that she’s gotten from living and travelling around the world—from North America to outback Australia—into her writing.
Artist: E.L. “Loricia” Maloney (she/her) is a high fantasy novelist currently working on her hopeful debut. She aims to bring a balance to characterisation, plot, and worldbuilding in the epic fantasy genre. You can find her on Instagram and TikTok (@loriciawrites_) for daily content or read her published pieces through ScratchThat and QUT Glass Media.
Editors: David Uptin and Ashley Commens