The Emptying

It is a society now governed by technology – emotions, crops, even babies – everything is regulated; the aim is to Eradicate Human Error. Dot is a child of the society, a farm girl looking forward to her next regulated step in life. Acker is a city boy – a free wheeler on a skateboard dodging authority. But something has gone wrong with Distro (the World Wide Distribution Centre ) that controls all aspects of life from energy supply to distribution of food; a disaster for the farm. In the city there are riots – Acker loses his best friend. But this is not supposed to happen. Dot and Acker, unwilling allies, find themselves on a desperate mission to discover what has gone wrong in their world…

This is a lively futuristic novel, the society the authors have chosen to portray picking up a very contemporary concern – the growth of AI and the technology around it. The two protagonists are well drawn in their different attitudes and strengths. It is easy to relate to them as the narrative alternates between their individual voices and points of view, allowing the authors to present different aspects of this society – the attractive positives, the controlling negatives. Dot is potentially a leader, technologically minded; Acker is logical, scientific, while balancing these aspects at the heart of their story there is the importance of creativity, the natural world, choice and the individual. The plot moves briskly; the prose style is direct and accessible. An enjoyable, thoughtful addition to the genre that could work well in a classroom – and is worth recommending as a good read.