Stillicide

Stillicide is a collection of short stories originally commissioned by the BBC as a radio drama. The stories were later published in the literary magazine Granta and also published as a novel by Catapult in 2020.

Background

The word "Stillicide" means water falling in drops that cause erosion over time, which reflects the story's themes of environmental crisis and water scarcity.[1] The stories take place in the future and revolve around different attempts at mitigating a devastating drought in the UK.[2] The series was originally commissioned for BBC radio, the literary magazine Granta also published the collection of stories, and the book was published by Catapult.[3] The novel was published on November 17, 2020.[4] The book alludes to instances in the 1960s when Welsh towns were flooded to provide drinking water for English towns such as the Tryweryn flooding.[5] The 12-episode podcast was written by Cynan Jones and produced by the BBC.[6] The podcast featured Anne-Marie Duff, Richard Goulding, and Alex Jennings.[7]

Plot

Water is scarce and pipelines to the city have been bombed by terrorists, which means that water has to be delivered to the city on a train.[8] The first short story follows an armed policeman named John Branner who is tasked with guarding the train carrying the water to the city, and his orders are to shoot anything that gets close to the train.[9] One of the short stories is a love letter from John Branner's wife who is terminally ill.[10] Another story is about a journalist who is critical of a plan to drag an iceberg from the Arctic to the city in an attempt to alleviate the drought.[4]

Reception

In The Boston Globe, Max Winter praised the stories calling them "tense, stark, and beautifully paced".[11] Julia Kastner wrote in Shelf Awareness that the stories are "a quiet masterpiece of language".[12] Malcolm Forbes wrote in the Minnesota Star Tribune that the stories presented "a terrifying vision but a captivating read."[13] Donna Bettencourt wrote in the LibraryJournal that the book is "an absorbing narrative for sophisticated readers."[14] The book received a starred review from Publishers Weekly that called it a "brilliantly crafted" and "visionary tale".[15]

See also

References

  1. ^ Allan, Nina (October 23, 2019). "Stillicide by Cynan Jones review – stunning meditation on climate crisis". The Guardian. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  2. ^ Nevala-Lee, Alec (November 17, 2020). "A Climate-Crisis Novel Offers True-to-Life Snapshots of Survival". The New York Times. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  3. ^ Gordon, Jaime (November 19, 2020). "The PEN Ten: An Interview with Cynan Jones". PEN America. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  4. ^ a b "Stillicide". Kirkus Reviews. September 1, 2020. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  5. ^ Brady, Amy (November 23, 2020). "Water Scarcity and the Climate Crisis in "Stillicide"". Chicago Review of Books. Retrieved September 14, 2025.
  6. ^ Didcock, Barry (December 1, 2019). "Our new favourite podcast". The Herald. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  7. ^ Cox, Roger (November 6, 2019). "Book review: Stillicide, by Cynan Jones". The Scotsman. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  8. ^ Self, John (October 18, 2019). "Stillicide by Cynan Jones — when the drought bites". Financial Times. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  9. ^ Saxby, Clare. "Pouring water on oil". The Times Literary Supplement. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  10. ^ Weldon, Amy (March 5, 2021). "Recommendations Stillicide". Orion Magazine. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  11. ^ Winter, Max (November 19, 2020). "Fiction set in a near-waterless future in Cynan Jones's 'Stillicide'". The Boston Globe. Retrieved July 20, 2025.
  12. ^ Kastner, Julia (November 27, 2020). "Shelf Awareness for Readers for Friday, November 27, 2020". Shelf Awareness. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  13. ^ Forbes, Malcolm (December 28, 2020). "Review: 'Stillicide,' by Cynan Jones". Star Tribune. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  14. ^ Bettencourt, Donna (September 1, 2020). "Stillicide". Library Journal. Retrieved July 27, 2025.
  15. ^ "Stillicide by Cynan Jones". Publishers Weekly. August 25, 2020.
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