Oppression – The Unseen Library

Publisher: Listening Library (Audiobook – 29 December 2020)

Series: DC Icons – Book Five

Length: 8 hours and 29 minutes

My Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

Prepare for a bold new story featuring the iconic DC Comics character Black Canary in Black Canary: Breaking Silence by Alexandra Monir, the fifth compelling book in the DC Icons range. The DC Icons books are a fantastic collection of unconnected young adult tie-in novels that show unique and entertaining new non-canon teenage origin stories of some of your favourite DC Comics characters, including Wonder Woman and Batman. I have previously read a couple of the books in this fun series, such as Catwoman: Soulstealer by Sarah J. Maas and Superman: Dawnbreaker by Matt de la Pena, both of which were great reads that did an amazing job bringing their characters to life. I actually thought that this series finished after four books, so I was very surprised when Breaking Silence came out late last year. However, the moment I saw it was out, I made sure to grab a copy and had an interesting time reading it a little while ago.

Synopsis:

THE HANDMAID’S TALE meets the DC universe in this breathtaking, thrilling origin story of Black Canary. Her voice is her weapon, and in a near future world where women have no rights, she won’t hesitate to use everything she has to fight back.

Dinah Lance was seven years old when she overheard the impossible: the sound of a girl singing. It was something she was never meant to hear—not in her lifetime, and not in Gotham City, taken over by the Court of Owls. The sinister organization rules Gotham as a patriarchal dictatorship, all the while spreading their influence like a virus across the globe.

Now seventeen, Dinah can’t forget that haunting sound, and she’s beginning to discover that her own voice is just as powerful. But singing is forbidden—a one-way stop to a certain death sentence. Can she balance her father’s desire to keep her safe, a blossoming romance with mysterious new student Oliver Queen, and her own desire to help other women and girls rise up and finally be heard? And will her voice be powerful enough to destroy the Court of Owls once and for all?

Breaking Silence turned out to be an excellent tie-in novel that did a fantastic job capturing the character of Black Canary and placing her in a unique situation. This was the first novel that I have read from author Alexandra Monir, an Iranian-American author who has written several intriguing young adult novels, including her Timeless and The Final Six series. I ended up getting through this novel very quickly and I had an amazing time listening to its clever and enjoyable tale.

This book’s story starts off quick and fast, establishing the new setting of a futuristic, dystopian Gotham city, where the villains have won and the population, particularly the women, are oppressed and terrified. Into this setting is inserted a teenage Dinah Lance, who has lived her entire life in the Court of Owls dark and tyrannical shadow. Desperate to rebel, especially after seeing friends and family victimised by the Court, Dinah finds her inner strength, as well as some mysterious vocal powers, which allow her to fight back in her own way. This results in an intense and exciting central part of the novel, as Dinah tries to hide her rebellious streak from the Court’s followers, while slowly coming to terms with who she is. At the same time, she enters into a risky relationship with the glamorous new student at her high school, Oliver Queen, whose family are heavily connected to the Court of Owls. This all leads up to a thrilling conclusion when Dinah and her friends need to find a way to stop the Court’s most despicable plans and find a way to stop them for good.

I quite enjoyed the cool story contained within Breaking Silence and it was very easy to get addicted to. I loved the excellent blend of established DC lore with a patriarchal dystopian dictatorship, and it resulted in an excellent tale of resistance and rebellion against a cruel authority. Monir does a lot within this one novel, not only introducing a unique and compelling new period of DC lore but also setting up a great heroic origin tale that showcases the protagonist’s defining adventure. The pace of Breaking Silence is very fast, and readers end up moving through the narrative extremely quickly. The author has set up an intriguing blend of action, suspense, and teen drama, which results in a compelling and moving narrative. There are several great twists scattered throughout the book, as well as clever references to the main DC comics, although anyone familiar with the DC canon in any way will know that Oliver Queen is no threat to Dinah, despite the constant hints to the contrary. I did find the ending a little sudden and underwhelming, which slightly tanked my overall opinion of the book, but this was still a great and enjoyable novel that will appeal to a wide base of readers, including both the young adult market and older established fans.

I have to say that I was rather impressed with how Monir took the background of the Black Canary character and adapted it to a completely new setting. While some substantial character elements are changed to fit the dystopian setting, the author still utilises or alludes to many key details from the comics to great effect. As a result, you get a fantastic version of the martial arts using, canary cry wielding, strong-willed hero, who is damaged and withdrawn after years of oppression due to her gender. I loved how Monir managed to rework several other iconic DC characters to fit around the younger Black Canary, and you get to see several different versions of characters essential to the Dinah Lance Black Canary mythos, including Oracle, the original Black Canary, and Lady Shiva. I also liked the clever rework of the Black Canary/Green Arrow relationship into a typical teen romance storyline which fit the young adult nature of this book perfectly. Monir makes sure to highlight the importance of music to the character, something that is particularly emphasised in some of the more recent Black Canary comics where she is a bit of a punk rocker, and which is re-worked here to help the character sing some anti-Court propaganda songs. Fans of Black Canary and DC Comics are going to have fun seeing all the clever references and unique alterations to the hero and her associates, and I really liked Monir’s version of the character.

Easily one of the most intriguing and distinguishing features of Breaking Silence is the extra dark and sinister version of Gotham City that the story is set in. This is a futuristic Gotham City where Batman is long dead and the ruthless Court of Owls, have taken control and have instituted a fascist, patriarchal regime. There are some many amazing and horrifying elements to this setting, and it was clear that Monir was trying to combine a The Handmaid’s Tale inspired society with the iconic and dark comic setting of Gotham. I think that this unique combination worked extremely well, as this dystopian Gotham is a pretty sinister place, with a disturbing and horrifying anti-female agenda. Monir masterfully crafts together several great scenes and sequences that highlight how women are oppressed, including one shudder-inducing scene where a school doctor gets his kicks “examining” the female students to see if one of them is the Black Canary. I felt it was interesting that one of the tyrannies that much of the plot revolved around was a forced biological ban of women singing, to limit their ability to raise their voices in protest. Monir covers this oppression extremely well, and cleverly examines the psychological and emotional impact that the removal of singing could have on already oppressed women.

I very much liked the author’s use of the Court of Owls as the main antagonists. The Court of Owls are a fantastic group of villains who are a relatively recent addition to the Batman canon (introduced in the Batman comics in 2011, frankly one of the few good things to come out of the New 52). The Court are a secret society made up of the wealthy elite of Gotham who secretly control the city from shadows and fight to keep the wealthy in power and the poor oppressed. Monir transitions this group perfectly into a patriarchal organisation who take power after Batman’s death, killing all the other heroes with their ruthless powered enforcers, the Talons. There are some great parallels between the Court of Owls and right-wing groups like the Nazi Party, and I think that the author did a great job reutilising them for her story. The Talons also prove to be a particularly dangerous group of opponents for the protagonist and her allies, and it was a lot of fun to see Black Canary attempt to take them down with her fighting skills alone.

Black Canary: Breaking Silence is an excellent fifth novel in the DC Icons range, producing an amazing story that did the Black Canary proud. Alexandra Monir’s tie-in novel presents a unique and powerful tale that places a teenage version of the character into a dangerous and oppressive version of Gotham City. With a very intriguing setting and fantastic narrative loaded with revolution and inner-strength, Breaking Silence is a fantastic read with some real heart to it. A strongly recommended read, especially in its great audiobook format which is narrated by Kathleen McInerney (who did a great job inhabiting the central role of Black Canary), Breaking Silence is your new young adult superhero obsession.

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In a Great Southern Land Cover

Publisher: HQ (Trade Paperback format – 18 March 2019)

Series: Standalone

Length: 416 pages

My Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

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Historical drama author Mary-Anne O’Connor once again presents the readers with a powerful and moving journey through a number of iconic moments in Australian history with her fourth book, In a Great Southern Land, which focuses on Australia’s colonial history and the chaos surrounding the infamous Eureka Stockade.

In 1851, the colonised but still mythical continent of Australia represents many things for many different people. For the Clancy family living in Ireland it represents freedom, as they seek their own land away from the British aristocracy that controls their country. For young Eve Richards it represents a harsh prison; she is unfairly transported as a convict after losing everything that she cares about.

Once in New South Wales, Eve briefly encounters the wild but kind Clancy brother, Kieran, who manages to save her from a harsh life in the Tasmanian colonies. Following a bad experience as he left Ireland, Kieran is wondering around Australia in search of a new purpose, while his family, including his brother, Liam, and his sister, Eileen, settle in Orange. Despite the love of his family, Kieran’s temper and thirst for adventure leads him down to the goldfields at Ballarat, close to where Eve is employed as a convict servant.

It does not take long for Kieran and Eve to find each other again, and the two are soon drawn together romantically. However, their plans for their future and a life together are imperilled by events occurring around the goldfields. The corrupt colonial regime is imposing harsh taxes on the miners attempting to scratch a living at the fields, and resentment and hostility is growing. When several shocking events become a catalyst for revolt among the miners, Kieran finds himself being forced to choose between supporting his friends or marrying Eve. Can Kieran and Eve’s relationship survive the chaos of the Eureka Stockade, or will tragedy once again strike them both?

This is the fourth book from Australian author Mary-Anne O’Connor, who specialises in historical dramas set in the backdrop of significant events in Australia’s history. Her 2015 debut, Gallipoli Street, features aspects of World Wars I and II as well as the Great Depression. Her second book, Worth Fighting For, is set in World War II, while her third book, War Flower, focuses on Australia in the 1960s, including the country’s involvement in the Vietnam War. In a Great Southern Land is the author’s first foray into a 19^th century setting, and her love and dedication to recounting parts of Australia’s complex and chaotic history once again shines through.

At its heart, In a Great Southern Land is a dramatic story of several individuals who are searching for a new beginning, and find love, loss and upheaval in their new home. I have to admit that dramatic novels are not usually the sort of book that I am naturally drawn to, but something about this book really appealed to me and I had a great time reading it. The main characters are extremely sympathetic and realistic, and the reader can not help but get drawn into their story. A lot of bad stuff affects all of them, especially Kieran and Eve, and you are left hoping that they can hang on and find the happiness that they deserve. I quite enjoyed the romance angle between Kieran and Eve; it came about quite naturally and had quite a satisfying conclusion. I really got into this fantastic story and I was impressed by how this fantastic dramatic tale was woven so effectively into the book’s amazing historical elements.

One of the things I quite liked about this book was O’Connor’s ability to examine and bring several aspects of Australia’s colonial history to life. Several iconic parts of the mid-19^th century Australian experience are explored by the author, including the transportation of convicted criminals from England to Australia, the often terrible convict lifestyle, the resettlement of Irish settlers to various parts of Australia and the trials and tribulations of those seeking their fortunes in the goldfields. On top of that, O’Connor also explores various Australian locations, including historical Sydney, Melbourne, Orange and Ballarat. All of these examinations of history are deeply fascinating, and I really enjoyed reading about them. The author has obvious skill at portraying all the historical aspects, and the reader gets a real sense of what it would have been like to experience these historical events, ordeals and locations.

The most significant historical event that occurs within this book is the Eureka Stockade, which plays a huge role in the overall story. O’Connor does an amazing job examining this interesting and often venerated piece of Australia’s colonial history and explores so many of the key elements surrounding the event. As such, the reader gets an excellent idea of what events led up to the Eureka Stockade, and why the participants thought it was necessary to organise as they did. The actual battle at the Eureka Stockade is pretty brutal and tragic for the reader and becomes one of the major parts within the book. I quite liked the examination of the aftermath of the event, especially the rather entertaining, but apparently accurate, courtroom sequence, which I was not as familiar with. O’Connor does a fantastic job brining the Eureka Stockade to life, and I was quite impressed with how it was utilised in the telling of the book’s dramatic storylines.

I really enjoyed the author’s underlying examination of freedom and control that seemed to permeate a large amount of In a Great Southern Land’s plot. Throughout the story, the main characters experience high amounts of oppression or prejudice, often from upper-class English characters, due to a wide range of social factors. For example, before the Clancy family leave for Australia, they are oppressed by the rich, English family who controls their land and whose greed takes something precious from Kieran. Eve is taken advantage of by the son of the household she works for and is then cast out when the affair is discovered without the son standing up for her. Even when they reach the promised land of Australia, the characters are still oppressed. The Clancy family still face discrimination for being Irish, with the police targeting Kieran, and one particularly dislikeable doctor refusing to leave a party to treat someone from Ireland. Eve, on the other hand, is treated poorly as a convict, and even after she finds work with a nice, wealthy family, she and Kieran are forced to act a certain way with Eve’s employers in order to gain permission to marry. This underlying oppression and the resentment and anger that these characters felt plays wonderfully into the events that led up to the Eureka Stockade, and it was intriguing to see how these events affected the characters’ decisions in relation to these events.

In this book, Mary-Anne O’Connor has produced another outstanding historical drama that the reader really gets drawn into. The main story is deep and emotive and ties in well with O’Connor’s rich and detailed depictions of historical events that represent key points in Australia’s colonial history. In a Great Southern Land is an amazing and powerful read that I was quite happy to find myself really enjoying. I ranked this book 4.5 stars, and I will be quite interested to see what period of Australian history O’Connor decides to explore next.

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