Where will Scotland be in three decades time? Mostly under water, along with the rest of Britain, according to this dystopian graphic novel, edited by Denise Mina, which features the work of Irvine Welsh, Mary Talbot and Pat Mills.
The cover shows a drowned Edinburgh (the book has been produced with backing from the city's book festival), but the setting is Scotland's highest village, Wanlockhead. Here the masses huddle in shacks around a hi-tech tower where the rich live, shielded by security men and antibacterial sprays. The main focus is Cait, the shanty-dwelling co-presenter of a TV show set on a GM farm, who attracts the attention of corrupt corporate types. But the six chapters feature different writers and artists, which results in episodes that contrast in tone and spin off into different narratives. These include the noirish account of a boxer-turned-henchman's attack of conscience; a grim, luridly drawn tale of revenge; and a pleasingly spare story of middle-class despair. It's far from tidy, and the final chapter has to make some improbable leaps to get to its conclusion, but this is a quirky and thoroughly enjoyable work.
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