Assessment:
Plot/Idea: The Serpent Underneath is set in the near future after a deadly strain of rabies ravages the nation, changing the face of the United States itself. Several plots are seamlessly interwoven, each character’s story melding with the others in sometimes unexpected ways.
Prose: Dialogue serves to enhance the tale, with characters from different factions using different speech patterns. Worldbuilding sections paint a very clear picture of life in this future world, though the length of these sections tend to slow an otherwise quickly-paced tale.
Originality: This interesting tale of a father searching for his son and young adults struggling to find their place within a dystopian society filled with murder, daring escapes, and standing up to the iron-fisted control of the Community feels wholly unique.
Character/Execution: Protagonist Haven is inquisitive but understandably wary of rocking the boat, while Nathan is incredibly driven and filled with determination in the face of seeming impossibility. Adrien is a fascinating mix between antihero sensibilities and outright sociopathic tendencies, and all minor characters are imperative to the plot, serving the story in a variety of meaningful ways.
Blurb: A fascinating near-future sci-fi tale filled with murder, daring escapes, and a search for a long-lost son that will keep readers entranced.
Date Submitted: April 12, 2023
The Serpent Underneath, A Brilliantly Nuanced Dystopian Thriller By Julie A. Fragoules
The Bottom Line: Fans of Margaret Atwood and Suzanne Collins will relish this under-the-radar dystopian thriller featuring a fascinating post-apocalyptic America and an enigmatic anti-hero.
In a world devastated by socio-economic collapse, survival in America is a daily struggle. Eighteen-year-old Haven Segreti, recruited from her family’s isolated compound, is forced to serve as a member of a government “pack” – a unit of elite teens trained to serve the New Republic. She enjoys privileges forbidden from the masses, but still finds herself torn between conformity and rebellion, loyalty and betrayal.
Haven’s mentor, 36-year-old Adrien Damaso, is the protégé of the President of the Ruling Council and has quickly risen through the ranks of the new order. But his intentions are far more sinister than anyone realizes. Adrien enforces compliance, but he’s also a manipulator, murderer and closeted revolutionary.
In Adrien, author Julie A. Fragoules has created a brilliantly nuanced character (“a psychopath with a soft spot”). Is he an anti-hero, a villain, or both? Are his principles noble? Readers can look forward to pondering that question throughout. Adrien is clearly cruel, yet capable of spouting inspiring political rhetoric that feels timely even within the context of a dystopian world: “I have, to the contrary and at great personal risk, encouraged you to think independently. So, let us discard the standard rhetoric. Our nation claims fairness, equality and collective responsibility as its foundation. In contrast, the U.S. venerated individual liberty and personal responsibility.”
While the world Fragoules builds within the New Republic may seem like comfort food for fans of dystopian fiction, it’s also notably original. An example is the preciousness and rarity of historical knowledge (history is deemed to be not “socially relevant”) which is expertly revealed early on and pays off several times throughout the story. Thoughtful touches like this separate this well-crafted story from disposable dystopian fiction, and readers who dive in will be rewarded with a rich tapestry of ideas, character development and compelling character arcs.
"A spirited cast brightens this gripping, densely packed dystopian tale.
THE SERPENT UNDERNEATH
BY JULIE A. FRAGOULES ‧ RELEASE DATE: APRIL 4, 2023
Fragoules’ debut SF novel spotlights remarkable individuals who fight totalitarian rule in a near-future world.
Eighteen-year-old Haven Segreti was born into a dystopian future America. It’s been two decades since a string of disasters—including starvation, disease, and economic collapse—ravaged the country. Haven works as an Assimilation Administrator in the New Republic, which comprises the territory east of the Mississippi River. She processes “outsiders” joining the New Republic’s walled cities. Living in these cities is the only way to get any assistance from a government that demands conformity. Haven considers this a draconian means to control its citizens, a belief that she shares with her charismatic team leader, Adrien Damaso. He’s also the person Haven suspects when someone brutally murders an administrative leader. In Texas, outside of the New Republic’s borders, Nathan Hambrice awakens from a 20-year coma to a “bizarre alternate world.” He’s just as shocked to learn that he has a son living in the east, a revelation that ultimately sends Nathan on a potentially dangerous journey. The author excels at worldbuilding. Front-loading the narrative with exposition gives the story an unrushed tempo; Fragoules favors character development over action, and she meticulously assembles a complex cast. Adrien, for one, is magnetic but unnerving, confessing, “Emotions are an intellectual curiosity for me. My joys come from…darker things.” There’s a propulsive narrative drive as Nathan goes after his son and Haven and her friends fight to free themselves of the New Republic’s authority. This novel, which rolls out a prospective series, leaves much to explore for sequels and hints at expansion, as the former United States isn’t the only region in turmoil.
A spirited cast brightens this gripping, densely packed dystopian tale.
A frightening novel about America’s potential future, The Serpent Underneath by Julie A. Fragoules is a grim prophecy of societal collapse, and a rough-cut vision of what chaos might follow. Driven by a three-dimensional cast of familiar characters – selfless social warriors, manipulative power-mongers, incompetent politicians, and bedfellows of desperation – the post-apocalyptic narrative borders on allegorical, for a powerfully written literary warning. Further strengthening the prose is Fragoules’ masterful ear for dialogue, as well as her clear fluency in social, political, ecological, and philosophical issues, both current and imminent, resulting in a prescient and engrossing work of speculative fiction.
