WHAT WE DON'T KNOW WON'T HURT US

A futuristic debut novel focuses on an affluent family in Ireland.

Sparling’s story is set in Ireland in the 2800s. Although Dublin is now large enough to have an Old Dublin and a New Dublin and robots are capable of robbing banks, people, more or less, act as they do today. Young people still go to universities, and some families are enormously wealthy. One such family is the O’Hare clan. The O’Hares have an immense amount of money thanks to a “Baked Fresh” brand of bread. But money doesn’t shield them from tragedy. When Ian O’Hare is at the University of Dublin, he meets a drug dealer named Jeff T. Ortez. Jeff owns a certain curiosity: a suicide pill that will kill the person who takes it and be completely untraceable. Ian is intrigued. He’s also jealous of his brother Mike’s relationship with a beautiful young woman named Louise. Ian purchases the pill and uses it to kill his brother. Unbeknownst to Ian, Louise is pregnant with Mike’s child. Still, Ian manages to persuade Louise to become his wife. She gives birth to Mike’s son, a boy called Simon. Later, she bears Ian a child, named Luke. The story follows the paths of Simon and Luke as they make their way in the world. By 2819, the planet experiences increasing chaos. Eventually, a political organization known as the New World Order emerges. The NWO is keen on placing microchips under the skins of all citizens. The group is endorsed publicly by Jeff. Surely, humanity is headed in a dangerous direction.

Sparling’s ever-expanding story of the O’Hares and the world in which they live comes to include clones, a cult that carries out assassinations, and a plant that’s guaranteed to destabilize “the world order.” Readers will never be quite sure what will be thrown into the mix next. Just as it seems the main action will concern Ian and the secret murder of his brother, events shift. While readers will find the ending to be completely unexpected from the initial pages, some bland language can make getting to that conclusion a lengthy process. Several descriptions, such as how a character speaks in “a grave and serious manner” and has a demeanor that comes “from a place of deep suffering,” don’t offer much in the way of nuance. The dialogue can also be a bit flat. When Luke is asked about his job, he responds bluntly: “I work at a coffee shop on Raglan Road.” Still, the novel includes many lines worth contemplating. For those who fear new technology, the story points out that “once self-driving cars were invented, people didn’t imagine driving ever again.” One character considers how life is “a constant state of ascendance. Some think it is a slow decay. No. They are wrong. It is an ascendance.” Such ideas add a heady quality to what is ultimately a strange, absorbing, and surprising tale. Even amid the robots and clones, people in the 2800s are still trying to grapple with the challenges of existence.

An engrossing tale that offers intriguing reflections about humanity’s future.