A great story to listen to

DAEIOS: 140 FEET DOWN
DAEIOS is the first audiobook I have listened to in its entirety. Previously, I was not a fan of audiobooks because I just could not concentrate on them. However, with a new, long commute time, I decided to try again. It turns out that DAEIOS was the perfect way to ease myself into reading in this new medium. The story itself was interesting, and the narration was well done. Tiana Saunders, the narrator, had an excellent voice and expressions for all the characters. She brought Shea to life with a wonderful relatability that made it easy to sink into the novel.
The story itself is fascinating. It combines so many different elements of dystopian and near apocalyptic fiction; natural disasters, the terrifying decline of society, powerful new diseases, sexist control, and zealots that offer redemption in a giant bunker.
Throughout the story, I found myself wishing that it was more than one novel, so that each of the elements was explored in more depth. The overall structure of the story was well-handled, with three distinct phases for Shae to live through. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, but I would have loved a little more detail about the last two-thirds of the books to really sink into it more. It also would have helped support the rather large change in Shae’s personality. That said, sometimes an author has a skill for giving just enough detail to make it all work, without bogging things down, and Penor mastered that.
The author skillfully married a whole range of themes in this story by keeping them tied to various plot points. When Shae was above ground, we got a good dose of the environmental and societal issues. When she was in Daeios, we got to see the cult-like brainwashing and sexism in full force.
One of my favourite parts of any story is character development. There is a clear trajectory of learning here for Shae, and for the most part, it was wonderful to watch. I was a little thrown by the resolution she made in the final part of the novel, as it didn’t quite seem to follow (in my mind, at least), from the trauma she faced.
Now, one thing that I enjoy about dystopian fiction is that the best stuff always leaves you feeling a little uncomfortable. A little off kilter. Whether it is because we can see our world spiraling towards that dystopian element, or because we are already there and are forced to examine it, that kind of thought provoking content is what I enjoy. There was some of that in this novel that I am still on the fence about. Part of the disaster-ridden future that Penor build is based on the idea that there was a racial divide, that we fell back in time to a point where white people were once more seen as superior to those of other races. Shae was brought up with this way of thinking, and it is clear that Daeios was created to propagate this feel of a master race. There are some references to people of other ethnic backgrounds splattered throughout the story, but always in ways that fall back on those old, uncomfortable stereotypes.
Overall, though, the main storyline is firmly grounded in Shae’s experience in Daeios, where race is not as much of an issue as gender, religion, and bodily autonomy. (((((((Skip to the next paragraph if you want to avoid spoilers)))))))) When she escapes, her resolution is to help restore an equal footing for all races. A wonderful goal, of course, but I have trouble connecting that with her experience and character development, as race played a minimal part in her experience. I understand that she no longer wanted to be an Elite, as that was tied with everything she went through, but the jump to uniter of the races didn’t quite connect for me. In the few times she came across people of other races, she treated them with nothing but suspicion and otherness. None of the interactions went well. It doesn’t make sense to me that she would then choose this as her purpose going forward, when she had learned such poignant lessons about power, authority, abuse, and bodily autonomy.
Above thoughts aside, Daeios was a great read. My favourite part had to be the shifts in Shae’s relationship with her mother. For some reason, mothers seem to get a pretty crappy story arc in a lot of modern film and fiction, so seeing that relationship grow was one of my favourite parts of the novel.
If you are a lover of dystopian fiction, Daeios is definitely worth a read. It is well-written, engaging, and dealt with a wide range of themes in a way that feels organic and considered. It was a great companion for my long commute, and showed me that audiobooks will be my new BFF if I can find other gems like this one.

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