Clay's Ark by Octavia Butler

 It's disconcerting to pick up a book about a raging, unknown virus and find that it is set in the year 2021. It was written in 1984.

Ironically (or maybe not??), when I read 1984, it was probably 1998 or '99, so it was a book set in the future that was already in my past. Therefore, the idea that 1984 may actually look like that was intriguing in a creative sense, but couldn't actually happen, because, well, it hadn't. 

But to read a futuristic novel published 37 years before this year that coincidentally (or maybe not??) is set in this year, and then to have it be similar to events we are currently dealing with.....well, it's uncanny. 

It makes me wonder - why 2021? Why did the author take that particular year in the future and think, yes, this would make a great year for my futuristic virus novel? It almost feels deja vu-like, similar to how in a dream you KNOW you are in a dream and you know that whatever you are thinking you can make happen because it isn't real, but it still feels so dang real. Just knowing that out of all the future years she could have chosen, Octavia Butler chose the year 2021 for her book Clay's Ark is eerie. 

It got weirder as I continued to read. While the storyline and virus complications don't mirror this past year or this particular Coronavirus in our current pandemic, certain lines startle me with their clairvoyance.

'Listen! We're infectious for as much as two weeks before we start to show symptoms - except for people like you who won't have two weeks between infection and symptoms. How many people do you think the average person could infect in two weeks of city life? How many could his victims infect?'

So eerie when compared to today's CDC recommendations for quarantine for those who have been around people with Covid 19 - but who are not showing any symptoms. 

'"You're worse than a Goddamn Typhoid Mary!"

"A what?" ..... 

"A carrier," Zeriam said.  "A disease carrier so irresponsible she had to be locked up to keep her from spreading her disease."'

Clay's Ark was part of the latest book bundle I received from my local library. (Yes, I caved and asked for more sci-fi! I'm still in my rut/kick. What can I say? I enjoy this genre!) Also included were Michael Crichtons' Andromeda Strain, Blake Crouch's Recursion (which I have already read and highly recommend!), and Steven James Synapse. 

I chose to read Andromeda Strain first, since I have read others by Crichton and have enjoyed them. It was interesting, but I was a little let down by the end of it. In fact, it was so forgettable that I actually just googled "how did Andromeda Strain end" to remind myself. 

Next, I picked up Steven James Synapse and was less than two pages in when my brain screamed "trigger warning!!!". Maybe it's because I know people who have dealt with or are dealing with childlessness or losing a child, but I felt that this book needed a warning stamped on the front cover for this particular wrenching situation. I immediately put the book away. 

Blake Crouch was a pandemic find of mine in late2020 and I highly recommend his books. If you are into time travel, pandemics and the human psyche, definitely check out both Dark Matter and Recursion.