Merlin Publishers breaks new ground with Simon Bartolo’s Deformity, its first home-grown English language fiction title. Perched on the edge of the next leap in human evolution, 15-year-old Erick Noyle finds himself in a race against time …
This is the disquieting premise to Deformity, one of the most exciting young adult novels to be published in recent months. Written by none other than Simon Bartolo, best-selling author – together with Loranne Vella – of the record-smashing cult trilogy Il-Fiddien (who hasn’t heard of Sqaq l-Infern, Wied Wirdien and Il-Gnien tad-Dmugh, each of which won the National Book Award?), Deformity is Merlin Publishers’ first original fiction title in English.
Possibly Malta’s only dystopian novel to date, it is set in 2111, in a world whose landscape has been dramatically transformed by cataclysmic flooding. The descriptions of the resultant setup of society are one of the highlights of the book: communities have regrouped onto “Hills”, with their own special ways of sourcing electricity and participating in everyday life. Touches such as the resurgence of the radio as a means of mass communication, and the ‘foexes’ (you’ll have to look these up in the novel) as a fashion accessory, reflect the thought that has gone into the creation of this dystopian world.
CHANGES
Society has also changed, with the dramatic advances in genetic engineering. Governments – but also the private sector – are experimenting with altered human genes, and the tremendous effects this is having on a new generation of humans are only just becoming chillingly evident.
Meanwhile, the mood is very threatening. Teenage boys nationwide are being mandatorily sterilised by a new highly controversial government campaign: the Conscious Evolution Project. In the lawless marshes and backroads, a gang of serial rapists, dubbed ‘the birthday rapists’, is terrorising the population – even as people are questioning why the rapes are happening in disparate parts of the country.
The world of Deformity feels very altered in some ways, yet very familiar in others. This in-betweeness is a literary element that Bartolo loves to explore. In his words, “I seem to be fascinated by those in-between places which cannot exist with two (or more) other states. Erick Noyle (Deformity) is somewhere between a human being and an animal, Estella (Il-Fiddien trilogy) is a pretty girl who could also be a witch, Michel (Kliem ir-Rih) could be gay but he could also be straight. And Jason is the chosen one by both the good and the evil factions in Il-Gnien tad-Dmugh. This forces him into a position where he has to choose … precisely between two opposing states. Practically all the characters of my novels are caught in this momentous in-betweeness that could lead to just about any outcome imaginable.”
MYSTERIES
It is this air of mystery, this anything might happen, that keeps the readers guessing in Deformity, even as events unfold that take us first in one direction, then in the next. This ties in with the age of Deformity’s main character: Erick is 15, and is discovering himself socially, sexually and emotionally, all the while coming to terms with his being “different” (or “special”, depending on points of view). Making his leading character a 15-year-old was a very conscious choice for Bartolo.
“I guess that it has been automatic for me to be drawn towards an age when we are not children anymore but still not adults. It is an in-between age which is so full of possibility that for me – as an adult writer – becomes almost unbearable to deal with. At the age of 15 we are immortal (or we believe we are), we are full of fear and at the same time afraid of nothing at all.
“It is that what if … notion that is practically limitless and which reaches its climax when we’re 15 that makes me tremble with the excitement – the need even – to write, in the same way that a composers might get excited over their favourite chord progression or artists over a perfect sunset.”
Part breathless adventure, part love and sex (and the fumbling discoveries of youth), part science fiction, Deformity is category-defying, as it twists and turns into and out of seemingly different genres. Yet, these all come together as we follow Erick along his journey of self-discovery, because, as the novel’s tag-line warns us, “every adventure needs a monster”.
Deformity is available in all good bookshops. See: www.merlinlibrary.com or find them on Facebook for more information.