Genesis: The Rosie Black Chronicles Book One: Lara Morgan

We’re smack bang in thecentre of a flare of dystopicfiction at the moment but,lucky for us, it’s a verytalented one. Patrick Ness’sChaos Walking Trilogy,Suzanne Collins’ HungerGames books and even thatmost dystopic Australian text, JohnMarsden’s Tomorrow When the War Began isgetting a second life in its cinematic release.

Entering this fray is Lara Morgan withGenesis, the first in the Rosie Black series, asharp YA thriller set in an all-too-believablefuture. The polar ice caps have melted andthe cities flooded, wrenching humanity intoa society of haves and have-nots.Rosie Black ticks all the boxes as the everydaygirl, beset by circumstance, yet floodedwith ambition and chafing at her restrictedlife. Then, one day, Rosie finds a mysteriousbox and must figure out its secretsbefore they consume her.

While we do hitsomewhat archetypal territory – a virus, acolony on another planet and a bunch ofsocial outcasts to help save the day – it isthe eerie familiarity of the urban Australianlandscape and the sheer terrifying possibilityof this future that makes this one standout from the increasingly crowded shelves.