I've read Vaughn's Golden Age novels, to mixed results, but enough to merit interest in her new book. Bannerless is a stand alone (thus far anyway, which doesn't mean much, Vaughn is a prolific series writer) and the mixture of dystopia and a murder mystery sounded very enticing. The execution was somewhat less so. Vaughn created a compelling near future post apocalyptic world, but didn't roam in it too much and the murder mystery was very underwhelming. Not quite sure why, thinking about it. The main character was quite compelling, a female investigator, traveling to another settlement to solve a crime, encountering a past love and some complicated local politics. But it was all just sort of skimmed, the story didn't really go into the details when it should have, making for a quick but not particularly satisfying read, a literary equivalent of an appetizer instead of a meal. The only thing Vaughn's world got really right is the reproduction tactics. In so many dystopias with blatant ignorance to dire circumstances everyone reproduces like it's going out of style, which I always found to be utterly idiotic. When resources are limited, present is bleak future more so, one would think making babies should be the last thing on anyone's minds. But no, time and time again, caution is thrown to the wind and kids are made and brought into the world that is at the very best hostile to all lifeforms. Not here, though, in Vaughn's vision of the future, families are set up and the right to reproduce must be earned, thus the banners. It is, thus, a privilege, not a right or a past time. Granted to some that may sound more brutal that bringing children into a devastated devastating world, but is it really...and anyway different strokes...it would certainly explain the way babies are being born now in certain places, like third world countries. No forethought, no plan, just...babies. At any rate, in the Bannerless world all technology is inferior to the world before, expect, inexplicably, the contraceptives. And so there is a well defined social status struggle. And that aspect is interesting and the rest of the book is ok, nothing special, just a decent quick read. Thanks Netgalley.

Enid of Haven is an investigator. She's called to investigate a murder at a town further down the coast road, and she's to lead the investigation assisted by a member of her household. The trip to the village brings up a lot of old memories of how she got to where she is, and how far she's come.

Bannerless is a post apocalyptic mystery that takes place several generations after a series of events have caused the breakdown of modern society as we know it. Most advanced technologies, knowledge and techniques have been lost. Enid has to conduct an investigation much in the manner of investigators of the past, relying on instinct, logic, reasoning and interviews.

There's also marked changes in people's attitudes toward productivity and reproduction. People are expected to think ahead and consider impacts years down the road--such as farming to preserve the productivity of fields for years, and not over farming to preserve the same. There's a strong theme of contribution, and reproduction is a privilege that is awarded to people who contribute to their homes and communities in measurable ways.

Enid is an interesting character and the concept is one that's easy to get drawn into. The characters are all engaging, and the story is inventive. I look forward to seeing where this new series goes.

::SPOLIERS::
I really thought I would love this book. The synopsis had many things that I love and I did love the world and the idea of the book but the story and characters fell flat leaving me greatly disappointed.

There wasn't a climax or mystery. The murder was all an accident and the hidden crops were not that big of a deal. The weak attempts and making it seem like it was a murder were dismissed before you could even really think about it being true. There wasn't any suspense.

The mother with the three kids that seemed like a clear banner less child issue was overlooked because she felt sorry for her. Thomas' death was pointless. They only thing anyone was guilty of was trying to survive in a world full of restrictions.

The only reason I don't give it a one star is due to the fact that I liked the world and the idea of the story but it was very poorly done. This could have been so much better.

Bannerless transcends the limitations of genre, combining many elements to create a fascinating, disturbing, yet strangely satisfying novel. You might describe it as a dystopian detective novel, but that's far too narrow a classification. I tend to dislike such attempts to define a good book, anyway...

Bannerless takes place in a future where civilization has fallen. Odd bits of knowledge and artifacts have survived from before the Fall, but for the most part life has become far more primitive. Luddites might think of it as utopia rather than dystopia.

The heroine, Enid, is an investigator, something akin to a policewoman but far less numerous. She and her enforcer partner have been called to look into a suspicious death, something that just doesn't happen in this version of the future. People are too busy surviving to kill each other. Or not.

Central to the civilization is the notion of implants for birth control, and a strictly regulated 'banner' system that determines who is permitted to have a child. Resources such as fertile land are regulated, too, and those who violate the rules are shunned. Individuals may be exiled, but even whole communities can be shunned; no one will trade with them, and they'll be left to die out on their own.

In the midst of the harsh backdrop is a story of hope, and redemption, and love. This one is well worth reading.

I got this book as part of my membership with NetGalley primarily because I'm a big fan of Carrie Vaughn's Kitty Norville series. I wasn't entirely sure what to expect from its description, except it sounded like an interesting premise. It's speculative fiction in the sense that it takes the world we live in apart by degrees and then wholesale. It's post post-apocalyptic in a way I've never seen depicted before: everything had been destroyed a long time ago, and things had finally normalized. How the protagonist finds her way in the new normal, anchored by some knowledge of the past, makes for a fascinating journey.

My response at the end of it. "Wow."

The crescendo of of battering storms that punctuate the narrative was much more than the atavistic response it generated in the reader and in the characters who had to weather it. It was a leitmotif summed up in two sentances that punched me in the gut: "The worst storms were the ones that changed you. The ones you remembered not for how bad they objectively were, but for how much damage they did to your own world."

This book was a departure from the style I'd come to know and love in the Kitty Norville series, but the fast patter of dialogue appropriate there would have undermined the more subtle transformations of this story. It ventures into a literary style that Vaughn has made her own, but is as far removed from the PNR tropes she's played with previously as is possible. And yet the theme of growing up, learning your place in an imperfect world are as strong and impactful as ever.

For anyone who wants to straddle speculative fiction and fiction, this is about as gentle an introduction as I could recommend. And I would strongly recommend it to anyone who's willing to consider how society's received wisdom spills into their judgments and decisions. The writing is engrossing and definitely worth a read.

As a fan of Carrie Vaughn's since book one, this does NOT disappoint! Pick it up, enjoy and go back and read ALL her others!

I love Carrie Vaughn books and this one is no exception a distopian mystery with an interesting female protagonist. 100 Years after The Fall or the end of civilization, society is now rural, agrarian and trying. to be utopian except that people's natures have not changed and people still do bad and stupid things.
Enid is an investigator trying to solve a crime in a world without modern detective techniques, just going on instinct and brain power. I hope there are more stories in the future in the new world.

A hundred years after the Fall ended global civilization, the Coast Road communities in western North America have made a good life for themselves, despite violent storms. In order not to overload their environment, they enforce strict quotas on maximum crop yields, number of children, and related matters. Humans are still human, however, and some people want more than they are allowed. When a suspicious death brings investigators Enid and Tomas to a seemingly idyllic small town, there is more there than first appears. Intercut with chapters detailing Enid'd younger days, and her travels down the coast with an itinerent musician, this is simultaneously a murder mystery and an intriguing look at one possible post-apocalyptic future.

Recommended.

The United States has destroyed itself with decades of environmental abuse and unsound economic decisions, the people in Coast Road, however, are doing better than would be expected. In their world, birth control is not a choice, it’s mandated for everyone. Only when a person or persons can prove they can provide for a child, financially and emotionally, are they allowed to procreate. They are issued banners as a symbol to all of their success. Enid is the person who handle justice for the Coast Road, and when a man dies suspiciously, she must investigate claims that his death was no accident. This Utopian society is anything but, and Enid must peel back the layers of jealousy, anger and hatred to uncover the truth. This is certainly not the first time a novel has depicted the future where the right to reproduce is strictly controlled, but Vaughn puts a fresh spin on the perspective in this compelling story