The Emergency tells the tale of a family living through divisive political turmoil. In a setting where there is no real formal law and order, several characters must decide where they stand on important issues that fit with the majority’s ideas or go against the grain and form their own moral compass. Hopefully no one comes for me for saying this but I found the author’s writing style to be similar to Ray Bradbury or Kurt Vonnegut in the sense that the message within the story is not very clear cut and you have to read a bit between the lines to draw a conclusion. With that being said, I think this story tries to challenge what one defines as good or bad, and if doing bad things makes someone a bad person regardless of context. It also highlights some other topics that I think are important in the current day and age such as herd mentality, fear mongering, otherness, and artificial intelligence. Overall, I enjoyed this book and I would like to read more from this author in the future. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the e-ARC.

The Emergency follows an Empire that has collapsed. This leads to an Emergency and urban Burghers and rural Yeomen are on opposite sides with different ideologies. The novel follows Doctor Hugo Rustin who is chief surgeon at the Imperial College Hospital and is struggling to connect with society after the Emergency. His wife, Annabelle finds fulfilment in the community and Together. Their daughter, Selva has turned against her father’s values and is pulling away from him. Rustin decides to go on a humanitarian mission with his daughter Selva just as the conflict between the Burghers and Yeomen is reaching a crisis.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2025 after reading Packer’s nonfiction work, Last Best Hope and this lived up to all my expectations. This novel reminded me of George Orwell and I think this perfectly reflects what Packer has discussed in his nonfiction. This is such a unique novel and I honestly don’t think I’ve read anything like this before. Learning about the society in this was so interesting and I particularly liked the Yeomen. I think there is a lot to take away from this regarding politics, society and ideology. I don’t think this will be for everyone but I do think everyone should read it because it’s truly fantastic and definitely one of my favourite reads of the year. This is a book that sticks with you and I have not stopped thinking about it since I read it. The writing is so good. I loved this so much and I had such a great reading experience.

The Emergency, as an event, was nothing short of a societal and systemic upheaval of cataclysmic proportions. Overnight, the enforcers of the Empire fled, leaving once-beholden individuals, spanning three different cultural groups - the Burghers of the city, the Yeoman in the farmland, and the nomadic and triangulated outliers called Strangers - immediately empowered to immediately redefine their present and future, shedding all that failed to serve them.

“Yes, that was it — to be better! It was what everyone in all times wanted, even if the wish lay buried for years under layers of quotidian debris. But the effort needed was immense, the human stuff so flawed — indifference, indolence, fear.”

What was promised — communality in place of archaic hierarchies, group decision making instead of singular ruling, an uplifting of the young to shape the world they inherit — quickly descends into a fascist, fear-driven state with a new-but-same-as-the-old hierarchy of power, class and “The Other.”

There’s a throughline of how attempts at reinvention, of “doing things better” and “getting it right this time,” leads not to a revolution but to repeating the patterns, behaviors and failures of past empires.

I can’t say the book gave me faith in our ability (at scale, and in my lifetime) to join together and affect radical change that shifts the scales of power, eliminates fascism and oppression, and improves the lives of everyone on earth.

But it did affirm that we can be better at a community level (perhaps even beyond that!), or perhaps beyond that - but only if we’re willing to relinquish our ties to the way things have always been, to our position in social and economic hierarchies, to the ways we “other” those with less privilege, and to the blind faith placed in those in power.

4.5 stars. Thanks to the publisher - Farrar, Straus and Giroux - and NetGalley for access to an advanced copy of this novel.

Immensely impressive and engaging. This long, thoughtful yet gripping story reimagines modern conflicts and relocates them in an alternative world. Class, race, politics, reactionary and progressive forces are all held up and scrutinized - sometimes repetitively - within a pacy narrative that pulls the reader along. There’s more than a whiff of The Lord of the Flies to the darker aspects of the tale, and similar scepticism about human nature, though this is belied by the response of our hero, the doctor. What’s fascinating is the world the author has created and rounded out. Modern parallels are legion.
It’s not flawless: sometimes its philosophical musings are excessive, or its characterization skimpy. Nevertheless this is rich and rewarding work and should receive a lot of attention.

The best dystopian stories are the ones that are so close to us that you feel that can turn into reality at any moment. The Emergency is that.

This book represents the struggle each of us have in belonging, in knowing who we are, and how we adapt to fit in this world and society. It is mesmerising to see how different people react to it, not just as the Rustin family, but also the side and invisible characters.

My favourite part was reading the different POVs and how the voice of each character was so well defined. In each POV we feel the pains, beliefs and understand the reason behind their actions.

It was heartbreaking to see how each character thought it was lost. At the end, we recognised how it was mainly the forces of society, and their willingness to be/fit/provide better their made them actually be lost.

The ending for it simplicity and perfection was devastating. If only we as society could understand what better humans actually are.

There were times, I was frustrated, mad, and annoyed but this is - in my opinion - exactly what George Packer intended. The emergency is a book to make us think and feel something, for our own - and not what others directed us to think and feel.

The Emergency comes on an ordinary late spring day and changes everything for the City-based Burghers and the rural/agricultural Yeomen. What was once a cooperative existence has turned into a violent conflict. The young have taken over in a movement called Together with rousing slogans such as “Listen to the young”, “Everyone belongs” and “You shall be as gods”.

The story mostly follows Dr. Hugo Rustin, who is trying to get his bearings in the rapidly-changing world. As he struggles to find his place in the new order, Dr. Rustin faces challenges within his own household; his teenage daughter Selva has enthusiastically joined Together with a vision toward improving society beyond that of her father’s generation. When Dr. Rustin hears of an injured Yeoman boy who is lost in the countryside, he is determined to leave his familiar environment to find him. His daughter joins him on his journey and thus begins the heart of the novel, which examines the relationship between the two and their encounters with the forces that strive to lead in the new order.

I enjoyed the world-building of this book and followed the narrative closely as it grew more and more intense. However, I would have liked to have known more about the Burghers and the Yeomen (and the Strangers), maybe with a chapter or two up front about society before the Emergency (the little-mentioned Empire). I also struggled a little to understand the Yeoman movement, especially the faction led by Little Cronk. I understand, though, that it may have been the goal of the author to show that there would be no little degree of chaos in the face of vast changes in society. This book would appeal to those who like messy, violent dystopian narratives like Octavia Butler’s Parable books.

Thanks to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for providing me with this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Unfortunately, I had to DNF The Emergency at 46%. I tried to push through, but the book simply didn’t manage to hold my attention.

While the premise sounded promising and relevant, the worldbuilding felt underdeveloped and often left me confused about the structure and rules of the world. I found myself having too many unanswered questions that pulled me out of the narrative.

Additionally, the story gave me the impression of being written from the perspective of an adult frustrated with how fast the world is changing, and skeptical about younger generations. The characters and the conflicts didn’t feel fully fleshed out, and the tone at times felt like a critique of modern youth rather than an exploration of generational and class tensions.

This one just wasn’t for me, but I’m sure others might connect with it more.

Unfortunately I requested an ebook which I’m unable to read because of my disability and therefore not able to add a review. My apologies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Farrar, Straus & Giroux for letting me review an uncorrected digital copy of this book.

Wow I loved it! I don't want to do any spoilers, but the world building was fantastic, the character building as well. It was beautiful and horrifying, but never grotesque. That's difficult to do with this genre. I found myself stopping and really thinking about what was going on many times. It's that kind of book.

If you liked The Dog Stars, Oryx and Crake, The Parable of the Sower...I think this will be up your alley.

2.75 ⭐️ The Emergency drastically changed the Empire and the lives of Burghers and Yeomen. From now on, the young are in power and they introduced a new order that follows the principles of Together: “Everyone belongs”, “Listen to the young”, “I am no better and neither are you”, and “You shall be as gods”.

We mainly follow the surgeon Hugo Rustin who disapproves of this new order, even though his wife and children are advocates of Together. Especially his daughter Selva seeks comfort and a community in Together. Hugo’s relationship with Selva becomes more complicated. When the two go on a journey, they get a chance apart from any outside influence to reconnect.

The author’s writing style is great and I liked the concept of a fallen Empire and two rebellious groups that take over the city and countryside.
However, I had a hard time getting through this book. I wish the conflict between Burghers and Yeomen had been explained in more detail. Even after finishing this book, I didn’t have the feeling that I understood these two groups—but maybe that was the point?
In addition to that, the new principles of Together didn’t have a shocking effect on me as I usually expect from other dystopian novels when a new order is introduced.
Overall, the story just didn’t hook me, and the main character felt a little flat.

Meticulously written, at its best moments the novel felt like José Saramago’s Blindness or Moshin Hamid’s Exit West. But, for me, much of the time Packer’s satiric/dystopic vision felt a little too on the nose. Life for a family of Brooklynesque “Burgher”-elites is disrupted when already existing divisions along class and geographical lines are exacerbated by totalitarian-leaning wokeism, conspiracy theories, and an influx of climate refugees. The main protagonist’s humanism is put through the ringer but manages to survive. Unfortunately, the insights the characters glean from their experiences are too obvious or shallow to get me thinking anew about present-day politics and society -- which is a shame, given the subtlety and depth of Packer’s absolutely top-notch non-fiction. Still, a quick read with enough portentous foreboding and dramatic tension to pull you through.

We follow Dr. Hugo Rustin, a disgraced surgeon, he has a teenage daughter (Selva), a young son (Pen) and his estranged wife (Annabelle). We accompany them as they navigate life after the collapse of the empire. What was once was the norm is no more. Traditional ways have fallen, and new ideas are beginning to emerge. From all this, conflict erupts between the Burghers and the Yeomen.

Radical ideas and political turmoil. This novel makes us question conformity, societal norms, politics and their role in an ever changing world where power seems more important then human connection. Where assimilation is more important then individuality. At least until its not. What happens after its collapse? How would you survive in a world that is evolving so quickly.

From the beginning you can see just how well written this novel is. The imagery and world creation is up there with some of the best. So vivid it was easy to envision, like a movie playing in your head.

Overall so complex and well done. An amazing read, especially during these turbulent times.

As a dystopian fiction lover, I really enjoyed this book immensely! The plot is both entertaining and thought-provoking, and every conflict explored feels deeply relatable to issues in our own world. If you're looking for a novel that will leave a lasting impression on you and will make you ponder about philosophical and moral questions.. this ones for you!

George Packer’s The Emergency isn’t just a dystopian novel — it’s a mirror of today, the moment we’re living through. The Emergency imagines the aftermath of an empire not destroyed by war or famine, but by inertia — a collapse brought on by collective boredom and disillusionment.

At the center is Doctor Hugo Rustin, a man whose belief in logic, order, and institutional identity has been left behind by a society that no longer values any of it. When a medical scandal pushes him to the margins of his crumbling city, Rustin sets off on a desperate journey through the countryside with his daughter Selva, a teenage revolutionary whose ideals reflect the very upheaval that terrifies him. Their journey becomes a meditation on generational rifts, moral clarity, and the deeply personal cost of public breakdown.

What makes The Emergency so gripping isn’t just its allegorical ambition — though the parallels to our current moment are sharp — but its emotional honesty. Packer doesn’t reduce his characters to symbols. They continue to act out in their personalities no matter what the odyssey brings them.

The worldbuilding is subtle but devastating: a nation of hollow institutions and divided identities, where "progress" is weaponized and then worshipped. Packer refuses easy answers. He’s more interested in what happens when people are forced to reinvent themselves in a landscape where the past is no longer used as a metric.

At times, The Emergency flirts with the philosophical but it’s a page-turner filled with tension and full of urgency. You’ll recognize the world. This is not comfort reading. It’s literature as warning. For anyone wondering where we go when belief dies and who we become when connection is all we have left — The Emergency offers a chilling answer. #theemergency #georgepacker #farrarstraussgiroux

There are books that speculate, and there are books that reflect. The Emergency does both. It reads like a mirror angled just slightly away from our world, revealing not just the surface of society, but the contours beneath—the buried fractures, the fault lines we’d rather not acknowledge. In that way, it’s a novel that feels less like a narrative, and more like an echo chamber for our collective disquiet.

George Packer has long been a chronicler of politics and power, but in The Emergency, he abandons the comforts of journalism and embraces fiction’s messy, metaphorical terrain. The result is a work that resists clean interpretations. At its heart is a father and daughter, locked not just in familial tension, but in an ideological rift that feels eerily contemporary: he is anchored in the rituals of the old world; she leaps—sometimes blindly—toward a new one.

Their conflict is not simply generational. It is epistemological. What is truth? Who decides which traditions are worth preserving, and which ones are scaffolds for oppression? These questions play out not in grand manifestos but in small, human acts—rejections, silences, miscommunications. And that is where Packer’s strength lies. Even while building a world so clearly allegorical, he allows its people to stay stubbornly real.

Yes, there are dystopian tropes—the fraying of democratic order, the seductive call of populism, the young remaking myths into weapons—but Packer handles them with an almost anthropological restraint. The Yeoman aren’t caricatures. The City isn’t a monolith. No side owns virtue or vice, and that ambiguity is the novel’s greatest truth. In a polarized world, The Emergency suggests that clarity is a luxury; complexity is what we must live with.

The novel’s success lies not in predicting the future, but in capturing the present as it slips through our hands. It doesn’t offer comfort. It doesn’t choose sides. What it does—quietly, insistently—is ask whether we are still capable of listening to each other across the noise. And in that, The Emergency feels less like fiction, and more like a test.

4.5 stars

Let me say upfront that some of the best speculative fiction is often written by authors that we don't usually associate with science fiction. Packer proves my suspicion. He has the scholarly chops to offer us an intelligent political allegory. It's not clunky, nor are the characters mere mouthpieces but overall it felt like a philosophy of history set to story. Something, that I personally enjoy. It's prescient. Emergency is captivating in the sense of slowing down for a car wreck. This is my way of warning you that sometimes reading this novel felt a little too close to the mark. So let me ask, do you enjoy reading about people trying to live through Imperial Melancholy--that Ozymandias time of long autumnal shadows when an empire’s best days are well behind her? If so dear reader this is the novel for you.

Thank you to Net Galley and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for letting me read this advance copy!

Reading any dystopia and being truly swept away in 2025 is difficult: current affairs have been too influential on our perception of reality. This novel feels dangerously of the moment, and therefore quickly dated, at the start: it seems clear that this world is an echo of current fears of fascism in America and the not yet vanished language of the pandemic. Throughout, there is an Orwellian distrust of group-think and a focus on how tradition, hierarchy, and individualism are necessary parts of a functional society.

The protagonist, a self-professed ‘humanist’ and firmly established member of the ‘elite’ or ‘bourgeoisie’ depending on your preferred period of social upheaval, is unwilling to accept the new social order that has taken over his society:

"'This is unprecedented,' he kept repeating, as if the insight might solve their problem."

His daughter, on the other end of the spectrum, embraces the new order with some naivety, but also desperation. It becomes clear as the novel progresses that she is actually extremely intelligent, but is being wilfully naive as she is searching for some form of meaning or hope that she can be part of to create a world that is better and more just than her father’s. She is searching for moral meaning in the future; he found his purpose in the past and is deeply hurt by her rejection of his identity. As a depiction of generational conflict, their relationship is believable and sweet — both have the power to hurt each other, and do, but are also trying to communicate across the divide.

The plot is very readable; Packer has not forgotten to entertain. The allegorical, storyteller’s tone is reminiscent of Ursula Le Guin — science fiction by the way of reality. At the start, it is so close to reality, it threatens to push the reader out of enjoying the imaginary world, although the plot swiftly picks up pace and draws us into the unique conflicts of this universe.

The conflicts in 'The Emergency' (generational divide, societal malaise, virtue signalling, refugees, class and immigration, xenophobia, the control of social media over the young, the cruelty of meritocracy, the danger of mob rule) are ripped from our headlines, and therefore it would be easy for us to draw parallels between our own beliefs and the events of the novel, casting moral judgements on the author’s choices.

However, this also feels like a fruitless exercise. As one example, the Yeoman, who repeatedly refer to themselves as ‘native’ and are legitimately a colonised people with an uneasy relationship with the ‘City’, are shown to be practical and stereotypically connected to nature. However, their young people also appear to be mini-fascists, or violent thugs, corrupting old myths to suit their own ends. This is not dissimilar to their peers in the city, who are also discovering violence, albeit in a different way. A colonialist reading would be easy — Packer refers to the old regime as an empire to make it even easier — but it is also more complex and human than that. It’s about lack of communication, and fear, and how divide is easily sown between people. Perhaps it is also about how the young can be both dangerous and innocent because of their naivety and desire to make a mark on the world.

Packer deftly weaves together different themes of upheaval and identity, but avoids taking a side. Ultimately, this novel is about what it means to be human in a time of generational change. Meaning, in ‘The Emergency’, is found through making connections and trying to communicate even if you don’t understand: this is what all the characters we are rooting for try to do in their own way, to make the world better.