HellSans by Ever Dundas
(Angry Robot Books, 2022)
Reviewed by Phil Nicholls
This is the second novel by Scottish writer Ever Dundas. HellSans features a vision of Britain as a brutal police state, reminding me of Moore’s V for Vendetta, although with a healthy mix of Orwellian propaganda.
The key feature of Dundas’ book is the font Hell Sans, a powerful tool keeping Prime Minister Caddick in control. Simply reading political slogans in Hell Sans gives loyal citizens a strong hit of bliss. However the HSAs, those unfortunates who are Hell Sans Allergic, form an impoverished underclass, scapegoated for all the ills of the dictatorship. Freedom fighters, known as Seraphs, fight back against Caddick’s rule. The Seraphs conduct terrorist attacks and add serifs to Hell Sans text, countering the bliss-inducing effects of the font.
Dundas displays her creative skills by weaving shades of cyberpunk into this intriguing setting. Most citizens have a cyborg companion, called an Inex. The Inexes supply companionship, technological support and much more. If anything, they reminded me of robotic versions of the daemons in Pullman’s His Dark Materials books. The Inexes and similar cyborgs in the setting are produced by The Company, run by Jane Ward.
Feisty CEO of The Company, Jane Ward, is one of the two lead characters, along with research scientist Dr Icho Smith. Dundas writes powerful female characters with a complex mix of emotions and motivations. HellSans mixes elements of a complicated love affair, between Smith and Ward, with a taught political thriller.
I do not want to reveal too much of the plot of this gripping, fast-paced novel. Both characters evolve in unexpected ways, often changes the characters themselves refuse to accept. Dundas holds the reader tight as events speed along, taking the story down interesting avenues.
The ending was both a surprise and a disappointment. Dundas is an inventive writer, so the plot twists kept me excited and were consistently inventive. However, after the pace of the early and central sections of HellSans, the ending felt a little rushed. This is a long book, but the ending deserved even more space to match the quality of the earlier sections. Another hundred words here might have balanced the ending to match the earlier sections.
Indeed, the form of HellSans deserves exploration. The book is written in three parts, the first two being first-person narratives by Smith and Ward. While these both start and finish at the same point in the story, the journey for each character is quite different. Dundas notes that Parts 1 and 2 can be read in any order, although I followed the order presented in the text.
It would be a fascinating challenge to revisit the book and read it in a different order. Sadly, time is not on my side, but here is an incredible way to reread the book and have a different experience. Full credit to Dundas for achieving this impressive feat.
The slightly longer Part 3 is a clever mix of first and second person, in accordance with events in the story. Dundas displays great mastery of her craft as she negotiates these switches in style to follow the unusual format of HellSans.
Dundas writes compelling prose with great characters. Her story is amazing, although brutal in places, with torture, mild body horror and more vomit than most SF novels. However, the aggression and brutality match the harsh setting, showing that the tone of HellSans is perfect. While this is clearly an SF novel, it has a passing familiarity with at least a few of the tropes of horror.
Thankfully, HellSans is not printed in its namesake font, but the harsh political climate it presents feels disturbingly close. Dundas has written a complex, layered novel featuring powerful and driven characters. HellSans is a must-read book for fans of dystopias or simply dynamic female characters.
Review from BSFA Review 19 - Download your copy here.