The Outlaws by Emory Faith

(Troubador Publishing, 2024)

Reviewed by Andrew Openshaw

Set in a dystopian 2100, The Outlaws paints a bleak portrait of a post-apocalyptic world where humanity huddles within the fortified cities of London, New York, and Dubai. London, where the novel unfolds, is a walled fortress governed by King George VII and his Council, its people safe but ever-watchful for attacks from the Outlaws—a displaced faction of survivors who eke out an existence beyond the city walls in the wreckage of a collapsed civilisation.

Despite the immense upheaval, remnants of the old world endure in the form of traditions and titles. King George is lauded as a hero who has “made sure that the world is at peace,” overseeing a controlled society where all citizens’ basic needs are met. Yet this isn’t a perfect utopia: the rigid social structure is based on inherited rank, with advancement limited by one’s birth. Greed, ostensibly the root cause of the environmental disasters that preceded this world, is suppressed by a system where equality is more an ideal than a reality, and personal ambition is discouraged. Unsurprisingly, disillusionment is brewing.

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Review from BSFA Review 25 - Download your copy here.