Review: Violet Black

In Eileen Merriman’s first instalment of a futuristic fantasy trilogy for young adults, we encounter a world not too far removed from our own. There is a worldwide pandemic and many casualties; scientists are working on a vaccine but face opposition from "anti-vaxxers" and others chary of chemical interference.

Although Auckland-based Merriman began this book in March 2019, almost a year before the coronavirus pandemic, she soon found ready material in the real world as Covid-19 developed. It’s well-known that Merriman works as a consultant haematologist so her medical knowledge is clear in Violet Black. By merging medical science in a believable setting with science fiction elements, Violet Black will intrigue.

It has a plot that deepens as our protagonists stumble into a darkness but Merriman keeps it from being too complicated for a reader new to this genre. From the start, the font chosen for title and chapter headings announces this as fantasy or science fiction. The two main characters, Violet Black and Ethan Wright, take turns narrating their experiences of a pandemic-stricken Auckland, where dozens have already died. These two survivors' first-person accounts bring the reader right into the action, which begins with a heavy-limbed Violet waking from a coma where "hell is a bright light searing your retinae." She is having to relearn how to use her body while, along with a few other remaining teens, facing threats from hostile elements eager to infiltrate the use the epidemic for insidious and exploitative means.

The characters are aware of their precarious situation and of how their actions, or a failure to act, will involve the entire future of humanity. While many of their traits are realistic and identifiable, they have several science fiction elements such as inbuilt implants, abilities in telepathy, reading, blocking and even sharing others' mind streams and memories. Merriman adds a romantic sub plot to further appeal to young readers as well as giving Violet an enhanced empathy, where she matches colours with people in a type of synaesthesia. When temperaments change, for instance, and Violet reads Ethan as morphing from cool green to hot pink, she can interpret that data and respond, just as young people have heightened reactions to the nuances of their close friends' moods and emotions.

Merriman draws in contemporary social issues, not only attitudes to epidemics and vaccines, but also terrorism. As her characters battle vindictiveness, we are asked to think about the importance of individual lives as well as the protection of human qualities in a world of rapid technological transformation. Ethan himself is involved in developing a complex online "reality" game, in goal-driven entertainment familiar and enjoyed by many young people. While the game is strategic in its quest to overcome evil, in the hands of the wrong people it could be a disaster. The reader is asked to consider how they are implicated in daily activities and how apathy or activism can affect others.

Merriman has shown herself to be a prolific writer across genres and age groups. It is not easy in writing for young people to replicate authenticity and not condescend, even innocently. However, Merriman has no problem in avoiding these pitfalls. The only area that is a little vague is the changing location and whether the characters are based in New Zealand or the deserts of Australia at certain points. In all other ways this is a tightly structured read where the reader must engage in issues entirely of relevance as we too adjust to an unknown, morphing and daunting present.

Reviewed by Jessie Neilson