PIG FARM is an adult, sci-fi dystopian thriller set in a USA torn apart by civil war and environmental collapse. It's told in third person with two POVs.

Caleb, an eighteen-year-old orphan, living under his uncle’s iron heel, dreams of a life away from his impoverished and violent religious community; all seems hopeless. That is until, a grave mistake at work makes him a criminal, driving him into the arms of a beautiful and rich woman named Ariel. She offers him more money that he has ever known, but his new-found freedom is not all that it seems as he and Ariel become enmeshed in a deadly trap and conspiracy that threatens to destroy all of humanity.

Samson Richter never meant to become a leading spokesperson for the United States of America. He was just another actor trying to get by against all odds during a civil war. Fifty years later, he’s in the twilight of his life and, though he’s rich and famous, he’s alone, without friends, and a slave to a corporation and government that he hates. In a world with no exits, he seeks escape and finds it.

Content warning: Pig Farm is 18+, drinking and smoking, sex, violence, and cruelty to animals (slaughter house), and thoughts of suicide.

No AI was used in the writing of this book and/or trilogy, nor was it used for the covers.

An intense ride. Dark, dystopic, nightmarish.

Another book from my call for nihilism list. Needless to say, this is not the kind of story that is written to make you feel good. In S. Jack’s extrapolation of our world, the fractured nations are forever at war, no information can be trusted, all privacy is illusion and the temple down the road is assembling grenades to drop on you while you sleep.

Pig Farm, at its core, is an exploration of dystopia. Had I read this a few years ago, I would have considered it an extremely pessimistic but grounded imagination of a bleak distant future. Today it comes across as just a few steps away from the craziness the world is already headed towards, and that is beyond eerie.

War is everywhere, and cruelty is omnipresent in various forms. We explore the chaos unfolding from the perspective of two individuals who appear to be on opposite sides of the power spectrum. Caleb is a young man trapped in a dangerous family within an ultra-conservative faction of a broken society. War has seeped into every aspect of life, and opting out of the local paramilitary troops is simply not a choice for him. Samson, on the other hand, is an aging billionaire, and a showman spreading pro-conservative propaganda employing means that are all too familiar now.

His grip on the various layers of deception were slipping with each day that passed. Deceit was becoming an intolerable exercise, and as always, he contemplated escape.

The book starts off slow. Because neither of the characters comes across as particularly interesting, the initial 30% feels like an uphill trudge. Caleb is easy to sympathize with, but lacks agency. Samson is downright repulsive. However, as the story progresses and the traps begin to close one after another, we find ourselves getting more and more invested in the characters. More futuristic elements gradually come into the picture, making the plot progressively interesting. They do find their spine eventually, but whether that improves their chances or makes things worse is something you will have to find out.

He had a long time to think but nothing he wanted to think about. His cage had always been small and was shrinking.

I absolutely loved the depictions of how deeply Caleb’s skepticism was ingrained after a life under the thumb of his psychopathic uncle and the authoritarian church. The nightmares. The trauma. The depictions was all incredibly realistic and very skillfully portrayed. The way Samson’s past and present were threaded in, the conversations with various bots were fantastic.

From the way the story had begun, I didn’t expect to be rooting for either characters but the author proved me wrong. This book was a lesson in persistence, and I am grateful for it.

Samson poured himself a whisky and felt the sterile tomb that was his existence.

There is some great action towards the end, some intriguing breadcrumbs towards wider world-building, but the focus is very clearly on exploring how the characters deal with impossible situations.

I will not go into details of the plot or the tech because in a book like this it will inevitably take away from the experience. If anything above interests you, go and pick up the book. It is not a comfort read, but one that everyone should read.

innocence was a fading and tattered memory; like kids in a commercial for something better, something that never was and never would be.

I also loved the brief viewpoint switch to Ariel towards the end. I wish we had gotten a similar interlude from David’s PoV. But I also see the appeal of keeping everyone with power shrouded in mystery. It works well for the theme of the story.

I really hope the author writes a book from Ariel’s perspective too at some point because in many ways, with her training and her past, she comes across as a character more interesting than Caleb.

I also hope that in the future books of the series we get to know more about the Constellation and Mother. At the end of the day it is always someone (or something) pulling strings from beyond. Pig or human, there’s a butcher waiting for everyone down the line. Suffering is inevitable.

“Nothing to eat? No bonuses?”

“Bug paste and noodles. Stop asking.”