Golden State

Winters, Ben H. Golden State. New York: Little, Brown 2019. Print.

First Sentences:

Somebody's telling lies in here, and it's making it hard to eat. In a perfect world, a man should be able to sit down at a favorite spot and eat his breakfast without the weight of professional obligation coming down on him, ruining his morning, pulling him right into the thick of it before  he can so much as get a good hot sip of coffee.

Description:

 

People in the city of Golden State in the near future believe that it was the lies told by government and other powerful figures that led to the devastating "Calamity" that destroyed much of their world. 

Therefore, in this new city erected from the embers of the old world, they have designated lying as the highest of crimes. The punishment for someone uttering a falsehood? Imprisonment for years or even banishment to the Outside, an unknown territory beyond the city limits from where there is no return. 

 

Laszlo Ratesic is a highly-regarded veteran of the Speculative Service in Golden State. His talent? He has a special sense that alerts him to when people around him are telling lies. Laszio's skill lead's naturally to an job with the Speculative Service whose legal purpose is to root out anyone voicing statements against the "Objectively So." In other words, they identify and arrest anyone caught lying, then determine whether they should be removed from the new society of Golden State.

And that is just the beginning of Ben H. Winters' brilliant, challenging novel, Golden State.

Just to be safe from accidently telling a falsehood, people greet each other with agreed-upon truths like "It's nine o'clock now" or "Twenty is twice ten." And each person records all daily activities in a personal diary which is deposited each evening into the city's permanent Record for preservation and future reference for what actually happened in any historical instance.

Imagine if each person was allowed the luxury of claiming their own truth, building a reality of their own in which they can live. Imagine the danger that would pose, how quickly those lies would metastasize, and the extraordinary threat that would pose to the world.

But when a death occurs to an ordinary roofer who fell from a housetop, there are some unanswered questions, possibly lies, which the thousands of surveillance cameras may not have captured. Enter Ratesic and his tag-along rookie partner, Aysa Paige. In their routine investigation, they notice some small incongruities and "dissonance" that hint at a conspiracy which might entirely change the world of Golden State. 

And then, Ratesic discovers an actual book, a physical copy of a fictional work that is by definition ("fictional" = "not true" = "lie"), an item outlawed by the government. He decides to hide it ... and read it.

Ratesic has his own demons as well, from a marital separation to conflicts with the local police who resent the power of the Speculative Service. Ms. Paige also has mysteries, particularly her unmatched ability to sense lies and suggest solutions to confusing situations. 

But, of course, their investigations poke their noses into dangerous areas, attracting the attention of powerful people who would prefer the matter be settled quietly. 

It is an odd premise for a culture, but one that author Winters describes logically and thoroughly in Golden State. We readers are yanked into this protected world to follow the thoughts and actions of one of its staunchest supporters in Laszlo Ratesic as he purses a case that threatens his life and his world. Surprises abound right to the very end. 

Completely unpredictable, exciting, and challenging in its premise and setting.

But the world has never been accused of being perfect, has it, and so here we are and here is what actually happens -- here is reality.

Happy reading. 

Fred

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