Last Saturday, I did a “Just Arrived” post for Anna Smaill’s The Chimes — and this Saturday I’m reading the book.

As mentioned last week, I’ve heard a lot of buzz about this novel, particularly around the premise, and I have to say that the opening sections do not disappoint in that respect.

The “big idea” — for want of a better term — is that of a future version of our world (or at least the UK part of it) where a significant proportion of everyday communication is via music and singing, rather than speech. The day itself is governed by musical markers, from Onestory (in the morning) to Vespers in the evening.

The Chimes story is also a future dystopia in which people can’t keep their memories for more than a day, and I have already deduced that there may be a link between that and the all-pervasive presence of music — but the how and why have yet to be explained.

I’m also looking forward to discovering how the music is played/replayed to cover an area at least the size of London and the surrounding counties, given that there appears to be no major technology left — i.e. is this a SF novel (by means of  a scientifically plausible technology) or a fantasy (ie it’s happening via magic)?

And yes, I did say “London and the surrounding counties”, so this is another speculative “world” based around London to add to those mentioned in another recent post:

Something About London and the Realms Fantastical

I do not say that like it is a bad thing, however… 😉 I think it’s “brill.” (To quote Mori from Jo Walton’s Among Others.)