Here’s an odd one for you. I’m not sure how to categorise ‘The Silent History’ by Eli Horowitz (and collaborators); I’ve seen it described as everything from plain ‘fiction’, to ‘science fiction’, to a ‘technothriller’. Maybe it doesn’t need to be categorised; after reading I think this book can stand on it’s own. Let’s review.

As ever I won’t spoil too much of the plot for you, but the book is set at around the current date stretching as far as 2044, concerned with the ‘silent’ phenomenon; countless children born without the cognitive capacity to speak (or write, or read etc). We have oral histories from all sorts of perspectives, including the expected fascinated scientists and worried parents, through to characters who are jealous of the silent community that forms, and others who believe the ‘silents’ have found a desirable form of pure living. The reader effectively follows the progress of this silent generation as it ages, sharing in the frustrations and mistrust of the conspiracy theorists who see something sinister in the silents, while feeling for the families and alliances that must protect each other under this fearful gaze.

Just from that summary, I hope you can see that we do have sci-fi, we do have thriller, there is some horror, and there is disaster/epidemic literature. If you enjoy any of those, consider reading this book.

It’s a great story. As with many multi-perspective stories I’ll admit I initially struggled to remember who was who, and there were some storylines I almost wanted to skip in my eagerness to read more of others, but the book really comes together by about the 60% mark, and was definitely absorbing. It has a strong ending that gave each thread/perspective a satisfactory close, and throughout the narrative has an irresistible mixing pot of humour, tension, fear, confusion, and love.

Wherever ‘The Silent History’ stands on the bookshelves, I recommend you check it out.

Final score: 7.5/10