What used to be the United States is now called Shangri, and with the new name came a number of changes. Shangri is in a drive to control population and ensure adequate resources for its people. To do so, heterosexual activities are strictly illegal and engaging in such can get one relegated to the ghetto or worse. For some, the choice is to either accept mandatory gay sex, or be pushed into the ghetto where living conditions were appalling. Happiness of every citizen is the ultimate goal; if you are unhappy, then you are better off dead. Cyan and Gemini entered Shangri after winning the lottery but they soon discover that life in Shangri was not as glorious as it was said to be. They had three months to fulfil their obligation to the authorities, but two months down the road, Cyan was not yet pregnant. Then one evening while at the Market, Cyan meets Anand, an offender serving his sentence as a serviceman. One night of passion results into a pregnancy, and the two have to flee before the two-week gestation period is up and hopefully avoid the ever watchful eye of the Tax Man. This sets into motion a series of events that would bring change of an unimaginable magnitude.

Imagine a place where your level of happiness and satisfaction is the measure of your wealth. One would think that such would be a dream place to live. But wait until you have read Hedon by Jason Werbeloff and see the price you will have to pay for such a place. Hedon is a one of a kind dystopian novel that combines a unique plot, brilliant setting and gripping characters. The setting is surreal, believable and vividly imaginable, and each new subplot adds another layer of intrigue and suspense to an already well rounded story. The character development is another thing to be applauded. Each character is unique and yet they complement each other to bring this one of a kind novel to life. Flashbacks to the characters' backgrounds were very handy in enabling me to understand and connect with the characters better without slowing down the pace of the story. Hedon is a captivating sci-fi/dystopian winner.

Hedon by Jason Werbeloff is a simply fantastic book, set in a dystopian world where you have to be happy and make others happy or the tax man will come for you. Cyan and Anand live in this world. Cyan is a woman from the ghettos who won the lottery and moved to the city to try for a child with her husband, Gemini. Anand is a servicemen who works at the bath house and loves to cook. When Cyan’s husband tells her to go to the market to get food for dinner, she does as he says, glad to get out of the house and away from the stress of trying to get pregnant or fall. When she is on her way home from the market, she bumps into Anand and they go back to his house and make love. Later that night, she falls and now Cyan and Anand are on the run. Will they be caught and killed or will they survive it all?

I loved this book. As I read it, it felt as though I was living in the dystopian world with Cyan and Anand. I could feel the fear that Cyan felt when she had to go on the run, the worry that Anand had in leaving the city. He had lived his entire life in the city and I loved the fear and worry that emitted from him about it. My favorite part was when they left the city and all the new things that Anand experienced. The writing was detailed and was amazing to read. The ability to transport you into the book is not one that is easily found. So few authors can do it as completely as Jason Werbeloff did in Hedon. I am glad that I read such a good book.

HEDON

Whether one chooses to pronounce Hedon with the short ‘e’, as in HEAD-ON, or the long ‘e’, as in HEDONISM the message is stark, compelling and frankly terrifying. HEDON is clearly prophetic. It compels us to consider an other world. One in which pleasure is demanded, monitored and its absence punished. In my world, till now, pleasure taking is a choice I indulge or refuse. A Post Nuclear Disaster World? Surely not something that will touch me...and perhaps not for now. However fascist dystopias already dominate: Africa; from the top down; Libya, Egypt, Mail, Western Sahara, Chad...Central America – most if not all, Eastern Europe, USA – believe it or not – thinly veiled in ‘we care’. And on and on and on around the world. HEDON is perhaps a late prophecy for those of us still paddling through the comfort of illusion.
Much of Jason Werbeloff philosophical thought is clear in the conflicts between characters and their situations. His characters are powerful – some even so in their defencelessness. They are visible and sometimes I smell them when the threat is too close. And yet I feel empathy for the characters, each struggling with their own particular difficulty; the run-away-lovers, the ghastly Taxman, the committed Buddhist.
HEDON is a book about real people; about love in the time of fear, about homosexuality, about depraved perversions and cruelty. And about hope, if you read the subtext very, very carefully. Dystopian to its core HEDON is an excellent thought provoking read.
I have followed this writer’s The Solace series, his short stories and his news letter. Hedon is certainly the best yet.