Amatka by Karin Tidbeck

So Tidbeck’s Memory Theater was mostly the wrong kind of weird for me, but somehow this one, her debut, was the exactly right kind of weird.
In Amatka, or rather on Amatka, the space colony, exists a 1984-style regime. And the colonists fall in line, because they are told it is the only way to survive. Amatka is one of the four colonies (the fifth one failed) and is dedicated to agriculture, specializing in mushrooms.
To this bleak place comes a marketing expert/research from the administrative colony, with the goal of finding out what hygienic products the colony could use.
So far so straight-forward…until it isn’t. Until we find out that the reason behind the weird naming rituals everyone engages in are so the objects around them can maintain their shape. Until we learn about the secrets the powers that be are hiding and what really happened to the failed colony.
Until it gets REALLY WEIRD.
Because in a world when you can shape reality with intent and words, there doesn’t have to be any limits.
Tidbeck’s writing is best described as Scandinavian minimalism and it works really effectively here, in this ale of repressed society too afraid to open its eyes and minds. Amatka is a stunningly imagined place. The world building here is absolutely first rate.
I loved how wild the author’s imagination spun within these pages, creating a pleasantly laconic but striking read. A perfect blend of sci-fi and weird. For anyone looking for something different. Recommended.