A dystopia is a fictional narrative depicting an imaginary society organized in such a way that it is impossible to escape, and whose rulers can exercise total authority, unconstrained by the separation of powers, over citizens who can no longer exercise their free will.“(Wikipedia) In an imaginary city, people are talking. We don’t know who they are, but we can hear their voices. There’s a militarya scientist who studies the life of bees, a man whose wife is dying, an engineer. The voices intersect. Gradually, a landscape takes shape. An iceberg has been lashed to a hoist and is on its way to the city. It is destined to supply the city with drinking water, for the city is short of water. To make room for it, buildings have been demolished, and attempts have been made to rehouse the tenants. Some agree, some don’t. The iceberg convoy must be protected. Either way, we’re witnessing the end of a world. If not the world.

Cynan Jones’s novel is arid, difficult…