CRB Brief Review by Peter Snell
How Icasia Bloom Touched Happiness is a tale of ordinary people and their struggles to have a happy and satisfying life. It is set just after the present day when a global state controls reproduction and access to the afterlife.
Greece has been driven into bankruptcy by American and German bankers and the use of ‘i’ devices is ubiquitous. There are parallels with “Soylent Green,” “Logan’s Run” and “The Handmaid’s Tale.” But that doesn’t tell you the truth about this book. We all want to be happy, but for these characters achieving happiness is the only way they can ensure a second life for their relatives. The whole mechanism of the state is geared towards this end. Naturally, though, not everyone truly understands what makes them happy or even how they can achieve this condition.
The characters are clearly drawn and have us rooting for success in their individual quests. The social, legal and legislative situations in which they find themselves are well worked out and consistent. Yet this is not a dystopian fantasy; rather it is a celebration of humanity, a contemporary tale about the strength of the human spirit and the redeeming power of love.
