In a future America not so different from our own, debt has soared out of control and the government has developed an unusual way of approaching this problem. One may sign themself over to be a Docile — to be used for anything from manual labor to caring for children to sex — in order to pay off their family deficits. Sure, they may keep their basic rights to vote, to have basic needs met, to keep one single personal item with them. But what do these rights mean in the face of what they must endure with no control or consent? Enter Elisha.
After his mother spent ten years as a Docile, her mind wrecked by a drug called Dociline, which blunts the mind to the experiences of servitude, Elisha decides to become a Docile himself in order to erase the remaining family debt. Except there is one thing he will do differently than his mother: he refuses to take Dociline. Elisha is chosen by Alex, whose family coincidentally developed this powerful drug, and well … you can see how things might go wrong from here. Amidst no shortage of racy, erotic sex scenes, however, Elisha and Alex form an unexpected attachment to one another. An attachment that neither knows how to navigate.
Szpara creates a setting reminiscent of The Hunger Games here, albeit much less overtly violent. The community where Elisha is raised appears bare, grey, lifeless in many ways. Yet the people there do not long for what those in power have, what has effectively been taken from them, as shiny as it may appear. They see the lifestyle of the wealthy for what it truly is, able to discern how our ties to things like family and money may define our lives. Docile takes on the weighty, real-life matters of the economy, capitalism, and classism. The novel examines rights and lack thereof, how agency is influenced by privilege, and how those with power bind together to shape the world in ways both small and large.
Szpara invites the reader into this world through the use of structure. While the plot is somewhat repetitive in the first half of the novel, it serves its purpose in lulling the reader into submission, creating the routine of being a Docile, only to jerk the reader awake abruptly mid-novel when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Where Szpara truly excels in his writing, though, is with the tension, the dissonance, in the ideas he explores and implores the reader to explore with him. The relationship between Elisha and Alex which is at the core of the novel is rife with complex emotions. Torn between the anger and humiliation of his subjugation, and his desire for Alex, Elisha struggles with whether his intended role as a submissive is a curse or a safe haven. Szpara skilfully builds hatred in the reader toward Alex, and within a few short pages is able to dissipate this feeling, leaving the reader in the uncomfortable yet compelling position of championing a relationship that is by all rational standards unhealthy, even abusive. Szpara walks this fine line of consent, flirting with the boundary between caring and cruelty, probing what defines manipulation in relationships. He asks the reader to consider the distinction between what you want and what you are supposed to want, who you are and who others expect you to be.
Szpara has created an intriguing world which examines the horrors of capitalism, the concept of self determination, and the lengths one will go for those they love. Elisha and Alex’s story — a journey of self-discovery for both — beautifully explores queer love, steamy sex, and agency in relationships. Touted as the sci-fi equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey with gay men as the leads, the power dynamics and sex are certainly there, but the premise and writing are elevated to another level. If you are looking for a provactive new take on speculative fiction, a story set in a twisted future, replete with social commentary and enough sex to make you blush while reading in public, then this is the book you need!
Docile is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers as of March 3rd 2020. Many thanks to Tor.com Publishing for gifting me this galley.
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Synopsis | Goodreads
There is no consent under capitalism
Docile is a science fiction parable about love and sex, wealth and debt, abuse and power, a challenging tour de force that at turns seduces and startles.
To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents’ debts and buy your children’s future.
Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.
