A well-structure speculative suspense novel with human and pig-blended imagery. This novel also feels vaguely post-apocalyptic, although the exact reasons for the doom are left hazily in the background; we are, more or less, plonked down beside these human and pig hybrids in media res.
We get to go on mad adventures through sleazy Las Vegas and murders in a desolate forest.
Then we ride with giggling pig children in the backseat, their foreheads barely reaching he bottom of a car window down country roads.
An intense scene in the barn between Ben and Binah–one the pig people–jacks up the stakes in the plot considerably, and my attention focused like the head of an arrow.
The rest of Sapient Farm doles out heavy doses of shocks and thrills and offers bizarre yet potent imagery. As in any grand post-apocalyptic yarn, the plot weaves off in multiple threads–later to reconnect.
Gevu–the other pig person–get mistaken for the Chinese pig God (Zhu Bajie) from Journey to The West and is featured in a few scenes worthy of De Sade.
I particularly liked the surreal feel and imagery of the epilogue. I sort of wish this mutation had occurred earlier but hope there’s a speculative bio-horror sequel to Sapient Farm from the perspective of Binah!
nicholauspatnaude 
Leave a Reply