Ever wanted to see marxist theory assimilated with the world of the humble bee? Well here's your answer. I loved every second of this disturbing, nightmarish tale of the hierarchy of a bee hive, which had alarming similarities to our own world. Not only is the absolute worship of the male drones a hyperbolic (or is it?) sexist parody of our modern world, but the hiding of information from the lower ranked bees betrayed signs of oligarchy we see all too often.
Flora 717 ought to be just a simple sanitation worker, incapable of attaching her antenna to the full hive mind, and incapable of speech. However, when she's born her ability to speak sets her apart from the other sanitation workers. The hive is her oyster so to speak, and she can work in the holiest of places: the nursery for the Queen's babies. More importantly, her large body and intelligence means she can go out and forage, learning the ways of the world outside of the hive. Flora's ability to shift jobs and move above her stations allows her to see that the hive mind, and the sisterhood of the hive aren't as close knit as she once thought. What if the class system is a lot more dangerous than the threats from outside of the hive?
Have you read it? What did you think?
Steph x
