The Electric State by Simon Stålenhag
141 pages
Published 2017
Read December 4
Rating: 4 out of 5
I hadn't known anything about Stålenhag's work aside from a vague impression formed by the covers of his books. I had a general idea that he painted vivid scenes of everyday life in bucolic settings juxtaposed with vast science-fictional machinery and mechanical horrors, but I thought his books were more or less themed coffee table works, full of artwork that would tell its story essentially without commentary. I haven't had the opportunity to handle his other two books yet, but The Electric State is very much not a wordless coffee table book.
The gruesome tale of civilization collapsing as its denizens escape into a virtual reality wouldn't be anything special on its own. Stålenhag's haunting and heartbreaking paintings, however, elevate the pedestrian cyberpunk tale of stillbirths and a nascent hive-mind in search of its organic god. Likewise, the context the words give to the paintings enhances them, filling the images with sounds and thoughts and tension. It is an effective storytelling combination, and it left me eager to seek out Stålenhag's other works.
