The Annual Migration of Clouds + sequel
by Premee Mohamed

Reviewed by Galen Strickland
Posted October 16, 2021
Edits and Addendum on June 9, 2024

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Another post-apocalyptic story from Premee Mohamed, but as far as I could tell it has no connection to any of her other stories. She has written about the cosmic horror of reawakened elder gods, and the aftermath of alien invasion, but this is set in a time following climate disasters. Indigenous people have left the cities to forage the countryside as did their ancestors, but others decided cities were the safest place to be, particularly a solidly constructed building in close proximity to a river. Reid Graham and her mother live on the eleventh floor of what had been a university science building. It's the former University of Alberta, where the author earned degrees in molecular genetics and environmental science, both of which are utilized in this story. Drought, wildfires, and dust storms have wreaked havoc, forcing small communities of survivors into a regimented, subsistence level existence. What happens when Reid gets the chance for something more?

Premee trusts the reader to grasp the basics of the situation, concentrating on character development instead of details of the collapse. It has been at most three generations since "Back Then," since there are those who remember movies, TV, and cell phones. The younger ones only have the stories their parents or grandparents tell, or old books found in the ruins. Reid's favorite book is also about trying to survive in very harsh conditions, but it doesn't give her any clues that would help with her present dilemma. She's very smart, and has submitted essays for several years which are sent by one of her teachers to what is supposed to be one of the few remaining (or re-established) schools. An acceptance letter arrives, along with a tracking device she is to activate when she enters the Zone. Her mother is not the only one who questions the existence of the school, thinking it is nothing more than a fabricated diversion from their harsh reality. Reid knows the tracker is not something anyone in their community could have built, since it appears new, not repurposed from salvaged junk, and emits a light like she has never seen. Will she defy her mother, turn her back on her obligations, in order to pursue the dream?

One thing that might stop her is that she suffers from a fungal infection known as Cad, short for cadastrulamyces, a heritable symbiont. The speculation is that it was released by the melting of the permafrost. Her mother is also a victim, as was her grandmother, and if Reid ever has children they will likely have it too. It may be sentient in nature, at least Reid thinks it is. Several times through her narration she interrupts her thoughts or speech with something the symbiont is telling her, or at least what she interprets as the symbiont controlling the actions of her body. She thinks it is the Cad attempting to protect her, incapacitating her when continued movement might place her in danger. Or she could be imagining that, projecting her own anxieties and fear. Can she overcome that; will the symbiont let her leave her family and friends, or will it trap her there forever? Some in the community think she's crazy if she doesn't accept the invitation, the others will view her as a traitor if she does. It's a perilous balance between individual initiative and communal responsibility. I won't reveal Reid's decision, but I hope for a follow-up to find out if it was the right one. Highly recommended.

Oh, maybe I should say something about the title. Reid thinks of clouds as light and insubstantial, easily moved by the gentlest breeze. Her friend Henryk says they are actually very heavy since they are full of water, and it takes great pressure to get them moving. I'm thinking that's a metaphor for how different people are moved to do the things they do, either easily swayed by familial expectations or peer pressure, while it may take extreme measures to force some onto a different path. Whether or not that was the intention, I'll be thinking about it for quite a while. [EDIT: Now that there is a sequel, I re-read Annual Migration, and if possible, I was even more impressed with it the second time. Now on to Howse University.].

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Posted June 9, 2024
By the end of the previous story, Reid's mother had reluctantly agreed to let her daughter go. Other members of the community had pitched in for supplies and gear for the trip, including a refurbished bicycle. But before Reid tries riding the bike, which she had never done before, the first leg of the journey is by steam-powered cart. I had expected her trip to take up most of the book, getting glimpses of conditions in the wastelands, ending with her arrival at Howse University, with a third story detailing her experiences there. Instead, she makes it to Howse by the end of the first chapter, and by means she should have expected. I don't think she had reached the Zone yet, or turned on the tracker, but apparently it was already active. Someone finds her, incapacitates her, then in Chapter 2 she awakes in the Howse infirmary.

She is slow to adapt to the Howse regimen, primarily how aloof and distant everyone else is. She was accustomed to always being around people, hardly ever being alone, and found it difficult to sleep in a room by herself, without the noise of others nearby. She inquires about a possible roommate, which might be the first time, but not the last, when her statements or questions are met with surprise and consternation. Luckily, someone else had a similar request, so Reid meets Clementine, her new roommate, who had been there a week or so and could help her acclimate. They received food from a replicator in their room, and were expected to eat in their room, but they go searching for a cafeteria or other communal space. They make their own, with others joining them for similar reasons.

Reid had read about the university being in a dome, but the original domes were now museums and nature preserves, used to study plants in various environments. The rest of the complex is in multiple stone buildings. They are high in the Canadian Rockies, Reid later learning they are actually under a dome, just not a visible one. They are surrounded by an invisible force field, with Howse utilizing other technologies to keep their location secret. Slowly but surely, Reid discovers the insular nature of the staff and administration. They have preserved previous technologies and developed others, but what are they doing with their knowledge? It is obvious they are not sharing it with the outside world. The most important thing, to Reid at least, that they are not sharing is a cure for Cad. Maybe not a complete cure, but a treatment at least, from which she has reaped the benefits, but since a new dose has to be administered every month, she knows if she leaves her symptoms will recur. Why can she not make it clear that helping the outside world is what Howse should be about?

It has been said that science fiction is frequently as much about the world at the time it is written as it is the otherworldy scenario. In Annual Migration, one of the essays Reid had written was about reproductive freedom, which she felt could have limited the spread of Cad. The second book talks about the arrogance of the scientists, which they had inherited from their benefactors, those who had been so wealthy they could build their bunkers and enclaves to ride out the worst of societal collapse. Now they want to retain the science for themselves, rather than help the masses. We know now that the longer science is not utilized to help mitigate climate change, to insure clean air and water, to attempt to save endangered species, the quicker will be the fall. Reid came from a community that understood cooperation was their only hope, that individuals could never cope with the challenges. It may be too late for this and other stories to influence people to become aware of the pitfalls of letting oligarchs and monopolists dictate policy. But someone has to try, and Premee's efforts are enlightening and informative. She is adept at characterization, and setting the mood of their predicaments. Reid is not perfect; she has made mistakes, and may be a little selfish herself. But she wants to help others, not just herself, and for that reason she is a hero. I feel confident we will see her again, at least I fervently hope so.

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