Foe: A Novel

I finished reading FOE a few days ago so I hope my memory serves me well. Here goes. For the most part, I found Foe to be a captivating read in a slow and unsettling way. It’s complex, but the complexities are not easily identifiable until you finish the story. It’s haunting, but not in a way that will truly scare you. It’s more like thinking about how the future will be and if new technology will affect you in ways like it does within the story. Also, it’s memorable. You won’t forget this novel for a long time after reading and I don’t doubt that many will read it more than once.While it doesn’t compare (in my eyes) to his debut; I’m Thinking of Ending Things, I do find myself agreeing with the critics when they say this is a “taut, philosophical mind-bender". The ending was very unexpected for me. The delivery of the story was slow, but it also made me really think about everything that happened in the story up until that point. It also saddened me in ways I can’t comprehend, and I truly felt for the characters within the pages. In the beginning I didn’t like them much- you don’t learn a whole lot about them so finding any kind of connection to them is difficult- however once I finished the book, I felt extremely connected to them at a level I wasn’t expecting. I can see why many readers will read the book and then have another go at it immediately after. Many have said this about Reid’s first novel, and I think a lot will do the same with FOE.That being said, don’t go into this book expecting action and suspense. You won’t find it here. As I mentioned this is a slow-paced read, and not a lot of stuff happens TO the characters. However, once you FINISH, you’ll realize that internally (for the characters) a lot of stuff DID happen. We just didn’t know WHY or HOW until the end.I think it’s good to sit on a review of this book for a few days and really think about the story. I found myself liking it even more than I did when reading it. I may even want to do a re-read of both his novels in the future because they really get to the core of people’s emotions and actions.Would I recommend this book? Yes! I do think you need to have a certain mindset when reading and a lot of patience though. Trust me, it all comes together in the end!

3.5 stars. For sure a page turner. I wish more of this world had been fleshed out. If it wasn't so predictable I imagine the twist would've landed much better. But definitely not a bad read.SPOILER!!!!!!!Why did the author not put quotations on the dialogue of the man? It was a dead give away and I feel robbed of a good twist lol.

No spoilers. 4 1/2 stars. FOE by Iain ReidThis is one of those novels that has no middle ground; people are going to choose up sides and really like it or really hate it...Junior and Hen live their married lives on a canola farm. They are comfortable as farmers and with each other... She's his anchor...While sitting on their porch late one hot evening, a car comes up their private dirt road shining its green headlights on them. A man gets out of the car...... his name is Terrance and he's here at that hour to tell the couple that Junior has won a government lottery and will be living for a time on a space station...... but only Junior will be going, Hen will be left behind... the government will be taking care of her and providing a high-tech replacement for Junior who will be just like him in every way...Terrance eventually comes to live with the couple to help Junior get ready for his trip and to prepare Hen to live with a sophisticated hologram of Junior in his absence...... but Terrance's presence in their home is very invasive in their lives. Junior wants to do his part for the government but Terrance has changed their routine. In fact......everything has changed and...... Junior becomes more and more distrustful of Terrance and his motives. Junior is having second thoughts about his impending trip...What's a ship without an anchor?... and Hen is Junior's anchor...I'm of the camp that really liked this bizarre novel which I would classify as sci-fi/horror. It isn't until you're about halfway through that a future time frame is established as the setting.It is true that there is no cut and dry ending causing the reader to ponder its meaning (1/2 star deducted for that loose end) but the way it ends causes the story to stick with you long after it is finished.

I read "I'm thinking about ending things" first and while the build was slow the end was incredible (movie is wack af) I immediately bought foe and we spread to read. I started with foe and got about halfway in and hated every character. All the personalities seemed off, normal humans agreeing to just be taken away? Unrelatable. Being cool with this man in your house? No. A man being chill with his wife being with a replacement? Absolutely not. The idea itself is interesting, the whole book is like a reject black mirror episode, sex included. By the end I felt no shock about the twist, no care for the characters, and honestly felt like I was walked in a complete circle where no one experienced any growth. Not worth your time but if you are an average reading looking to kill 2 or 3 hours then ok.

The suspension kept me wanting to read more, and I appreciate the little clues provided by Ian. I finished the book in a week because I wanted to know more and by then end I was sad it was over.

This was my first Iain Reid book and I am now obsessed!The writing style is addicting and makes reading this book really fun. I finished it in under two days because the plot was so gripping and I just had to find out how it all ended. I’ve been recommending this book to everyone I can as it was my favorite read of 2022!Recently finished We Spread by Iain Reid and it’s another awesome book by him! Would recommend it if you also enjoyed Foe.

*this review may contain spoilers*This is Sci-fi novel with central focus on couple relationship.Story is about couple Junior and Henrietta who lives peaceful life on farm far away from City. One day stranger arrives with a news that Junior is chosen for space journey but his wife will remain on Earth not alone but with duplicate Junior who has feelings and emotions even memories of real Junior.With that pretty book cover I thought this book is going to be as good as cover but prime focus of book is relationship like the way Henrietta has to deal with duplicate Junior.Similarly Junior's emotions, his love for Henrietta even when he is duplicate.This book is not much sci fi and this is what I was hoping for.

Foe, the second novel by Canadian author Iain Reid, begins with a car pulling up at an remote rural farmhouse. Junior and his wife Hen don't get many visitors, and the arrival of Terrance feels slightly ominous.Even more ominous, then, is the purpose of Terrance's visit. He's come to tell them that Junior has been shortlisted for a government programme, run by a company called OuterMore, that will see him sent away to spend a couple of years in space, during which Hen will be left alone in the farm house. What's even more strange, though, is how OuterMore propose to compensate Hen for Junior's absence.Let's not beat about the bush: like Reid's previous novel, I'm Thinking Of Ending Things, Foe is a novel about denial, isolation, fractured relationships and existential dread. It's set some time in the nearish future during a hot, flat, featureless summer, and despite the setting's vast, empty agricultural landscape of endless rapeseed fields, there's a strong sense of claustrophobia. Junior and Hen don't socialise or go out for any other reason than work (there is a reference to grocery shopping, but we never actually see it happen) and even that work is dull and dystopian, with Junior filling and moving grain bags all day at a vast feed mill. They rarely speak to anyone but each other. For reasons left ominously unclear, there is a ban on keeping livestock, so the couple don't even have any pets except some chickens that Junior keeps concealed in a barn.Junior, however, is seemingly content with this arrangement, and when Terrance arrives the couple seem to be doing perfectly well in their seclusion. If anything, the thing that's most unsettling at this point in the novel is the strange passivity with which Junior, in particular, accepts Terrance's presence in their home and the news that he brings. There is something unnerving and off-kilter about people who react with calm acceptance to shocking news and never challenge what are clearly major impositions. Instead, for the most part Junior and Hen quietly get on with things, despite the undercurrent of unease and resentment which starts to permeate their lives and the questions raised about their relationship.This is one of those books that can't be discussed in too much detail without spoiling the plot, but it's enough to say that Foe is a chilling read, a slow-burning anxiety dream in which every word and every moment has a significance. It's a short but intense book, perfectly crafted in every detail, and an uncomfortably thought-provoking novel whose ending - or, perhaps, endings - can't fail to unsettle the reader.

I really liked this short novel. It’s been described as a psychological thriller but that denies its author due credit. Certainly it’s gripping, and I for one did not see the twist coming, though it was obvious that something was amiss. But Reid’s achievement amounts to much more than that. He deals very astutely with identity, memory and how relationships work (or fail). As such ‘Foe’ has a lot in common with Ishiguro’s ‘Klara and the Sun’. Presumably it was overlooked for the literary prizes because of its pigeonholing as a thriller. Sure, you can see where the ideas come from, including Genesis ch 3 and ‘Bladerunner’. But it’s what Reid does with the ideas that counts. That and the way he writes, which is excellent.

I loved I'm Thinking of Ending Things and so was very much looking forward to this novel. The premise is interesting and it had me hooked at the beginning. I really enjoyed the writing style and particularly liked the lack of world building, which created a mysterious, uncertain and eerie atmosphere in relation to the world our characters inhabit.Unfortunately, after this initial interest, I personally found the pacing a little slow, and felt one of the main revelations is pretty obvious quite early on. However, I did enjoy the ending.Overall, I found this to be an interesting and unique novel but found the pacing a little too slow for me. Definitely not a bad read though.

Foe was an interesting read in that the atmosphere is tense and sinister from the start, a bit like an episode of Black Mirror. However I sort of guessed the ending midway through (or a bit before) which was disappointing and felt a bit like the author showed their hand too early. Otherwise it was enjoyable without being exceptional.