Book Review of The Sleepless by Victor Manibo
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book stats:
458 pages, published in August 2022
you may enjoy this book if you like:
Futuristic novels * Dystopian novels * Novels set in New York City * Crime and mystery novels * Science fiction
travel inspiration:
The Sleepless is set in the early 2040s in New York City, appropriately in the “city that doesn’t sleep”.
about the author: victor manibo
The Sleepless is Victor Manibo’s first novel, and his second novel, Upward, is set to be published in fall 2023. Manibo’s site describes him as a Filipino speculative writer, who is also a queer immigrant and often writes about characters who are people of color and/or identify as queer. He is an immigration and civil rights attorney, and uses his experience with that world to inform his writing. Manibo lives in New York City.
review of the sleepless by victor manibo
The Sleepless is a one-of-a-kind novel: part mystery and crime novel, part science fiction, part dystopian futurism, and at the same time grounded in a topic very timely and relatable: a pandemic. In addition to its multi-genre aspect, the novel explores important questions about how we spend our time, the meaning of life, and the meaningfulness of relationships. At its core, The Sleepless considers one of the future potential paths we are on as a civilization - towards ever-increasing technology incursion into our private spaces and thoughts and the fundamental changes that can occur.
About a decade prior to the novel’s start in the early 2040s, the world was gripped by a pandemic that caused sleeplessness. Those who caught the disease, origins unknown, literally no longer needed to sleep and were no worse for the wear. Through trickles of information, we learn about the society-level reactions to the pandemic: the fear, the quarantining, the other-ing of those who became sleepless, and then some level of acceptance. The main character, Jamie Vega, is sleepless, and about a decade into the pandemic, he is moving into an apartment building for others who are sleepless. This is reasonable - who wants late night noise from neighbors who don’t sleep? Many people no longer have bedrooms and have reused that space for other activities.
Early on, we learn that Jamie has been sleepless about a year and how he has spent his time, embarking on never-ending hobbies and putting in more hours at work. With twenty-four hours a day fully at his disposal, he can invest his time in much more productive ways than others who still need to sleep. This dichotomy also hints at the societal unrest that is always simmering below the surface. There are claims of favoritism - that those who are sleepless are receiving more promotions at work - because they can invest more time. They are also becoming richer, as the sleepless can work multiple jobs or shifts a day.
Jamie, for his part, works as a journalist in a cutthroat environment, where he is always trying to prove himself to his much-admired boss, Simon. Early in the novel, Simon turns up dead in the office. Jamie was the last to see him alive, and the first to find him dead, so it is no surprise when - after some twists and turns - Jamie ends up suspect #1. Much of the novel follows Jamie’s efforts to find out whodunnit to clear his own name. Their company was days away from a vote to be absorbed by a larger corporation with a larger-than-life owner, and this impending vote adds complexity to the motives that may have driven Simon to commit suicide or for someone to murder him.
Jamie is forced to confront his own demons, as Simon’s death and potential suicide brings the surface his own beloved cousin’s suicidal death years before. Manibo poignantly describes the leavenings of a suicide - the doubts and questions and haunting interactions left behind with family and friends.
While on the hunt for the truth, Jamie discovers gaps in his own memory and realizes he is experiencing the inability to form short-term memories, an emergent side effect of sleeplessness, at least for those who came by it unnaturally, through taking a pill. Who is behind the pill’s creation and what is their end game? Jamie follows the thread of that question while searching for the truth about Simon. Suddenly, the entire situation is more personal: not only does Jamie need to clear his name of murder, but he needs to discover how to recover his elusive memories.
What is a 24-hour a day filled life that is hyper-productive but not remembered?
In a world where everything is more and faster, where is the quiet meaning?
Manibo’s novel is fast-paced and engaging and imagines a near future that feels possible for all its improbability. He weaves many complicated strands together expertly and is clearly an emerging writer worth watching!
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