The new novel by Tom Lin absolutely blew me away. It is set in South
Dakota, of all places, and it is science fiction and fantasy and also
deeply rewarding.
"Babylon, South Dakota" is the story of two immigrants
who moved there from China because they inherited a ranch out in the
middle of no place. She has smuggled some precious gold from China. He
has brought along some flower seeds. She has hiding places for their
gold. He doesn't hide his flower seeds, before long the flowers he grows
are coming up all over the place.
Early on some guys show up at their door, they are from the government
and they want to buy an acre of their land. They do. Then they start
building a silo for a nuclear missile.
Tom Lin is a fabulous writer and his imagination is quite impressive. I absolutely loved this novel.
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