Bannerless

By: Carrie Vaughn

Narrated by: Alyssa Bresnaham

A mysterious murder in a dystopian future leads a novice investigator to question what she's learned about the foundation of her population-controlled society.

Decades after economic and environmental collapse destroys much of civilization in the United States, the Coast Road region isn't just surviving but thriving by some accounts, building something new on the ruins of what came before. A culture of population control has developed in which people, organized into households, must earn the children they bear by proving they can take care of them and are awarded symbolic banners to demonstrate this privilege. In the meantime, birth control is mandatory. Enid of Haven is an Investigator, called on to mediate disputes and examine transgressions against the community. She's young for the job and hasn't yet handled a serious case. Now, though, a suspicious death requires her attention. The victim was an outcast, but might someone have taken dislike a step further and murdered him?

In a world defined by the disasters that happened a century before, the past is always present. But this investigation may reveal the cracks in Enid's world and make her question what she really stands for.

©2017 Carrie Vaughn (P)2017 Recorded Books

Utopian Western detective story

A medieval story in the future with climate change wrecking havoc, and living in villages is the norm. Everyone is altruistic except when they’re not. And there are no guns.

Makes you think

I enjoyed it, but it makes you think about what could happen. Good Characters. Good follow on to Bannerless

Murder mystery in a pseudo-utopia

Carrie Vaughn’s Bannerless is a post-apocalyptic tale with a setting of a pseudo-utopia. Following some vague societal collapse, agrarian communities are organized into a loose-knit entity up and down a ‘coast road.’ Communal actions are tightly controlled to achieve what is believed to be a sustainable lifestyle. Population growth is also controlled with ‘banners’ earned to permit cessation from birth control. The main character is an investigator who enforces the overarching rules. She and her enforcer investigate one settlement with a mysterious death. As the investigation proceeds, secrets come to light that point to an array of violations well beyond the mysterious death.

Vaughn demonstrates a comprehensive case of world-building for this future society with a moderately consistent implementation. This is not a distant future as the most senior of citizens had been children during the earlier collapse and so, the total communal acceptance seems a bit far-fetched. The detective sleuthing is well done with a modern forensic approach without the high-tech assistance, reminiscent of the early 20th century ‘thin man’ series. The excessive societal control does evoke a stifling feeling.

The narration is reasonable, although character distinction is a bit weak. Pacing is smooth and aligned with the action.

One of my favorite authors

Carrie Vaughn pens another great read - or in this case another great listen. Engaging characters and storyline.

Enjoyable introduction to a new cast of characters

I have been reading novels by Carrie Vaughn for years. She always has a well developed plot. This one with lots of twists and turns. Her description of a world that has been destroyed by human overuse is stark but the determination of the remaining population shows the need to move forward. Greed and jealousy are the main characters in this mystery. It is a page turner. The narrator enhanced the story

Should not be listed as sci-fi.

This books is more Little House on the Prairie than it is a post-apocalyptic sci-fi novel. Yes, it takes place in the future after the collapse of civilization, but that's almost irrelevant for all the service the story does it. You get a scant few pages worth of any discussion of it and then what's left is a rather mundane murder mystery. i would not have given the story 2 stars if I'd known what I was getting but I went in thinking it was one kind of story and got a totally different one. But since I was expecting one sort of story based on the listing and got this one, two stars it is.

The main character is decent enough but if you take away the post-apocalyptic aspect of the whole thing you've got a farm house murder for rather boring reasons and by the end I was just... "meh". If you like non-convoluted who-dunnits then this will serve well enough. If you like post-apocalyptic sci-fi, this one is a hard pass.

if I have to live in a dystopian novel, I choose this one.

This story jumped around in time a lot and that is hard for me to follow in audible. However, the characters kept me interested. I could quite strongly identify with the main character. In this dystopian future, I would very likely be: a bannerless investigator who wandered her early adulthood. Also, as far as dystopian futures go, this one doesn't seem too bad. Zombie free!


This society's method for controlling population growth is very similar to one I suggested in high school health class. It was not received well when I presented it. Carrie Vaughn has explored how a society with mandated population control would behave, both negative and positive. She definitely thought it out further than I did.

Original take on dystopia

I'm always surprised at how some of the best books have so few ratings or reviews.

I read a lot of dystopian novels, and most are pretty unoriginal, which can be ok if you like the characters. But too many are filled with cardboard characters, silly love triangles, and insta love. This was not.

I sought out other books by the author, which is probably the best endorsement! One was a good as this (Discord's Apple), the other standalone novel (Martians abroad) not so much.

Dystopian Novel with a Detective Twist

If the world as we knew ended, what would a stable society look like? The author answers this through the character’s journeys, both in the present-day and through flashbacks ten years ago.

The narrator did a good job depicting this character, both age-wise and in a deliberate manner. It reminded me of the series “Girl with a Gun” in terms of a strong female narrator. It was slower-paced than other science-fiction I often listen to, which frequently includes tropes such as “The fate of the world/galaxy depends on our heroes.” It merged the detective and science-fiction/dystopian genres quite well.

The summary hints at some critical revelation from the investigation, that I either missed or it didn’t materialize. Regardless, I enjoyed it and will be listening to the next one sometime in the future, when I’m ready a slower pace again.

Carrie Vaughn is the best!

Always are drawn in by her characters! Great female leads and plots! Can’t wait to hear the sequel!!!