Ink

By Sabrina Vourvoulias

What happens when rhetoric about immigrants escalates to an institutionalized population control system? The near-future, dark speculative novel INK opens as a biometric tattoo is approved for use to mark temporary workers, permanent residents and citizens with recent immigration history – collectively known as inks.

Set in a fictional city and small, rural town in the U.S. during a 10-year span, the novel is told in four voices: a journalist; an ink who works in a local population control office; an artist strongly tied to a specific piece of land; and a teenager whose mother runs an inkatorium (a sanitarium-internment center opened in response to public health concerns about inks).

The main characters grapple with ever-changing definitions of power, home and community; relationships that expand and complicate their lives; personal magicks they don’t fully understand; and perceptions of “otherness” based on ethnicity, language, class and inclusion. In this world, the protagonists’ magicks serve and fail, as do all other systems – government, gang, religious organization – until only two things alone stand: love and memory.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Crossed Genres Publications
• Release date: Nov 8, 2012
• ISBN: 9781301503278

Sabrina Vourvoulias

Sabrina Vourvoulias is the author of Ink (Crossed Genres, 2012), a speculative novel that draws on her memories of Guatemala's armed internal conflict, and of the Latin experience in the United States. It was named to Latinidad's Best Books of 2012. Her stories have appeared in Strange Horizons, Crossed Genres and in a number of anthologies, including Long Hidden: Speculative Fiction from the Margins of History. She is the managing editor of Al Día News in Philadelphia, and was the editor of Al Día's book 200 Years of Latino History in Philadelphia (Temple University Press, 2012). She lives in Pennsylvania with her husband and daughter.

Reviews for Ink

[tlmorganfield · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Emotionally poignant and eerily plausible given the current political climate. I particularly enjoyed the use of magic realism. Will definitely look for more of Vourvoulias' work in the future.

[lquilter_2 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This political magical realist SF novel was hard-going at times, but ultimately had happy -- sometimes too happy -- resolutions. Ink is in the vein of Sinclair Lewis' It Can't Happen Here, but updated to focus on modern anti-immigrant hostility. Like Lewis' book, journalism provides the first focus of the story; but then Vourvoulias broadens the narrative frame to include women and people of color. Immigrants and children of immigrants have already been subject to legal requirements for tattooing, at the beginning of the book (hence "ink"); by the end of the story, they have also faced vigilante "border dumps", mass incarcerations, forced sterilizations, and ultimately mass deportations. Unfortunately Vourvoulias didn't have to extrapolate *very* far, and I can practically see the fingerprints of Arizona's various anti-immigrant propositions and Mitt Romney's "self-deportations" on this book. Quibbles: A bit of tokenism with a very minor (almost missable) reference to a lesbian relationship, people of color who are not "inks". Getting back the stolen child, seemed a little unrealistic ... but as a parent it helped me get through the book. .... And, yes, there's death and uncertainty in relationships, but still a happy-ever-after with good sex vibe to the (heterosexual) relationships, that suggests fan fiction or romance novel. However, those are minor quibbles, and my overall take is that I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it to anyone who likes political SF.

[tldegray-1 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I said while I was reading this book that there were many times I had to close the book (turn off the Kindle) and walk away because it was too possible. I can see the path that leads from the now I live in to the events of this book. I can see it clearly in the proposed laws about identification and education. I can see people and officials desiring a way to mark people permanently, so they and we can never mistake or forget who they are.

The inks in this book--those marked with tattoos denoting their immigration status--are, as they are in this world, Latinos. All Latinos. Even those who are citizens are tattooed, likely so that even they can some day be rounded up. (Notice, every Latino is tattooed. Not every immigrant, every Latino. No matter how many generations back their family came to the US, no matter their legal immigration status. Because it isn't immigration that's the true issue, it's race.)

Something that struck me in particular was a scene where a white man and a Latina woman were discussing proposed ink regulations. She was upset by it, because even though she was a citizen she could see how this harmed her. He commented something along the lines of it is what it is, easily accepting these laws because they didn't directly harm him. This is now. This is institutionalized racism.

I also said once during reading that a certain couple was making me grin like a fool while I was reading about their courtship. The characters in this book feel so real in themselves and in their various relationships. Some are lovers, some friends, some only acquaintances, but all are brought together by this process and all live their lives with it constantly in the background. And that's part of the message: that they keep living their lives, and the fight goes on.

[hyper0melida · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

The world of Ink isn't far away enough from reality to be just another dystopia... While brown-skinned peoples are tattooed and targeted, stripped of their rights and their children, their ancestral spirits are literally working with and for them, even when the characters themselves are not aware of the power they wield. The story feels disjointed at times, so the reader needs to stay hyper-aware. This magical realism does not flow uninterrupted, but the tale is timely and the characters beautiful enough to forgive the difficulties of narrative.

[britt84 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I absolutely loved this book; it made me laugh, it made me cry, it made me angry, and sad, and it made me want to read it again the minute I finished reading.In a dystopian future, immigrants are labelled with tattoos and denoted as 'inks'. Inks are increasingly unwelcome in the US; from simply being excluded from certain jobs, they face increasing restrictions, in the end leading to inks being locked up in 'inkatoriums'. The novel tells the story of several people, both inks and non-inks, who each get involved with the system in different ways. The stories are intricately linked and the novel is well-written, the characters are very real and the way the different perspectives are described gives you a complete view of what the measures against inks mean for different people.Added to this is a story line of ancient magic and spirit beings, some protecting people, others determined to create chaos and desctruction.In the end, the system fails, people rebel against the discrimination of inks, and chaos ensues. A great novel, an amazing story, and something that makes you think about current trends in society. It stresses the importance of tolerance, and shows how discrimination can go from bad to worse.

[bsiemens_2 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I enjoy dystopian novels; especially when they're well-written. Ink has a great premise and the author, Sabrina Vourvoulias, has an interesting quality to her writing that is reminiscent of a naturally carbonated mineral water. My enjoyment of the novel was repeatedly derailed by the paranormal subplot, which was never fully enough described to elevate it from a solid work to a truly great work; instead the lack scaled my estimation of the work down moderately. I expect that other readers may not be as distressed by the vaguely represented under current.

[elsee-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A fascinating book based on a truly remarkable concept that posits a US government which requires all Hispanics to be tattooed, an action which allows and leads to further legal restrictions ~ and worse ~ on that population. What seemed at first an utterly implausible idea became, as i reflected on it, surprisingly possible, though not actually likely.Having lived in the United States for some twenty years, immersed in what is truly one of the most racially aware, if not racist, cultures in the world, i found myself appreciating the underlying truths on the book: The general fear of the unknown, by Americans in general, because it is different, is clear; the amazing passivity with which huge numbers of Americans allow their government to assume a larger and larger rôle in their lives, despite their constant lip service to the ideals of small government, no matter what that intrusive government does; also, to be fair, the individual kindness or loveliness of many Americans individually rather than en masse (as much as a cliché as it is to say it, while i find the American people in general rather unpleasant, many of my best friends are Americans ~ indeed, i married one). It is part of the novel's interest that the group which is being oppressed is not that group in actuality most discriminated against, African-Americans ~ or whatever the currently correct term is ~ but Vourvoulias has chosen to make the fastest growing ethnic group in the US her victims; this has raised a number of challenges for her, some of which she has risen to quite well, including the matter of a word for the group ~ the titular “ink” ~ which is universally used within the book.In mine opinion, however, she has been less successful in her treatment of African-Americans themselves, as there is, if i recall correctly, only one identifiably Black character, and there is really no difference between that character and the other non-Inks other than the colour of the skin. The United States is, as mentioned above, one of the most vocally egalitarian, yet practically non-egalitarian, societies in the world, yet the true underclass of the society is that of the African-Americans; they are the group most closely linked with the idea of prejudice, the most underprivileged group, the class closest to the position of the Inks in the novel. I suspect that Vourvoulias found that it would be impossible, if she even thought about trying, to use Blacks as her victims, and anyone she may have run the idea past would have dissuaded her.Another facet of the book which i found rather distracting, though i can see (or, at least, imagine) that some readers would probably find it one of its strengths, is the intrusion of the generally unseen world of magic into the world of reality. There are several ways in which Vourvoulias allows these worlds to intersect; each of them is, to me, either confusing or annoying. The most consistent manner is that several of the Inks have some form of dæmon or alter ego which occasionally comes to the fore, most notably during times of stress or conflict, in particular when she shows them in conflict with evil dwarves which, while not appearing to actually be alter egos of anyone, are intimately linked with the pain and anguish caused by the government's Ink policies. The most acceptable (to me) intrusion of magic is the ability of one of the non-Inks who helps subvert the government's policies to manipulate the land around him and actually cause it to change, shape or characteristics, to enable people to hide or do things they otherwise wouldn't be able to.In the end, i'm afraid that Vourvoulias has tried to put too much into a novel which will not carry it. As much as i enjoyed the plot, the conception, the characterisations (and the characters), i found the book as a whole a bit more than i could comfortably read. I would like to have seen the idea developed without some of the extra themes, the magic, or the importance of story-telling. This could have been a superb work of speculative fiction, had it not left so many questions dangling ~ how did the government bring in the Ink policies? what was the political landscape which permitted these developments? do Latins or Hispanics from other than Central and South America (Spain, Portugal, Italy) have to have tattoos? The single idea of the tattoos is so powerful, in mine opinion it should have been allowed to develop fully. A success then, for me, but not as successful as it might have been.

[leesalogic · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Here is an important cautionary tale about what could happen when we fear the other and let that irrational fear dictate our laws. In Ink's America, an identity law is passed where anyone entering the country gets a scannable tattoo that can tell the reader what status the ink has: citizen, permanent resident, temporary, fake. If one of your parents is an ink, you are an ink too, regardless if the parent was a full citizen before the law passed. As the book progresses through a decade in time, so does the fear of the other: safehouses are raided; inks are harassed at checkpoints; if an ink shows any sign of illness, they are sent to inkatoriums, purportedly to protect the public (thus keeping the other out of our sight).This is a book about controlling the other to a violent, horrifying extreme. But it's also a book about love, faith, magic, myth, family, heritage, culture. It's a book that embraces social media (especially Twitter) to inform at its most noble and subvert at its most revolutionary.I loved the magic/myth in the book. Some have criticized the paranormal aspects of the story, but I think that's based on a lack of knowledge of the culture: many cultures have a deep belief in the supernatural or humanity's link/companionship with other non-human inhabitants. For me, the paranormal aspects made this book even more about humanity, especially considering the less-magically inclined people in charge could be so cruel and dehumanizing to anyone other than them. Who are we to say their experience, their traditions, are less real than ours?I found this book personally important in my quest to become a better person, and I am glad I received it as part of the LibraryThing Early Reviewers program. As I grow older, I challenge my knee-jerk judgments of others-not-like-me or things I don't understand. A small example would be how I approach street art. Before, I saw it is defacing and intrusive, but I challenged myself to see it from a different perspective and I was able to see the art, creativity, expression, and beauty in it. What I mean by telling that story is that to understand the other--that being so alien and different and strange--you have to sit down and really listen to what they have to say: where they have been, what they believe, who they are, where they come from, where they want to go. It's inhuman to not give others the right and the time to join in the discussion.

[dilara86 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This novel is set in an alternative contemporary US where life is made extremely difficult for immigrants. They are tattooed (“inked”) according to their standing and their rights are curtailed, forcing them into an underground or semi-underground lifestyle. It’s a very American novel, as far as the social and ethnic make-up of the characters is concerned (the majority of inks are Latino, and half of the non-inks have some Native American ancestry).There is a mix of action and social commentary, with a dash of magic and angst that seems to typify YA lit. The novel is a good, fast-paced, adventure story first and foremost, and the reader is never hit over the head with ideology, but it is obvious the author also has things to say about political manipulation, ableism, racism, sexism, classism, and the effect privilege has on people, whether they’re privileged or subaltern. The author’s leniency towards gangs, however, makes me slightly uneasy. I’d probably recommend the book to older teens and adults, due to the sex, violence and gang-related activities described, and because its structure is fairly sophisticated, giving voice to a number of characters/points of view. I found Vourvoulias’s writing pleasant, with a good balance of description and dialogue, and I really liked her polyphonic approach to the story.

[hjvanderklis_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

What happens when rhetoric about immigrants escalates to an institutionalized population control system? The near-future, dark speculative novel INK opens as a biometric tattoo is approved for use to mark temporary workers, permanent residents and citizens with recent immigration history - collectively known as inks. Set in a fictional city and small, rural town in the U.S. during a 10-year span, the novel is told in four voices: a journalist; an ink who works in a local population control office; an artist strongly tied to a specific piece of land; and a teenager whose mother runs an inkatorium (a sanitarium-internment center opened in response to public health concerns about inks). The main characters grapple with ever-changing definitions of power, home and community; relationships that expand and complicate their lives; personal magicks they don’t fully understand; and perceptions of “otherness” based on ethnicity, language, class and inclusion. In this world, the protagonists’ magicks serve and fail, as do all other systems - government, gang, religious organization - until only two things alone stand: love and memory.I read 20% of the book, much beyond the 20 pages to wait for the storyline to catch and engage me, but it did not. The use of four different storytellers without markers (paragraph titles e.g.) distracts. Besides a lot of suspense nothing really happened. Hopefully you'll find more in this book. I put it away.