The Back of the Turtle

King paints beautiful scenes of Canada’s natural world, complete with sparkling waters, lush forests and thriving wildlife. Readers must then bear witness as Domidion wreaks havoc on these precious landscapes. Rather than blaming climate change on individuals, King calls out the large-scale destruction of Earth orchestrated by corrupt corporations, while cautioning against the normalization of said destruction.

Before The Ruin, the residents of Samaritan Bay lived in harmony with their natural surroundings. They respected the natural state of the land, knew the trails through the forest with their eyes closed, and coexisted peacefully with the other creatures that populate the area. The Indigenous folk tales they passed back and forth, including “The Woman Who Fell from the Sky,” emphasized the importance of a symbiotic relationship between a people and the land they live on.

Dorian, on the other hand, has no respect for the environment. He lives in a world of artificial grandeur, deriving all enjoyment from the inventions of other humans. He has no eye for natural beauty and perceives the natural world as existing to further his interests. To Dorian, the environment is unruly and must be controlled. Any life form that he can’t personally exploit is a disposable nuisance.