The Core of the Sun

Johanna Sinisalo

A mixed narrative style of storytelling, alternating between letters to sibling, and first person accounts from each of the two protagonists. The setting is Finland, where the government has evolved into a "eusistocratic society", meaning that the government makes laws that force people to make good decisions. This manifests as outlawing all vices (caffeine, chocolate, red meat, nicotine, etc.) and the Ministry of Public Health is the most powerful public bureaucracy. In addition, the "greater good" means that women are sorted early into those who are suited for reproduction (i.e. subservient) and those who are not. Women have no rights and this part of society is really middle ages. In this context, Vanna (our protagonist) turns out to be a drug dealer (and user) with her drug being capsaicin (from hot chile's). Throughout the story, we learn her past, how she became a user, and what her motivations are. The goal is the development of "The Core of the Sun", the hottest chile to exist. This is an interesting take on what happens with government overreach, in a bit of a silly way since people have resorted to chili as a drug. This is what I love about sci-fi, making a somewhat silly extrapolation to make a point about a larger societal issue.
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