Good science fiction is a combination of a page-turning story and a 'what if' question that triggers the reader to think about our own society in a new way. Concept M succeeds magnificently on both counts.
Aafke Romeijn presents an alternative Netherlands in which a large and growing segment of the population is afflicted by a debilitating disease. The costs of treating the disease are crippling the economy, but leading to rich profits for pharmaceutical companies, and there are rumours of corruption amongst senior politicians linked to those companies. This leads to a framework in which we can think about the place of disabled, chronically ill and elderly (surely the 'grey' is no accident) people in society.
That is nicely done, but what makes the book much more interesting is that at the same time it tackles the rise of popularism and extreme-right movements in our society. Hava, the protagonist, becomes radicalised and is recruited to a terrorist group fighting against the expensive provision of benefits for the disabled population. What Romeijn does very nicely is that she describes how this gradually happens in such a way as to make it seem entirely rational and logical. There is only the occasional hint that the 'bubble' that Hava is living in is one fed by propaganda, and that the rest of the world has an alternative set of facts at its disposal. She also shows that the radicalisation has as much to do with Hava's rebellion against her mother as pure politics.
Although you might think that all that politics could make for a rather dry story, the personal element and suspenseful plot of Concept M rescue it from that. It is definitely a plot driven book, for a large part quite literally, as Hava drives towards her destination.
All in all a definite good read, and I'm already looking forward to her next book.