What will happen to the United States when the world runs out of oil? Robert Charles Wilson answers that question with a bleak vision of 22nd century America. Rather than moving forward towards cleaner energy, America has backslid into 19th-century technology and morals. The freedoms most current Americans take for granted have been revoked, and the country is run by a dynastic President and the Church of the Dominion of Jesus Christ. Science and history have been supressed just as much as the arts, and while the United States controls most of North America, they are at war with the Dutch for control of Labrador. This book chronicles the rise of Julian Comstock through the first-person narrative of his friend Adam. The book carries the reader on a journey from Julian and Adam’s youth in Athabaska to New York.
The author has created a world that’s rich in detail but vividly shocking because so much of it is recognizable, but it has been warped into something far beyond what most Americans would imagine. The story is told in slightly archaic and formal language, which gives it a slightly authoritative air. The literary device works beautifully in the context of the story and the way the characters are described. There aren’t really any slow places or spots where the story lags, though I would hesitate to call the book fast-paced. The narrative is given in such a way that the reader knows exactly what they need to know, and while the end of the book isn’t really much of a surprise (though there is a twist at the end), the reader knows that this is the way this particular journey had to end. Anything else would have been a flagrant use of deus ex machina and would have betrayed the elegant structuring of the plot and the historical tone the author took such pains to set in motion.
The book was beautifully written, and while I am not necessarily much of a fan of alternate history, I’ve been known to enjoy historical fiction. This novel combines the best of both genres. It was the first book I’ve read in a long time that I could be so utterly immersed in that I forgot to check the time. I was also very eager to get back to reading it every time I had to put it down. This book is one of those books that I will be recommending to the majority of my friends (the exceptions are only the ones who don’t care for reading), and I will probably be scouting my favorite used bookstore for extra copies to give as gifts. This is a book that will reside on my bookshelf for many years to come so that I can revisit it frequently.
Paperback, June 2009, from Tor
