Author: Robert Charles Wilson
Narrated by Scott Brick
Audio Length: 20 hours and 48 minutes
Robert Charles Wilson is one of favorite authors as his books are thought provoking and usually spur my imagination into overdrive. Plus, his stories usually have a couple of “holy crap” moments. With Julian Comstock, Mr. Wilson shifts gears from normal Sci-fi into more of a historical fiction style of story but set in the future America. This is really more of a character novel than a Sci-Fi adventure. For the most part, I really enjoyed the book and the further it delved into life in the 22nd Century, the more interesting it became.
Summary
The story encompasses about 20 years, from 2172 to 2192. But, the future is not so bright in America as the world economy has collapsed due to climate change and the depletion of oil. Mr. Wilson does not spend much time delving on the specific causes of the collapse leaving the reader to wonder how society arrived at this point. The average person from the 1800’s to early 1900’s would feel more comfortable in this futuristic world of Julian Comstock than anyone from present day. All travel is by horse, there is no electricity and being able to read is just a luxury.
Review
The story is written as a sort of a biography by Julian’s life long friend, Adam Hazzard. It reminded me of the numerous political novels that are always published after the end of each Presidential administration. The author typically discusses his younger life and then all the relevant happenings that occurred while working with President. The author is only able to talk about all of happenings that occurred when they were present. Therefore, the picture is left incomplete and the reader is left wonder about other important events. Mr. Wilson sticks to this principle as Adam only writes about the time he was with Julian and his perspective is somewhat bias being Julian’s friend. I would have like to read what other characters heard or witnessed while around Julian.
This was one quibble with the novel. Julian Comstock would disappear from the story numerous times and at points, is almost nonexistent. Adam goes into details about his life and the struggles he faced for far too much of the novel. While most of it was interesting, the far more interesting character was Julian Comstock and I wish there was more of a focus on the details of his life.
The constant theme that really courses through the novel is Julian’s constant battle against the intolerant religious type of government. A fundamentalist Christian organization has taken over American called the “Dominion of Jesus Christ” or just the “Dominion”. They control all forms information and entertainment, therefore greatly influence society and how people think. Julian is sort of a free-thinker and does not strictly adhere to the ideals of the Dominion. The numerous debates and struggles that Julian has through out his life on this topic was really the highlight of the story for me. Even though the story centers on extreme of religious intolerance, it does provide a warning against intolerance and more importantly, dictatorially type of governments.
The other focus of the story is Julian’s rise to power. The Presidency is passed down through hereditary succession rather than meaningful general elections. Julian’s uncle, Deklan Comstock, became the President upon the death of Julian’s father, Bryce. Many suspect than Deklan had Bryce killed. Deklan understands that Julian is the next to inherit the Presidency and takes several steps to orchestrate Julian’s demise. As mentioned, Julian is a free-thinker and he is able is devise some pretty inventive ways to stay alive through out the course of the novel.
The writing is simply top notch. Julian is involved in several hair raising battles. Mr. Wilson does an excellent job of putting the reader in the middle of the action, to the point you feel the bullets whizzing by. In addition, the world Mr. Wilson has created is fully realized in all respects. Since he borrowed heavily from the past the reader is able to quickly grasp the nuances of this future society.
The audio book is narrated by Scott Brick. I don’t need to reiterate the high quality of a Scott Brick production except to say that it works really well with this type of old fashion story telling.
Final Word
It took me awhile to get used to the style of this novel. At first, I was disappointed that there were no “holy crap” moments that I have come to love in Mr. Wilson’s novels. But as the story progressed, I really began to enjoy listening to Julian’s and Adam’s struggles in the 22nd-Century. By the end I was totally won over and can see why it was nominated for a Hugo award. It is loving portrayal of a character with an extreme amount of courage that we usually read about in history books but wish existed in today’s world.
My Rating
