Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson

This is the third of six novels nominated for a Hugo Award this year.


I've already read:
Emissaries from the Dead by Adam Troy Castro
The City and The City by China Mieville


I haven't read:
Palimpsest Catharynne M.Valente
Boneshaker Cherie Priest
WWW:Wake Robert J. Sawyer


I can say with confidence that I probably won't be reading Sawyer's book. I've read three others of his and disliked all of them. He's an engaging speaker at conventions, but I just can't get into his books.


And, I'm sad to report, that I just couldn't get into Julian Comstock. I really enjoy Robert Charles Wilson's writing and books but this one disappointed.


Premise of the book (from Amazon.com): After the disasters of the 21st century that resulted in the deaths of millions of its citizens, the United States retreats from technology and urban life. Social classes are sharply distinguished, and a centralized Protestant Church plays a powerful role in both politics and everyday life. President Deklan Comstock is periodically reelected without opposition. Despite his apparent stranglehold on power, he views his nephew, a child named Julian, as a potential future rival. In an effort to protect her son, Julian's mother sends him to be raised in a remote village in the Western states, where he becomes fast friends with a local lad, the narrator of this tale. Forced to flee their village to avoid the military draft, they make their way eastward where, after many adventures, Julian at last faces his uncle. On one level, this is a straightforward adventure story in the tradition of G.A. Henty or Oliver Optic. Throughout the narrative, however, there runs an engaging philosophical examination of the nature of society, the individual, truth, power, idealism, and change, which adds to the drama while foreshadowing Julian's eventual fate. Teens looking for a meaty adventure will enjoy this book, as will those looking for provocative science fiction, while readers aspiring to careers in politics will find much to contemplate.




Perhaps it was the philosophical outlook of the book, or perhaps it was because the books background is based on the war for oil and given the recent BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico it was just unpalatable. Whatever, I found the book to be a slow steady slog through northern Canada while the characters fought a relatively uninteresting war. I couldn't even empathize with any of them - they all seemed so very two dimensional.


Granted, I'm writing this and I'm only halfway through the book, but I don't know that I'm inclined to finish. At 250 pages out of 500 (e-book), nothing is pulling at me, nothing is crying out "Finish me! Finish me!".  Luckily, since it is an e-book, I can just set it aside and my Nook will just save the page I left off on. Maybe I'll finish it down the road, but probably not right now.