Julian Comstock by Robert Charles Wilson

During the cold war, we saw quite a few post apocalypse novels. Most were after the bomb novels, though we also had some after the plague novels. Almost all involved the aftermath of the huge war we feared during those cold war days, whether it be nuclear, biological, or both. Now though, the major element of after the collapse novels isn’t “after the bomb.” Instead, it’s “after the oil runs out.” Wilson’s Julian Comstock is a great example of this subgenre.

In Julian Comstock’s world, oil ran out in the mid-twenty-first century. This, combined with some climate change, resulted in a drastic change in our world. There were major food shortages and major epidemics, and the population shrank drastically. Major cities fell -- though some later recovered to a degree -- and many suburban and urban areas became dead zones -- sites for future scavengers. In the United States, civilization recovers to something like a 19th century level, but with a government clearly established by the religious right. The three pillars of government are now President, Senate, and church (the Dominion), the Supreme Court having been abolished. The rich have become an intrenched aristocracy, while indentured servitude can be hereditary, though the rich put a very libertarian spin on this, by saying people must have the right to sell themselves, and that debt and private property are essential to society.

As the story starts, Julian, the title character, nephew of the President, is in exile in the West. His uncle Deklan executed Julian’s father, essentially for being too popular a general, and views Julian himself as a threat. Julian makes friends with the story’s narrator, commoner Adam Hazzard. Adam follows Julian throughout, through war in Labrador (where the U.S. is fighting Europe over disputed territory). through his return to the capital in Manhattan, tracing his rise and fall.

The society has the feel of a populist 19th century, but with more tight control from the church. On the surface, it’s reminiscent of popular novels of the 19th century, but without the “objectionable” elements of the great 19th century American writers. And fittingly, while 22nd century America admires 19th century America, Whitman, Hawthorne, and Melville, and when a character talks of great presidents of the past, Washington is mentioned, Lincoln is not. The narrative style fits this worldview, the prose sounding like 19th century America, and the narrator being hesitant to talk about sex or about things that seem anti-religious. The latter is something he must come to terms with, since Julian is very much a free thinker, and his true desire in live is to make a film about Charles Darwin. (Silent films exist, performed with live music and live actors, hiding behind the stage, reciting lines.) Julian, in fact, in many ways is a parallel to the Roman emperor of the same name.

Julian Comstock works on a number of levels. At the surface level, of course, we have a great adventure story, full of great exploits, drama, triumph, and tragedy. It is a very entertaining read, though those who just want to read an adventure story will find the last quarter of the novel to be not what they expected or wanted.

But Julian Comstock also explores the way history works, and the way culture and history impact one another. It examines the nature of society, and looks closely at the role of class, religion, and the role of the individual. It also looks at the inertia history can have, and how attempts at radical change can result in stronger push back -- something Julian runs into but cannot stop. Good intentions and idealism -- ultimately doing the right thing -- may not be enough if not tempered to some degree to allow the changes to make their way deeper into the system. The speed at which some kinds of changes can happen has limits. And it’s also about the nature of drama and of writing, about the tenison between truth and drama -- something Adam discovers as he works to become a writer.

This is a fine novel. The Windup Girl (another novel about a world in which we’ve run out of essential resources) is probably still first on my Hugo ballot, but Julian Comstock is a close second. (Though I still have two more nominated novels to read, so this could change.)