Status
Available
Call number
Collection
Publication
Tor Books (2010), Edition: Reprint, Mass Market Paperback, 689 pages
Description
Fiction. Science Fiction. HTML: In the reign of President Deklan Comstock, a reborn United States is struggling back to prosperity. Over a century after the Efflorescence of Oil, after the Fall of the Cities, after the False Tribulation, after the days of the Pious Presidents, the sixty stars and thirteen stripes wave from the plains of Athabaska to the national capital in New York. In Colorado Springs, the Dominion sees to the nation's spiritual needs. In Labrador, the Army wages war on the Dutch. America, unified, is rising once again. Then out of Labrador come tales of the war hero "Captain Commongold." The masses follow his adventures in the popular press. The Army adores him. The President is...troubled. Especially when the dashing Captain turns out to be his nephew Julian, son of the President's late brother Bryce�a popular general who challenged the President's power, and paid the ultimate price. As Julian ascends to the pinnacle of power, his admiration for the works of the Secular Ancients sets him at fatal odds with the Dominion. Treachery and intrigue will dog him as he closes in on the accomplishment of his lifelong ambition: to make a film about the life of Charles Darwin..… (more)
Media reviews
its sense of adventure, the unlikely accomplishments of its hero, and a cast of colorful characters make it the twenty-second century equivalent of what once would have been called a ripping good yarn.
JULIAN COMSTOCK is a buffet of cool delights: The plot is epic; its steampunky Wild West future evokes the Bruce Campbell series THE ADVENTURES OF BRISCO COUNTY JR.; the characters are unique takes on classic archetypes; and the prose sounds authentically vintage without being hard to understand or
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difficult to read. Show Less
Politically astute, romantic, philosophical, compassionate and often uproariously funny, Julian Comstock may be Wilson's best book yet -- and that's saying a lot of a man who has already collected a shelf full of awards for books like Spin.
Julian Comstock reminds us that inevitably, every generation imperfectly remembers the past. The best we can hope for is that the future will remember the constructive ideas we've left behind rather than the unhelpful ones. This novel is about why the struggle over cultural memory may be the most
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User reviews
LibraryThing member kmaziarz
It is the 22nd century and the apocalypse has come and gone. Oil reserves ran out long ago and technology and civilization as we know it collapsed in the ensuing panic, now known as the Fall of Cities. In the course of the restructuring of society, the previous two centuries (the time of the
Narrator Adam Hazzard is a simple and naive, though educated, lease boy on an Athabaskan estate. In his youth, he befriended Juliam Comstock, the nephew of hereditary President Deklan Comstock, who exiled Julian to the far West after falsely accusing Julian’s father of treason and executing him. Julian is accompanied by grizzled former soldier and father-figure Sam Godwin, who takes both boys under his wing and teaches them basic shooting and survival skills while vainly attempting to curb Julian’s heretical beliefs about science, religion, and politics. Their quiet country life is interrupted rudely by the arrival of the Army, intent on conscription. Knowing he would be in more danger as the nephew of the President, rather than less, Julian chooses to go by the surname Commongold. Unfortunately, his charismatic ways, battle field bravery, and heretical ideas win him both followers and attention. His identity cannot be kept secret for long, and his popularity eventually catapults him into his uncle’s chair—where he swiftly proves the old maxim, “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
“Julian Comstock” is a thoughtful, eloquent, and magnificently unique parable of the consequences of extremism and a terrifying glimpse into one possible future whose roots can be seen in social and political trends even today. This is science fiction at its grandest and most meaningful.
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“Secular Ancients”) were basically thrown out in favor of the technology (coal-based), speech patterns, literature, religion, and social mores of the 19th century, though with a postapocalyptic twist. Hereditary family dynasties of Aristos now control all the usable land, though it is worked by “the leasing class,” a new middle class who lease land from the dynasties and own little of their own. Undesirable labor is performed by a lower class of permanently indentured laborers. The Presidency, too, is now hereditary, with the periodic elections being little more than shams whose outcome is never in question. Most of the country’s power, however, rests in the hands of the Dominion of Jesus Christ on Earth, a sort of coalition of Christian churchs who have seized control over every aspect of society they were able and who violently punish heretic churches and political revolutionaries alike.Narrator Adam Hazzard is a simple and naive, though educated, lease boy on an Athabaskan estate. In his youth, he befriended Juliam Comstock, the nephew of hereditary President Deklan Comstock, who exiled Julian to the far West after falsely accusing Julian’s father of treason and executing him. Julian is accompanied by grizzled former soldier and father-figure Sam Godwin, who takes both boys under his wing and teaches them basic shooting and survival skills while vainly attempting to curb Julian’s heretical beliefs about science, religion, and politics. Their quiet country life is interrupted rudely by the arrival of the Army, intent on conscription. Knowing he would be in more danger as the nephew of the President, rather than less, Julian chooses to go by the surname Commongold. Unfortunately, his charismatic ways, battle field bravery, and heretical ideas win him both followers and attention. His identity cannot be kept secret for long, and his popularity eventually catapults him into his uncle’s chair—where he swiftly proves the old maxim, “uneasy lies the head that wears the crown.”
“Julian Comstock” is a thoughtful, eloquent, and magnificently unique parable of the consequences of extremism and a terrifying glimpse into one possible future whose roots can be seen in social and political trends even today. This is science fiction at its grandest and most meaningful.
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LibraryThing member tuke
Wow. This novel by the distinguished science fiction (really, I should say: speculative fiction) author Robert Charles Wilson is about a North America existing long after most of the oil is gone, and disease has ravaged modern society. Everyday life has returned to nineteenth-century technology and
There are two aspects of this book that I found stunning:
(1) The style is a pastiche of boys' adventure books from the 19th-century. It is very wittily done. The narrator is either unaware of what he's telling, or he's exercising some very sophisticated double-irony.
(2) The big conflict is between the remnants of the American governmental system, which has declined into something like a monarchy; and, opposing that, a very strong religious state. It's not unlike Iran.
Good stuff.
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mores. The author is Canadian, and great use is made of settings in the Canadian prairies and in Quebec and Labrador.There are two aspects of this book that I found stunning:
(1) The style is a pastiche of boys' adventure books from the 19th-century. It is very wittily done. The narrator is either unaware of what he's telling, or he's exercising some very sophisticated double-irony.
(2) The big conflict is between the remnants of the American governmental system, which has declined into something like a monarchy; and, opposing that, a very strong religious state. It's not unlike Iran.
Good stuff.
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LibraryThing member TomVeal
Robert Charles Wilson has written a fine novel combining the politics of the later Roman Empire with the technology of the mid-19th Century. Ostensibly, it's set 160-some years in the future. In actuality, that mis-en-scène is an artificial construct fashioned to fit the story. Thinking hard about
The central character, Julian Comstock, is obviously intended to remind us of Julian the Apostate, the short-reigned Emperor (361-363) who tried to restore paganism to the Christian Roman Empire. The novel's Julian (called "the Agnostic" or "the Atheist") is, like his namesake, a member of the imperial family relegated to obscurity after the murder of his father by the incumbent ruler. The trajectory is identical: from gilded imprisonment to military command to coup d'état to attempted renovation of the System to failure and death. The details of the future Julian's career are not, however, at all like the Emperor's, and, except for intellectual vagaries and a tendency to worship the past, their personalities are not very similar. Mr. Wilson has not blindly followed Isaac Asimov's advice to "brush up on your history/ And borrow day by day./ Take an Empire that was Roman/ And you'll find that it's at home in/ All the starry Milky Way". This future history proceeds from is own premises, not by copying its model.
In the fashion of many historical novels, the viewpoint character is a low-ranking companion of the Great Man. He is conventional and rather naive, never quite understanding - and to the extent he understands not wholly approving - Julian's projects. Quite helpfully, he writes his narrative for a foreign audience, so that explanations of 22nd Century North American customs and institutions can be inserted without awkwardness. I was somewhat reminded of Alfred Duggan. Adam Hazzard bears at least a passing resemblance to the narrator of Lord Geoffrey's Fancy.
The first few chapters of the book appeared in 2006 as a Hugo-nominated novella. The plot moves in different directions from what that opening led me to anticipate. That Julian would ascend politically and come into conflict with the Dominion of Jesus Christ on Earth was foreshadowed. It appeared, though, that the detritus of the wealthy past would play a larger role and that Julian's heterodoxy would take a more practical turn than it in fact does. I was misled, too, by an SF convention that Kingsley Amis identified long ago in New Maps of Hell: We expect a hero born into a dystopia to overthrow it, not to kick ineffectually against the pricks.
If one puts aside the artifices of the setting and doesn't mind the defiance of SF convention, Julian Comstock is an excellent novel, with interesting characters, a believable yet unpredictable plot, touches of humor and a denouement that seems inevitable after one reads it. I'm not surprised that it gained a Hugo Award nomination, albeit a purist might quibble that it properly belongs in an historical fiction category.
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how the world could have gotten from here to there, and trying to rationalize the internal contradictions, is a useless exercise. Taken at face value, the constructs are interesting and fit together well. The politics reflect a plausible semi-authoritarian regime. The religious hierarchy looks like a desiccated Establishment more concerned with self-perpetuation than dogma, just what such a regime might generate. The economic system, a reversion to a form of feudalism, completes the picture.The central character, Julian Comstock, is obviously intended to remind us of Julian the Apostate, the short-reigned Emperor (361-363) who tried to restore paganism to the Christian Roman Empire. The novel's Julian (called "the Agnostic" or "the Atheist") is, like his namesake, a member of the imperial family relegated to obscurity after the murder of his father by the incumbent ruler. The trajectory is identical: from gilded imprisonment to military command to coup d'état to attempted renovation of the System to failure and death. The details of the future Julian's career are not, however, at all like the Emperor's, and, except for intellectual vagaries and a tendency to worship the past, their personalities are not very similar. Mr. Wilson has not blindly followed Isaac Asimov's advice to "brush up on your history/ And borrow day by day./ Take an Empire that was Roman/ And you'll find that it's at home in/ All the starry Milky Way". This future history proceeds from is own premises, not by copying its model.
In the fashion of many historical novels, the viewpoint character is a low-ranking companion of the Great Man. He is conventional and rather naive, never quite understanding - and to the extent he understands not wholly approving - Julian's projects. Quite helpfully, he writes his narrative for a foreign audience, so that explanations of 22nd Century North American customs and institutions can be inserted without awkwardness. I was somewhat reminded of Alfred Duggan. Adam Hazzard bears at least a passing resemblance to the narrator of Lord Geoffrey's Fancy.
The first few chapters of the book appeared in 2006 as a Hugo-nominated novella. The plot moves in different directions from what that opening led me to anticipate. That Julian would ascend politically and come into conflict with the Dominion of Jesus Christ on Earth was foreshadowed. It appeared, though, that the detritus of the wealthy past would play a larger role and that Julian's heterodoxy would take a more practical turn than it in fact does. I was misled, too, by an SF convention that Kingsley Amis identified long ago in New Maps of Hell: We expect a hero born into a dystopia to overthrow it, not to kick ineffectually against the pricks.
If one puts aside the artifices of the setting and doesn't mind the defiance of SF convention, Julian Comstock is an excellent novel, with interesting characters, a believable yet unpredictable plot, touches of humor and a denouement that seems inevitable after one reads it. I'm not surprised that it gained a Hugo Award nomination, albeit a purist might quibble that it properly belongs in an historical fiction category.
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LibraryThing member pmwolohan
21 Words or Less: A captivating (though fictional) biography of an influential man in a future America that looks and feels more like the past.
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
The Good: Extremely high “readability” factor with prose that jumps right off the page, a setting that is interesting, original, and
The Bad: Some of the “themes” come across as heavy-handed, occasional pacing problems
For years, scientists have warned of the End of Oil, the point at which our oil based civilization will no longer be able to function. In Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson takes the world to the End of Oil and beyond; depicting a 22nd century America that has emerged from the False Tribulation transformed. Julian Comstock’s America has adopted Christianity as its official religion and the Church’s Dominion is one of the most powerful entities in American politics along side the military and the now inheritable presidency. Not to mention that the lack of oil and religious censorship has regressed America into an agricultural nation at a technological level on par with that of the Civil War. Robert Charles Wilson has concocted one heck of a setting and he slowly reveals it’s intricacies over the first third or so of the book. He also manages to communicate all of this to the reader without resorting to “infodumping” (or at least without infodumping awkwardly enough feel unnatural). It’s not only well constructed and delivered, it also feels original in a way that so many contemporary book fail to convey.
When I sat down to write this review, I knew I would have trouble writing it. Robert Charles Wilson has concocted a fictional biography by a fictional author and succeeded wildly at it. Reading it felt like reading a biography in the respect that you couldn’t really take issue with the plot. For example, if you were reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson, you couldn’t really judge the “plot.” Whatever happened simply happened. This book portrays the life of Julian Comstock and the influential moments along the way as told by a close friend who accompanied him through most of the journey. I think the best complement I can give this book is that it feels authentic.
Wilson does this by framing the story as a biography written by Julian’s lifelong friend, Adam Hazzard, who had the good fortune to know the titular character when they were kids and the misfortune of getting swept up into a world of war, political intrigue, and love in Julian’s wake. Adam’s narration is extremely easy to read and his character’s optimism makes the story lively and upbeat even when dealing with the darkness of war or the maddening eccentricities that Julian develops. In fact, I felt that Adam’s story was as interesting, if not more so than Julian’s. While Julian is destined to do great things, he is also flawed in very intricate but frustrating ways. It’s much easier to root for Adam with his straightforward motivations of love, friendship, and creativity.
That’s not to say that Wilson’s narrative choices are perfect. A few times character development is handicapped by the limitations of Adam’s perspective. At certain points in the story, Adam is distanced (sometimes physically, sometimes not) from Julian and as a result there are passages of time during which Julian’s story is largely neglected due to a lack of information. While Wilson refrains from using awkward storytelling techniques to supply the missing information, this uneven pacing can be frustrating because these periods are also some of the important in terms of understanding the evolution of Julian’s character.
In much the same way, I felt like the portions of the book that were the weakest were the points at which the narrator delved into descriptions that felt thematically heavy. While it might have felt weighted simply because the characters within the story were attempting to convey their own messages, during these sections it was easy to confuse the themes the characters were focused on with Wilson’s own personal agenda (if he had one). Julian as a character has a strong stance against the logic and knowledge fearing Dominion which could be simply his character or it could be Wilson vocalizing some type of personal disdain with the prevalence of science-phobic Christian fundamentalists in today’s America. During a few select sequences, most notably scenes featuring the two artistic “movies”, the personal views of Julian Comstock, the naviete of Adam’s narration, and the politically charged lyrics and symbolism of the scenes themselves combine to form an ambiguity that seems out of place when compared to the rest of the book. It's not necessarily preachy but it could be interpreted as such and this occassionally interrupts an otherwise immersive story.
It’s important to note that I still rated the book at 4.5 stars. It’s easy to focus on the parts of the book that stood out as problematic but the vast majority of the book felt seamless and read extremely well. The story progressed as a decent pace and elements that might have seemed to be out of place tangents at first would come back to significantly influence the story in unexpected ways. And it wasn’t just the story of Julian and Adam that captivated; Wilson’s portrait of a future America is so fascinating and original that if he penned a history textbook of 22nd century America, I would have no problem reading it cover to cover. American kings, Christian powerbrokers, and steam engines, what’s not to love? While I’m not a huge fan of returning to a world once the original story is complete, I feel like Julian Comstock is but a drop in the bucket of the storytelling potential present in Wilson’s future America. To be sure, Julian Comstock is one of the best books I’ve read this year and without a doubt the most original in setting and structure.
Original Posted at YetiStomper.blogspot.com
Rating: 4.5/5 stars
The Good: Extremely high “readability” factor with prose that jumps right off the page, a setting that is interesting, original, and
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frighteningly plausible, plot is unpredictable but also well structured, very complex three-dimensional charactersThe Bad: Some of the “themes” come across as heavy-handed, occasional pacing problems
For years, scientists have warned of the End of Oil, the point at which our oil based civilization will no longer be able to function. In Julian Comstock: A Story of 22nd-Century America, Robert Charles Wilson takes the world to the End of Oil and beyond; depicting a 22nd century America that has emerged from the False Tribulation transformed. Julian Comstock’s America has adopted Christianity as its official religion and the Church’s Dominion is one of the most powerful entities in American politics along side the military and the now inheritable presidency. Not to mention that the lack of oil and religious censorship has regressed America into an agricultural nation at a technological level on par with that of the Civil War. Robert Charles Wilson has concocted one heck of a setting and he slowly reveals it’s intricacies over the first third or so of the book. He also manages to communicate all of this to the reader without resorting to “infodumping” (or at least without infodumping awkwardly enough feel unnatural). It’s not only well constructed and delivered, it also feels original in a way that so many contemporary book fail to convey.
When I sat down to write this review, I knew I would have trouble writing it. Robert Charles Wilson has concocted a fictional biography by a fictional author and succeeded wildly at it. Reading it felt like reading a biography in the respect that you couldn’t really take issue with the plot. For example, if you were reading a biography of Thomas Jefferson, you couldn’t really judge the “plot.” Whatever happened simply happened. This book portrays the life of Julian Comstock and the influential moments along the way as told by a close friend who accompanied him through most of the journey. I think the best complement I can give this book is that it feels authentic.
Wilson does this by framing the story as a biography written by Julian’s lifelong friend, Adam Hazzard, who had the good fortune to know the titular character when they were kids and the misfortune of getting swept up into a world of war, political intrigue, and love in Julian’s wake. Adam’s narration is extremely easy to read and his character’s optimism makes the story lively and upbeat even when dealing with the darkness of war or the maddening eccentricities that Julian develops. In fact, I felt that Adam’s story was as interesting, if not more so than Julian’s. While Julian is destined to do great things, he is also flawed in very intricate but frustrating ways. It’s much easier to root for Adam with his straightforward motivations of love, friendship, and creativity.
That’s not to say that Wilson’s narrative choices are perfect. A few times character development is handicapped by the limitations of Adam’s perspective. At certain points in the story, Adam is distanced (sometimes physically, sometimes not) from Julian and as a result there are passages of time during which Julian’s story is largely neglected due to a lack of information. While Wilson refrains from using awkward storytelling techniques to supply the missing information, this uneven pacing can be frustrating because these periods are also some of the important in terms of understanding the evolution of Julian’s character.
In much the same way, I felt like the portions of the book that were the weakest were the points at which the narrator delved into descriptions that felt thematically heavy. While it might have felt weighted simply because the characters within the story were attempting to convey their own messages, during these sections it was easy to confuse the themes the characters were focused on with Wilson’s own personal agenda (if he had one). Julian as a character has a strong stance against the logic and knowledge fearing Dominion which could be simply his character or it could be Wilson vocalizing some type of personal disdain with the prevalence of science-phobic Christian fundamentalists in today’s America. During a few select sequences, most notably scenes featuring the two artistic “movies”, the personal views of Julian Comstock, the naviete of Adam’s narration, and the politically charged lyrics and symbolism of the scenes themselves combine to form an ambiguity that seems out of place when compared to the rest of the book. It's not necessarily preachy but it could be interpreted as such and this occassionally interrupts an otherwise immersive story.
It’s important to note that I still rated the book at 4.5 stars. It’s easy to focus on the parts of the book that stood out as problematic but the vast majority of the book felt seamless and read extremely well. The story progressed as a decent pace and elements that might have seemed to be out of place tangents at first would come back to significantly influence the story in unexpected ways. And it wasn’t just the story of Julian and Adam that captivated; Wilson’s portrait of a future America is so fascinating and original that if he penned a history textbook of 22nd century America, I would have no problem reading it cover to cover. American kings, Christian powerbrokers, and steam engines, what’s not to love? While I’m not a huge fan of returning to a world once the original story is complete, I feel like Julian Comstock is but a drop in the bucket of the storytelling potential present in Wilson’s future America. To be sure, Julian Comstock is one of the best books I’ve read this year and without a doubt the most original in setting and structure.
Original Posted at YetiStomper.blogspot.com
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LibraryThing member weakley
One of the best reads of the year!
While set in the 22nd century I would place this in the category of "future Victorian steampunk". By that I mean it's set in a world that has regressed in technology because of a global oil crisis. People are making do under a totalitarian religion based regime.
The narrative dialogue is a marvelous mix of Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Heinlein. I can't say enough about how enjoyable the play of language and topic was. The characters are well done and yet they are kept in the style and spirit of the Victorian tale of daring do.
My only regret is that this isn't a series
While set in the 22nd century I would place this in the category of "future Victorian steampunk". By that I mean it's set in a world that has regressed in technology because of a global oil crisis. People are making do under a totalitarian religion based regime.
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The narrative dialogue is a marvelous mix of Arthur Conan Doyle and Robert Heinlein. I can't say enough about how enjoyable the play of language and topic was. The characters are well done and yet they are kept in the style and spirit of the Victorian tale of daring do.
My only regret is that this isn't a series
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LibraryThing member AlanPoulter
This novel purports to be a true account of events written by one Adam Hazzard, a Church-educated literate farm hand, who witnessed the rise (and presumed fall) of one Julian Comstock. At the beginning, the reader is told that s/he will know of the events to come, which is unlikely as this is a
The power in this future America is the Church of the Dominion, a union of Christian Churches, from mainstream to the oddball: Adam Hazzard's Church of Signs for example uses snakes as a part of worship. The economy is mainly agriculture, with a few people ('aristos') owning the land, and everyone else either being leased workers (who 'loan' their labour for food and lodgings) or indentured hands, who are wage slaves. The government is 'elected' by the aristos who pledge the votes of their leased workers. Its main task is fighting a war against invading Europeans, known colloquially as the 'Dutch'. This war is a re-run of American Civil War-style fighting, except with some technological twists: sub-machine guns and long-range artillery, the latter supplied by the Chinese. The Presidency is inherited, and the current President, Deklan Conqueror, is Julian's uncle. It is suspected that Deklan had Julian's father killed, because of his successes in the war. The narrative begins with Julian, Adam and one Sam Godwin, a military veteran, who advises and protects Julian, trying to escape a draft into the Army, ordered by Deklan to get Julian to the front and a fatal encounter with a bullet. Finally, Julian is a free thinker, who reads prohibited books from the previous age of the Secular Ancients, about Darwin, and the scientific achievements of the old America, which sets up a major faultline in the story.
But the story takes second place to the artifice of this book. The writing style is mock nineteenth century, filtered through a prim Christian, who has read a limited range of popular hack-written fiction. The text itself is used knowingly for amusement, for example with funny footnotes. Hazzard enounters a journalist and later a publisher and these are stereotyped to the hilt. Other texts by Adam Hazzard play a major part in the plot and eventually he gets to write a 'bestseller' himself which has a cover depicting, inter alia, an octopus, which is not in the story but which makes the book more saleable.
While there are resonances with the current political landscape in America and the story itself is fun, this book lacks the originality and sweep of imagination that previously characterised this author.
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story from the future, set in an America that has declined catastrophically when the oil ran out and the global economy crashed. The power in this future America is the Church of the Dominion, a union of Christian Churches, from mainstream to the oddball: Adam Hazzard's Church of Signs for example uses snakes as a part of worship. The economy is mainly agriculture, with a few people ('aristos') owning the land, and everyone else either being leased workers (who 'loan' their labour for food and lodgings) or indentured hands, who are wage slaves. The government is 'elected' by the aristos who pledge the votes of their leased workers. Its main task is fighting a war against invading Europeans, known colloquially as the 'Dutch'. This war is a re-run of American Civil War-style fighting, except with some technological twists: sub-machine guns and long-range artillery, the latter supplied by the Chinese. The Presidency is inherited, and the current President, Deklan Conqueror, is Julian's uncle. It is suspected that Deklan had Julian's father killed, because of his successes in the war. The narrative begins with Julian, Adam and one Sam Godwin, a military veteran, who advises and protects Julian, trying to escape a draft into the Army, ordered by Deklan to get Julian to the front and a fatal encounter with a bullet. Finally, Julian is a free thinker, who reads prohibited books from the previous age of the Secular Ancients, about Darwin, and the scientific achievements of the old America, which sets up a major faultline in the story.
But the story takes second place to the artifice of this book. The writing style is mock nineteenth century, filtered through a prim Christian, who has read a limited range of popular hack-written fiction. The text itself is used knowingly for amusement, for example with funny footnotes. Hazzard enounters a journalist and later a publisher and these are stereotyped to the hilt. Other texts by Adam Hazzard play a major part in the plot and eventually he gets to write a 'bestseller' himself which has a cover depicting, inter alia, an octopus, which is not in the story but which makes the book more saleable.
While there are resonances with the current political landscape in America and the story itself is fun, this book lacks the originality and sweep of imagination that previously characterised this author.
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LibraryThing member Shrike58
Some of Robert Charles Wilson's novels I have really enjoy, some have really annoyed me. This one seems just flat and uninvolving. Perhaps all it comes down to is that the narrator didn't capture my imagination and I'm not sure that the transposition of the legend of Julian the Apostate to a
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future, post-holocaust, America really works (though it should). That the ending was reminiscent of Theodore Judson's "The Martian General's Daughter" (another novel that didn't move me) didn't help. That I don't rate this novel more highly is a comment on how I expect more from Wilson. Show Less
LibraryThing member miken32
Like others, I found the premise intriguing, but the characters uninteresting or - in the case of the narrator - insipid and annoying. There were some interesting set pieces here and there, but they were not worth the effort.
LibraryThing member nmele
A well-realized future history but not in the same league as other novels by R.C. Wilson.
LibraryThing member HeathDAlberts
This is something more akin to Wilson's 'Darwinia' - a science-fiction novel without so much of the science, and a large dose of human interest. That being said, we have another opportunity to relish the amazing writing skills - and profound way with words - that Wilson brings to everything he
So compelling, in fact, is this author's work, that I have begun to round out my collection of his books - in their entirety - and find it nearly impossible to tear myself away from reading another when it comes time to choose my next read. And that's saying something, because my books on hand to read are impressive in their own right.
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writes (at least, everything that I have thus far read.)So compelling, in fact, is this author's work, that I have begun to round out my collection of his books - in their entirety - and find it nearly impossible to tear myself away from reading another when it comes time to choose my next read. And that's saying something, because my books on hand to read are impressive in their own right.
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LibraryThing member lavaturtle
A pretty good story, but the unbelievably naive narrator got old really really fast.
LibraryThing member ohernaes
Did not finish. It feels like Wilson wanted to write a clichéd, predictable, traditional fairytale/adventure in an unlikely post-apokalyptic setting (though not really apokalyptic, the world has simply come down from previous, excessive consumption fuelled by oil) as some kind of experiment, but I
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just got bored. Not recommended. Show Less
LibraryThing member auntmarge64
It didn't take long to speed through Julian Comstock, for all its 700 or so pages, because it's grand storytelling. What came to mind as I finished it were the critics who saw Star Wars as a western set in space. That is, this story could have successfully been told of any age or society in which
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an entrenched hierarchy breeds young heroes who successfully challenge it. Like, uh, Star Wars. For me the enjoyment wasn't so much in the world-building, which is fairly slight, but in the characters who inhabit it, especially the young narrator and his best friend Julian, the aristocrat who challenges his evil uncle for leadership. I loved the narrator, and it's more his story than Julian's, but centering it on Julian makes a believable hook for hanging a tale meant for people who lived at that time. So, another winner from Robert Charles Wilson. Show Less
LibraryThing member Firewild
Great idea. Great discourse on religion. However, I found most characters not very well developed and not very believable.
LibraryThing member apomonis
Amazing period piece (19th Century as 22nd, America) and 1st person bildungsroman featuring the once and future President, Julian Comstock (Conqueror). Lots of beautiful, playful language that illustrates the landscape with vigor and precision. Fizzled a bit at the end, but that may just be my
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hero-worship bias rearing its' ugly head (it is a Tragedy, unfortunately). I came to love the characters within. Show Less
Awards
Hugo Award (Nominee — Novel — 2010)
Locus Award (Finalist — Science Fiction Novel — 2010)
Sunburst Award (Shortlist — Adult — 2010)
SF Site Reader's Choice (2009)
SF Site Editor's Choice (2009)
John W. Campbell Memorial Award for Best Science Fiction Novel (Finalist — 2010)
Locus Recommended Reading (2009)
Language
Original publication date
2009
Physical description
624 p.; 6.9 inches
ISBN
0765359235 / 9780765359230