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rbixby's review against another edition
5.0
This book had an impact on me. It elicited feelings from a deeper place than usual. The only other books to do that recently were Stephen King's Dark Tower series. It is Roland Deschain describing his world in that series which perfectly captures the feeling I got reading Julian Comstock.
The world has moved on.
The world has moved on and I felt sad because Robert Charles Wilson was describing a possible future of my country. I didn't like the glimpse he provided because I can't abide the idea of us slipping so far backwards, although many of the characters in Julian Comstock had no idea the time they live in is a lesser, pale shade of our own. Julian Comstock certainly did and he suffered greatly for it, despite his best efforts to grasp at the shards of our greater civilization lying buried in the ground all around him and put them back together again.
I liked this story despite these feelings, or maybe because of them. It is clear Robert Charles Wilson was going for a strong reaction from his readers and I think he succeeded mightily. The lynchpin on which the story hinges for me is how much of an unreliable and naive narrator Julian's friend and companion Adam Hazzard really is. It is because of his inability to grasp the significance of what is happening around him that really drives the story home and adds greater impact to the events he as the Narrator is relating.
This book is a Hugo nominee, though it did not win. I recommend it highly.
The world has moved on.
The world has moved on and I felt sad because Robert Charles Wilson was describing a possible future of my country. I didn't like the glimpse he provided because I can't abide the idea of us slipping so far backwards, although many of the characters in Julian Comstock had no idea the time they live in is a lesser, pale shade of our own. Julian Comstock certainly did and he suffered greatly for it, despite his best efforts to grasp at the shards of our greater civilization lying buried in the ground all around him and put them back together again.
I liked this story despite these feelings, or maybe because of them. It is clear Robert Charles Wilson was going for a strong reaction from his readers and I think he succeeded mightily. The lynchpin on which the story hinges for me is how much of an unreliable and naive narrator Julian's friend and companion Adam Hazzard really is. It is because of his inability to grasp the significance of what is happening around him that really drives the story home and adds greater impact to the events he as the Narrator is relating.
This book is a Hugo nominee, though it did not win. I recommend it highly.
ericthec's review
4.0
I liked the premise and was certainly entertained by the story and the little nuggets of science fiction. I liked the way he worked in the history of the US and how it devolved. It did not move very fast but that was ok. The Ending was good, not entirely predictable but not entirely satisfying either.
sgerner's review
3.0
Very amusing! Plot slow at times; however, the naiveté and creative allusions of the main character makes for some brilliant writing! The book makes me think of a combined Red Badge of Courage and Brave New World.
denjzen's review
4.0
The more stories I read by Robert Charles Wilson, the better and better I like him. While not quite as gripping as Spin, Julian Comstock is an excellent read and gets better the farther along you go. The ending killed me.
scheu's review
4.0
In the year 2176, the origins of the United States of America lie shrouded in legend. The old world fell when cheap oil ran out and humanity soldiers on with 19th-century technology and morality governed by the religious authorities in Colorado Springs. The Presidency is hereditary and the Supreme Court is long abolished. Wilson tells the story of Julian Comstock, grandson of the current President, and his rise and fall. Truly, though, the story is about Comstock's friend Adam Hazzard more than the title character. This is a great story in a well-conceived world populated with interesting characters. After being largely disappointed by _Axis_, I'm pleased to say that Wilson returns to form here.
orcaseatingstrawberries's review
Enjoyable, although I picked up very early on a main thing that was going to be hammered on or turn out to be a main theme/emphasis later on or in retrospect, and so the end was less satisfying because I felt like some of the theme/plot was so obvious. Still a good read, though, well-done post-apocalyptic world, 100 years post.
thehappybooker's review
2.0
Too fragmented in weaving the connections between our reality and the possible future - it didn't establish how we would really get from here to there.
varmint3's review
5.0
Near future (now + 165 yrs.) dystopia that I could see happening - a little scary. Good read of current political, social, military and religious trends and how they interact[ed:] to create a rather unpleasant reality less than two hundred years from now... also a lot of focus on the environment (and this was definitely published pre-oil spill...).
banjax451's review
4.0
4 stars.
Having finished this wonderful novel and read a number of reviews both here and elsewhere, I feel a great many people have completely misread this book.
This is not "Spin" or its sequels. Anyone reading this expecting it to be the same and reviewed it poorly because of that has not read the novel on it's own merits.
This is also not a novel that is meant to be like other novels of Robert Charles Wilson - it has a distinctive style, cadence and ear that is meant to mimic the "boys adventure" novels of the late 19th Century. Those that complain about repetition or the naivety (particularly as to Julian's sexuality) of the narrator or other stylistic choices fail to understand that this is an expert bit of mimicry of style and character. I feel that many who have given the novel poor marks on this front have failed to understand this. It's fair to say that you don't like the style. But not to say that it's poorly written - it's an excellent mimicry.
Likewise, however, others have championed it as a wonderfully atheist novel, or a tale of a "Darwinist against the Church." While evolution is a subject that is often discussed in the novel, there is little in the way of direct conflict over creationism vs. evolution. The conflict is, somewhat, over church and state separation. Evolution in general - not necessarily vs. creationism...more as societies evolve and change...and that change is a constant - these are all themes. As is friendship and love. But this novel isn't meant as an anti-religion screed - many good people of faith are demonstrated. But there is an undercurrent that even the best people, given power, can become awful. And that the history of mankind is littered with examples of this.
Moreover, while Julian the Apostate is a model for the story...it is certainly not a retelling of the Roman Emperor's life. There are countless differences between the two persons and anyone reading this to be a companion to Gore Vidal's famous novel is going to be disappointed. This is not a screed. Nor is it a modern/fictional version of a famous episode from the past.
There is much in this novel that is sad, melancholy, "dystopian," and ugly. And yet there is an element of hope in it. A hope that society will evolve. As they always do. Unspoken but obvious is the notion that the constant warfare is what is keeping society from progressing forward - keeping America under the thrawl of both the Dominionists and the rich landowners. Preventing scientific, cultural and societal evolution at bay - but not entirely preventing them completely.
I do have my quibbles with it. There is much in this that was explored in the less-read "Fitzpatrick's War" by Theodore Judson - a novel I much love. They are clearly different books, but there is much in them that is the same. However, my biggest quibble is one that Judson avoids. Not the idea of collapse and the world that would result - but the timespan afterwards. Judson sets his novel 500 years after the collapse of America. Wilson's is a scant 150. I did struggle with disbelief that society would change so much in that time, or that so much would be completely forgotten. Impossible? Sure. But not forgotten entirely. And I have troubles believing that some of the surrounding land would so decay so rapidly. I also struggled with some of the timeline in the book, which appears artifically compacted in order to mimic the life of Julian the Apostate.
And yet, this is a wonderful novel. Well written and if not a "fun romp," a meaningful journey though a world that will never exist, most likely, but so much like our own. An important lesson on the mirror of the past and the circle of history and the future.
Having finished this wonderful novel and read a number of reviews both here and elsewhere, I feel a great many people have completely misread this book.
This is not "Spin" or its sequels. Anyone reading this expecting it to be the same and reviewed it poorly because of that has not read the novel on it's own merits.
This is also not a novel that is meant to be like other novels of Robert Charles Wilson - it has a distinctive style, cadence and ear that is meant to mimic the "boys adventure" novels of the late 19th Century. Those that complain about repetition or the naivety (particularly as to Julian's sexuality) of the narrator or other stylistic choices fail to understand that this is an expert bit of mimicry of style and character. I feel that many who have given the novel poor marks on this front have failed to understand this. It's fair to say that you don't like the style. But not to say that it's poorly written - it's an excellent mimicry.
Likewise, however, others have championed it as a wonderfully atheist novel, or a tale of a "Darwinist against the Church." While evolution is a subject that is often discussed in the novel, there is little in the way of direct conflict over creationism vs. evolution. The conflict is, somewhat, over church and state separation. Evolution in general - not necessarily vs. creationism...more as societies evolve and change...and that change is a constant - these are all themes. As is friendship and love. But this novel isn't meant as an anti-religion screed - many good people of faith are demonstrated. But there is an undercurrent that even the best people, given power, can become awful. And that the history of mankind is littered with examples of this.
Moreover, while Julian the Apostate is a model for the story...it is certainly not a retelling of the Roman Emperor's life. There are countless differences between the two persons and anyone reading this to be a companion to Gore Vidal's famous novel is going to be disappointed. This is not a screed. Nor is it a modern/fictional version of a famous episode from the past.
There is much in this novel that is sad, melancholy, "dystopian," and ugly. And yet there is an element of hope in it. A hope that society will evolve. As they always do. Unspoken but obvious is the notion that the constant warfare is what is keeping society from progressing forward - keeping America under the thrawl of both the Dominionists and the rich landowners. Preventing scientific, cultural and societal evolution at bay - but not entirely preventing them completely.
I do have my quibbles with it. There is much in this that was explored in the less-read "Fitzpatrick's War" by Theodore Judson - a novel I much love. They are clearly different books, but there is much in them that is the same. However, my biggest quibble is one that Judson avoids. Not the idea of collapse and the world that would result - but the timespan afterwards. Judson sets his novel 500 years after the collapse of America. Wilson's is a scant 150. I did struggle with disbelief that society would change so much in that time, or that so much would be completely forgotten. Impossible? Sure. But not forgotten entirely. And I have troubles believing that some of the surrounding land would so decay so rapidly. I also struggled with some of the timeline in the book, which appears artifically compacted in order to mimic the life of Julian the Apostate.
And yet, this is a wonderful novel. Well written and if not a "fun romp," a meaningful journey though a world that will never exist, most likely, but so much like our own. An important lesson on the mirror of the past and the circle of history and the future.