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| Julian Comstock |
It’s hard to know what to make of Julian Comstock, by Robert Charles Wilson. First of all, it’s set in the twenty second century, but there is a distinctly old Western setting and tone. It reminded me a bit of Firefly in that respect. Second, there are hints dropped all over the place that the subject of the book is a major historical figure, but the book ends up being more about the narrator, Adam. I can’t say much more about this bait and switch without totally giving away the ending. The book is a pile of contradictions. Entertaining, but contradictions nonetheless.
The book is narrated by a young Adam Hazzard, a childhood friend of Julian Comstock. While setting the scene and remarking on the unusual history that derailed the future into an odd recreation of the nineteenth century, Adam pulls us into the conspiracy surrounding Julian. In this America, the Presidency is inherited. While Julian is the President’s nephew, the President is trying to kill Julian. There is a vague plan to conscript Julian into the army and send him to the front lines in Canada, but Adam and Company manage to evade death. The first third to half of the book reminds me a lot of what I’ve read about the American Civil War. They even have blue uniforms. Along with Adam’s folksy Twain-flavored prose, the nineteenth century feel really starts to come through. And yet, it’s set 160 years in the future.
Adam and Julian’s Army adventures were my favorite parts of the book. After they leave the Army, things start to get out of hand. I don’t just mean that the plot starts to heat up–which it kind of does–but the book derails a little bit.
SPOILERS AHEAD. I’M GOING TO TALK ABOUT THE ENDING, SO IF YOU DON’T WANT TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS, SKIP OVER THE NEXT PARAGRAPH.
Adam has been dropping hints about how people in his future write books about Julian’s Presidency, how turbulent a time it was, etc. etc., but I just don’t see anything Julian does that merits that kind of attention. It’s not like he permanently overthrew the status quo. He didn’t right many past wrongs. He just seems to spend most of his time as President pissing off the clergy and working on his movie about Charles Darwin. For most of the book, Adam builds Julian up as a hero, but Julian just doesn’t live up to the hype.
END SPOILERS
Julian Comstock is an interesting story about a possible (but highly unlikely) future for the United States. It’s also a good Western(ish) yarn. I had a lot of fun reading it. The only major complaint I have is that it’s too condensed. Even though it’s over 400-pages long, it feel abbreviated because Adam keeps glossing over what he thinks are the uninteresting parts. (Not only that, but the narrator calls attention to this all the time.) While it does keep the book from possibly bogging down, I wanted to spend more time in the world of this book.