Getting Back

I have been pleasantly surprised by William Dietrich, firstly because Historical Fiction is not my normal reading venue and secondly because I've burned through 5 of his books in the last month. This, like all his other books I've read up to this point, is a major page turner and hard to put down. The characters, landscapes, and situations all seem pluasible and highly realistic. All of his books would make fantastic movies.

William Dietrich's novel Getting Back is one of those rare novels that is both interesting and well-paced; I sped through it over the span of three evenings. It meshes several large ideas together with a well thought out vision of the future and some characters that most readers will identify and sympathize with. Its minor drawback is a rather predictable and sappy ending. In the future, the society is one of uniformity, controlled by a company that has merged with the government (or vice versa). Billions of people work for this company, and while some are content, others long for adventure and a way to be individualistic. One of these is Daniel Dyson, the main character of the story, an intelligent young programmer, history major, who is so bored at work he makes catapults to launch love notes to fellow workers and tried to hack into the expense reporting system. He is "led" by underground internet contacts and a subversive young lady whom he is smitten with named Raven to Outback Adventures, a hidden, shady group that offers to drop people in Australia (which is now completely abandoned and quarantined because of a plague) with the goal of crossing the continent to get to an Exodus point on the far east coast. To review the rest of the story would be to spoil it. Suffice to say that the trek and adventure lead Daniel, Raven and the others they encounter through a lot of self and cultural examination (has our society evolved the right way? could there have been another way? am I really a non-conformist or just an individualist?) Some books who take on so many large ideas (world dominated by corporation, plague, conformity vs. individuality, etc.) get lost in the discussion of them, and, while I did find myself scanning through on a couple of pages of arguments about whether the current society was good or bad, for the most part Mr. Dietrich weaves these into an action packed adventure story. It is science fiction in the sense of the events that have happened and that it is placed in the future, but the trek across Australia makes it more of an adventure novel. Highly reccommended. I go now in search of Mr. Dietrich's other novels.

In the twenty-first century, the world is perfect with everyone employed and no one going hungry, lacking shelter and advances in biology eradicate many killer diseases. United Corporations believe in a win-win philosophy that leaves no one outside the basic human needs. However, switching from Maslov to Plato, perfect also means boredom. Just ask the occupant of Quadrant 43 Level 31 Cubicle 17 Daniel Dyson who feels like everyday is "playing solitaire with a deck of fifty-one. His stunts gain him lectures, threats of firing (no chance that ever happening in this win-win world), and increasing ennui. However, when Daniel meets Raven his life changes. She persuades him to try Outback Adventures where he will have an opportunity to taste freedom during a survival trek across the bio-engineered destroyed continent. Daniel agrees to the journey. Unbeknownst to Daniel and his fellow bored trekkies is that Australia has become a "penal colony" again where the dangerous and the bored are left to survive or die because these two groups are most menacing to the perfect world. GETTING BACK is a terrific tale that centers on a futuristic Daniel Boone type seeking and receiving something new in his drab life. What is admired in early nineteenth century frontier America is criminal in the twenty-first century. Dropping individuals into elements outside their norm has been a staple of literature and movies for a long time. However, William Dietrich keeps the tale original by retaining an amusing undercurrent and parodies of vogue theories that enhances a taut thriller.Harriet Klausner

Getting Back is one of the best books I have read. It is simple and complex at the same time and leaves the reader hanging onto each page. One of my favorite things about the book is the intensity of it. The scary part is that something like this novel could really happen! The author is obviously a talented writer and weaves a suspenseful tale that is worthy of being read by all readers. I am not a reader that is usually attracted to this type of book but a friend recommended it to me and I am so glad that she did - I would recommend this book without reservation to any reader. It is a hit!

One of the most gripping novels I have read in the last 5 years! Superb character development coupled with compelling love and survival storylines shine and drive you to keep reading. Climaxes in the book are delivered with subtle twists surprise, and the imagagery makes me want to go see the australian outback and see how I change.