The Wild Shore

Ever think you'd like to shuck off all this technology and try the simple life? Ever imagine an America made up of small, isolated, self-sufficient villages that grow their own food and make their own decisions, and don't even give a thought to the world beyond the horizon? Kim Stanley Robinson presents this as the wave of the future in this marvelous post-apocalyptic tale of Orange County, Ca. In the aftermath of a devastating nuclear surprise attack, America's social fabric has collapsed into chaos. Fifty years later, the survivors have fallen into one of two patterns: "Scavengers" have re-inhabited the destroyed cities and live off the remnants of past, squatting in buildings that survived and burning the neighboring homes for fuel, while others have started from scratch building new homes and new villages from natural materials available in California's newly grown woodlands. The main conflict of the novel is between these two lifestyles, their attitude towards technology (what little remains of it), and their vastly different visions for America's future. The hero, young Hank Fletcher, lives in the small village of San Onofre. His life consists of fishing, trapping, reading and occasionally hanging out with the few young people his age. Robinson is at his best describing the natural beauty of life in this simple, almost primitive village, where everyone knows everybody else and they all do the best they can, not just for themselves, but for each other as well. Despite the continual drudgery of working to stay alive, Onofre sounds like an idyllic place to live. Into this pastoral paradise enter two strangers from out of town, who stir things up with talk of an American Resistance - a group that wants to re-unite the disconnected towns of the U.S. and fight against foreign incursions on American soil. Hank is immediately caught up in their patriotic spirit, but not as much as his best friend Steve, who is chafing under the control of his strict and overprotective father. The events that unfold thereafter make for a stirring adventure that never goes over the top into absurdity or mindless violence. Like Huckleberry Finn, this novel has elements of a "juvenile" but is really an adult book. For one thing, Hank and Melissa get too physical (as well as too intoxicated) for this book to be read by children, although only younger teens will find much they haven't already experienced themselves. For another, there are some fairly deep philosophical issues being addressed: the place of violence in society, the rights of the individual, personal responsibility, the value of history and literature, and whether technology is inherently immoral insofar as it takes humankind away from nature. Not only is this one of the most enjoyable books this reviewer has read in many years, it has a strong moral center that takes it beyond the ranks of humdrum escapist s-f. Robinson's first masterpiece.

The world of SF has been filled with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic stories since its very beginning as a separately identifiable genre. Do we really need another one? In the case of this book, the answer to that is a resounding yes! Robinson has crafted a finely wrought work of character and theme that will resonate with readers, that is highly evocative of some of the other truly fine works within this sub-genre, from Pangborn's Davy to Stewart's Earth Abides, that delivers insights into societies and individual human motivations at a level rarely found in any fiction.This book is part of Robinson's triptych (the other two pieces being The Gold Coast and Pacific Edge) that deals with various futures as seen from the perspective of Orange County, California. These books are related by theme only, and can all be read independently of the others. In this one the United States has effectively been destroyed by the use of about 3000 neutron bombs that were smuggled in by truck (the country of origin never provable but supposed to be Russia), turning almost every city into a waste land and wiping out the economic and industrial structure that allows today's Americans to enjoy a standard of living so very much higher than most of the rest of the world. The United States has now been placed in quarantine by the rest of the world, and any attempts to try to re-organize and re-build the country are ruthlessly disrupted. Orange County has returned to a fishing/agrarian level society with government by communal consensus. But this is the mere background to a remarkable tale of two young men, Henry and Steve, trying to find their own way and life answers within this community, underneath the strong influence of the town elder Tom, one of the last survivors who remembers what America was like before the bombs. Henry and Steve are close friends but are two very different personalities, and how each reacts to the opportunity to 'do something' to those who are maintaining the quarantine forms the main basis of the book. The depth of characterization here is remarkable, and the portrayal of the society that grew under these imagined conditions is just as remarkable for its believability and economic viability. I found myself living and feeling right along with the main characters, could see myself in just the situations portrayed, facing the same moral dilemmas and wondering just how I would react, what I would do. The prose is smooth and with a nice balance between description, dialogue, and action, and a theme that is presented via 'show, not tell' methods. All of the 'Three Californias' books are good, but this one is clearly the best, and should be put on everyone's 'must read' list.

I was first introduced to this book and author in 1985 by a newspaper article. Having grown up within the general area of the story I was at once interested to see how someone would take familar landmarks and move them 50 years into the future. So when I bought the book I wasn't really sure (or cared) how the story would play out. From the moment I started reading it became one of my all-time favorites, and has been re-read many times over the past 16 years.The basic premise is that the U.S. was attacked by nuclear weapons and either was unable or unwilling to respond. The result left the country pushed back to almost a tribal/village existance, and was being quarantined for 100 years. This story takes place 50 years after the attack and revolves around two teen-agers coming of age. Although this is considered a sci-fi/end-of-the-world and after type of book, it's really about relationships and friendships, loyality and betrayal, and existance vs heroism. The main characters are Henry, a 17year old coming of age and unsure about his place in the world, Steve, also a teen who is unhappy about his existance and dreams of adventures, and Tom, the last known survivor of the old world. As the book progresses each must face their inner demons and find a way to overcome. No review could do justice to the plot, and would actually take away from the many surprises within the book, so I won't try. Again, this has become one the the best books I have ever read and I would recommend it to ANY reader looking for a wonderful tale.

This book blew my socks off. I was deeply impressed with Robinson's Mars trilogy, and thought this book would be more of the same. Instead it's quite different, and quite possibly better. _The Wild Shore_ makes a strong case for sci-fi as literature. Robinson's descriptive ability - the way he catches the introspective moment by painting what the character sees and feels - sets him head and shoulders above the rest of fantasy/sci-fi writerdom. I found myself reading pages over a few times to savor the distilled essence of the events described. Then of course there's the whole phenomenon of the curious mix of suffering, hope, and excitement that Robinson's characters go through; if art is the mirror of nature, then _The Wild Shore_ is definitely art.

Talk about bad luck. It was the year 1984 and science-fiction was booming once again, with authors such as Gibson, Banks, May, and Robinson coming to the forefront. Leading this pack was Kim Stanley Robinson, who published three books that year, all of which were acclaimed. Probably the most acclaimed was The Wild Shore, with looked to be the sure win for the Nebula awards that year and possibly the Hugo. However it came in second place, with William Gibson's Neuromancer taking the Hugo, Nebula and Philip K. Dick award for that year. Figures. Excepting the fact that Gibson's novel protrayed a whole world that has only be touched upon briefly by other science-fiction writers, Kim Stanley Robinson's book is by far the superior one. It is a coming of age tale of a young man trying to survive in an America that has been torn apart by attacks from other countries. Told in the first person, Robinson vividly shows his beloved homeland of Orange County and its people as they struggle with life, never complaining, just going on as they had for years before and would for years after. Upon reading it, it is hard for one to realize that one is reading a first novel. The Wild Shore reads better than some veteran writers' books, and the plot is never complex, the words stringing after each other in Robinson's distinct style. The last page has some of the best lines ever written in a novel and will remain with readers long after they finish the book. Wait a minute. Great plot, fascinating characters, the depiction of a realistic future world . . . why didn't this book win? Talk about bad luck