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As Chanda Phelan discovered while researching her masters thesis, the apocalypses portrayed in fiction generally tend to reflect the fears of the day – nuclear or biological war was big from the 50s until the 80s when end of the world scenarios began to reflect more natural or ecological causes. Given that trend, and the financial turmoil we’ve seen for the last several years, it’s not surprising that we’re starting to see post-apocalyptic novels where society’s fall is precipitated by a world-wide economic collapse.

American Apocalypse: The Beginning sets its story in a near-future United States where the current economic problems continue to worsen until the ties that hold our society together begin to unravel. Businesses are failing, unemployment is rising, parks and parking lots are filling with the homeless, governments can no longer afford to provide even the most basic services.

The descent has not yet turned into full-fledged collapse when we meet our main character, Gardener. That’s not his real name though, it’s a nick-name he earns after (justifiably) killing a man with a garden trowel. It’s clear Gardener doesn’t have many qualms about killing when after getting beat up by a group of men camping in a park, he buys a sword on Craigslist, and hacks them to death as they sleep.

I wasn’t thrilled with his thirst for vengeance or his methods, but more I didn’t like the way he was already resorting to murder when the societal situation was still mostly normal. I could see if there was general lawlessness by then, but there wasn’t, that’s just how Gardener is; he says it himself many times in the book, he just doesn’t care about anything. But I stuck with it, and Gardener started to grow on me a bit. He’s not very likable, but he’s honest to himself and what you see is what you get.

I also had issues with some basic plot lines that I thought were a bit implausible, and the fact that the economic factors contributing to the collapse of society were never fully explained. It’s just kind of assumed that things are getting worse, but we never really know exactly what’s going on. For example at one point, it’s explained that when purchasing goods, there is a cash price and a gold price, but that’s the first time we ever see anyone pay gold for anything. I’ve since found a time line of the major aspects of the economic collapse on the author’s site, but I wish more of that explanation had been in the book.

The book started as a series of posts on the economics blog, Calculated Risk, and was later expanded and edited into a novel, and in terms of technical composition, you can really tell it didn’t go through the standard writing and editing process. Even in the bound version I read, I found an error in grammar or punctuation every few pages, and once even an entire paragraph out of place.

But even with it’s flaws, I’m still glad I finished it. As long as you don’t expect it to be entirely realistic, it’s a quick, but fairly enjoyable read, and if you really get into it, the sequel is in the process of being re-written and should be available soon.

Note: This review was originally posted on QuietEarth.us.

In 1984, Steven R Boyett released his first novel, Ariel, and introduced us to his vision of a world after The Change, a world where, at 4:30 p.m. one day, magic returned to the land, and the laws of physics were simply rewritten. All technology – gunpowder, electricity, and even complicated machines – no longer functions, 90% of the people simply disappeared, and magical creatures like demons, dragons, and the unicorn, Ariel, appeared in their stead. The story followed Ariel, and her katana-wielding companion, Pete Garey, from Atlanta, to Washington DC, to New York City and an aerial assault on the Empire State Building. It had all the elements of a great post-apocalyptic road trip story, but threw in just enough swords and sorcery to make it even more interesting.

Ariel became a cult classic, and now, 25 years later, Boyett finally returns to the world of The Change with the long-awaited sequel, Elegy Beach.

Elegy Beach picks up about 20 years after the events of Ariel, and shifts to the West Coast, where Pete’s son, Fred, is a young man growing up to be a talented caster. He and his best friend, Yan, try to apply scientific principles to the study of the magic that infuses their world, and for Yan, a taste of power only fuels his desire for even more.

The events that unfold next can be summed up in a scene where Fred thinks to himself, “In the air above the mountains in a battered gondola of a wounded airship on my way to confront my former best friend holed up in the ruin of a former castle while he perfects the casting that will reinstate the old world’s order I am talking to a unicorn about whether the centaur following us is carrying my captured father. Um, ok…”

It might sound like more of a fantasy novel than a post-apocalyptic one, and in some ways it is, but a key theme here is the disparity between those who lived before The Change, and those who grew up after it, and the differences in their attitudes and world views. There’s a great scene that takes place in a bubble of pre-Change space where Pete gets an old iPod to work, and plays some of Beethoven’s Ninth Symphony for Fred, and it blows his mind. He has never heard anything approaching recorded music, and with it, he begins to understand the loss that the older generation feels, and starts to realize that there may be lessons from the old world that are worth learning.

And the setting of the book is classic 1st generation post-apocalyptic. Buildings that are not actively maintained are falling apart, forests and overgrowth are starting to reclaim the land, and society is just starting to rebuild, mostly in isolated villages along the coast. They scavenge old stores, re-read 30 year old newspapers, and try to make do with what they have available.

The story of friends becoming enemies has been done before of course, but in this case, the recycled plot doesn’t hinder the book. The settings are interesting, events fast paced, and some of the dialog is just damnned funny, particularly because of the the wise and wise-cracking unicorn, Ariel. She is a fantastic character, and is the added element that transforms Elegy Beach from a standard post-apocalyptic story into something more.

I’m sorry it took 25 years to arrive, but better late than never, because it was well worth the wait. It’s definitely the kind of book that you can pick up every few years and enjoy again. If you don’t mind some fantasy mixed in with your post-apocalypses, I highly recommend it.