“Slow Apocalypse,” by John Varley

FM's ratings:

1.      Premise 7

2.      Prose 8

3.      Plot 7

4.      Characters 8

5.      Overall 8

Comments (optional - but try to keep it under 3000 words!)

I really want to rate this book higher, but it suffers from a couple of drawbacks.  First, did we really need another “Aftermath” novel or “Collapse-Of-Civilization” novel?  Yes, it’s handled as well as any, better than most, but the premise has been done too many times.  Any new ones had better have a VERY interesting twist.   Here, the cause is the accidental destruction of all oil fields worldwide, and then a massive earthquake in the L. A. area.  The rest is just a variation of a tired-out theme.  Maybe Varley feels that any Sci-Fi writer worth his salt should do an “Aftermath” novel, the more realistic, the better.  His wildly imaginative earlier works (“Steel Beach” is magnificent!  “Mammoth” is brilliant!) maybe didn’t get him the long-term recognition that more mainstream writing might bring.  His “Red Lightning,” also more recent, featured more mainstream Sci-Fi fare as well.  The plot?  In a novel like this, plot is understandably random, as random as reality might be in such a situation.  But we expect more from a writer of Varley’s stature.  The characters are necessarily ordinary, perhaps, if the author wants to show what might actually happen to real people.  Even the main protagonist here is just a little too predictable in his reactions to the events of the story.  And the prose: technically first-rate, but the story demanded a lot of detail to give it credibility, and too much detail is deadly to a good read.  Still, the overall rating reflects a master writer’s work.  There is a lot of superb action and situational material, even some nice philosophical asides.  An impressive work, despite the drawbacks.