Talk Back

[Eisworth]

I ran across this somewhat obscure series of post-apocalyptic sci-fi when I was in grad school, and I enjoyed the books back then. Last month, I was looking for something light to read (it's hard to concentrate with a newborn around), and I could remember enjoying these books, but almost nothing else about them (no titles, no plots, no author name...). A little bit of sleuthing on Amazon solved my mystery, and I was able to track down the first four volumes in the state-wide university library system. The other three volumes were on Amazon --- used books of the 1 cent variety (+ shipping and handling!)

ANYWAY the 7 books are:

The Breaking of Northwall
The Ends of the Circle
The Dome in the Forest
The Fall of the Shell
An Ambush of Shadows
The Song of the Axe
The Sword of Forbearance

The series is set 1000+ years after nuclear war has destroyed civilization worldwide, and it chronicles the formation of a federation in the area that used to be the United States. Williams was (is?) an English professor teaching in the midwest at a small college in SW Illinois, and the main society featured in the books is centered in that area. I didn't enjoy them as much this time around --- they are intricately plotted, but the earlier books sometimes read like National Geographic articles on "primitive"peoples (the author is not very subtle when it comes to slipping in anthropological details about the various societies he has created) , and the later books seem to feature an inordinate number of "lucky coincidences" that drive their plots forward (An earthquake causing a tsunami and just the right point for the hero to escape slavery in the Seattle area so that after a few months of wandering, he just happens across the VERY camp where his fiancee has been taken after being kidnapped).

Thumbs 3/4 up on this one --- it's different enough that it doesn't feel like more of the same, but it does have its flaws.
_________________
Todd Eisworth
Associate Professor of Mathematics
Ohio University