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Book Review: Warday
Just finished reading "Warday", by Whitley Strieber and James Kunetka.
The first thing that came to mind when my mom told me about this book was "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank. This is not surprising – both books deal with the same fundamental scenario: that of a nuclear war between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They differ broadly in approach, however; I will attempt to describe "Warday" on its own merits before I approach the comparison again.
One obvious feature of "Warday" is that its central characters and narrators are directly based on the authors. In fact, the book is written as if it were a book published inside the world they describe – inside the book, the two authors are newspaper reporters, and their writing is intended as a serial for their local paper as well as a book. Fortunately for the reader, inside the book, the two authors are newspaper reporters – believable, sympathetic, and interesting characters, who actually seem to live in the world they describe.
As for the world itself ... its a mixed bag. The sections where one or the other writer describes the places they visit are superb, emotional, poetic, beautiful. And they certainly have done their research. Unfortunately, they set the novel eight years in the future (relative to date of publication), and they fall into a few of the stereotypical traps associated with this. In addition, there are places where the authors cite statistics that seem self-contradictory. It is in these technical parts, especially in the surveys and the government documents, that "Warday" is at its least.
Nevertheless, the book is a fine read. "Warday" isn't like "Alas, Babylon", but both convey the image of a world after disaster, and bring that vision home by showing the people who live there.
Huh, that was easier than I expected. I never was good at book reviews in the past.
The first thing that came to mind when my mom told me about this book was "Alas, Babylon" by Pat Frank. This is not surprising – both books deal with the same fundamental scenario: that of a nuclear war between the United States of America and the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. They differ broadly in approach, however; I will attempt to describe "Warday" on its own merits before I approach the comparison again.
One obvious feature of "Warday" is that its central characters and narrators are directly based on the authors. In fact, the book is written as if it were a book published inside the world they describe – inside the book, the two authors are newspaper reporters, and their writing is intended as a serial for their local paper as well as a book. Fortunately for the reader, inside the book, the two authors are newspaper reporters – believable, sympathetic, and interesting characters, who actually seem to live in the world they describe.
As for the world itself ... its a mixed bag. The sections where one or the other writer describes the places they visit are superb, emotional, poetic, beautiful. And they certainly have done their research. Unfortunately, they set the novel eight years in the future (relative to date of publication), and they fall into a few of the stereotypical traps associated with this. In addition, there are places where the authors cite statistics that seem self-contradictory. It is in these technical parts, especially in the surveys and the government documents, that "Warday" is at its least.
Nevertheless, the book is a fine read. "Warday" isn't like "Alas, Babylon", but both convey the image of a world after disaster, and bring that vision home by showing the people who live there.
Huh, that was easier than I expected. I never was good at book reviews in the past.