Just Finished Reading: Dawn’s Uncertain Light by Neal Barrett, Jr

Decades after a Nuclear and Bacteriological war devastated the world what was the USA is still in deep trouble. Racked by a destructive and seemingly irresolvable civil war and existing without many of the large mammals who feed billions before the conflict every day is a struggle for existence. Born into this world is Howie Ryder, a young man who six years earlier watched his sister be chosen to live on Silver Island, a light in the darkness and the future of American society. Except that, as Howie has found out, is a lie. Silver Island does indeed exist but for much darker purposes. Desperate for meat of any kind the Government has developed a substitute for the lost cattle – cloned humans who live without developing consciousness or any sense of self. The only problem is that inbreeding over generations has weakened the stock. The only way to stop this inevitable decline is to introduce new blood, new genetic material – from humans. Howie quickly learns the fate of his sister and also that the meat grown for human consumption is a lot closer to human that anyone dares to realise. Horrified by the realisation of what humanity is doing to itself he determines that he will do all in his power to bring the whole project to an end. He is astonished when he finds friends to help him in his endeavours but is unaware that larger forces are moving in the background and that his every move is being calculated and manipulated by those closest to him.

This is another of those books that have been sitting on my shelf for far too long. I almost didn’t read it on this occasion after I discovered that it was the sequel to Through Darkest America published in 1987 which is presently out of print. Then I thought of the likelihood of ever picking up the original (about nil I would imagine) and said to myself ‘what the heck’. I need not have worried. Not only is this well written you don’t actually need to have read the first book to understand what’s going on. The occurrences in the first book are alluded to in enough detail – without becoming tedious – to give you enough background to what’s going on. Also I think most of us are fairly familiar with the post-apocalyptic sub-genre of SF to pick up enough of the references without too much effort. Because of the subject matter – virtual institutionalised cannibalism – this is sometimes a disturbing read as Howie realises what has been and still is going on (not least of which is that he was part of the accepting majority before he realised the truth). The novel also raises some very interesting philosophical and political questions about just how far would we, could we or should we go – both as individuals and societies – to survive in a hostile world. Eating the dead might just about be acceptable during a temporary survival situation but how acceptable is it the actually breed other ‘humans’ for their meat? This is often a haunting narrative that will linger long after you finish the last page. It’s well written and thoughtful with good characterisation and the subtle application of strong emotional themes. Recommended (though I think both books might be out of print now so you might have some problems picking either of them up).