William H. Thomas (1) (1959–)

This book begins in 2014 with a general breakdown of the economic infrastructure in the U.S. followed by the inevitable social unrest and violence. A young family, Kianna and John Wallace and their two 13-year-old twins, Val and Eron, try to escape from Chicago - which is rapidly disintegrating - to John’s parents’ house in New Hampshire. On the way, they are robbed, John is killed, and only after Kianna and the kids are almost dead themselves are they rescued and taken in by a remarkable group of people who call themselves The Tribes of Eden.

The story basically takes off from there, describing life both in the “shire” of the Tribes of Eden and in the “GRID” of the remaining population in the former United States.

Discussion: Part of the author’s agenda is to incorporate into his story his personal passion for helping to change the life experience of people from one of greed, acquisition, and violence into one of sharing and caring. He does indeed make this point with Tribes of Eden and I think it’s a good cause. But a novel is perhaps not the best way for him to proceed. The prose is leaden, characterized by stock epithets (e.g., “Dawn’s rosy fingers”), inappropriate metaphors (Venus as “a dusky jewel” which really doesn’t make sense unless you happen to be listening to The Doors sing “Hello I Love You” as you’re looking up at the sky), cardboard characters (both good and evil), political improbabilities, and an episode towards the end of the book of NanoSecondLove that makes most Instalove fixations look like long-term courtships.… (mehr)