R. E. Klein

A Mythopoeic Fantasy Award nominee in 1998 along with James Stoddard's excellent "The High House" as well as Neil Gaiman's "Stardust," which won. In setting and a bit in narrative tone, it resonates with the works of William Hope Hodgson, as well as John Bunyan, George MacDonald, and David Lindsay. The editor in me found the repetition of sentences beginning with "I" in the opening chapters a bit clanky, and the Jewish reader in me found the Christian allegorical and prophetic self-fulfillment elements a bit heavy-gauntleted at times. Admittedly, one who looks for calumny may misperceive its presence, but the personification of evil as squint-eyed, sly-tongued, Law-insistent, Shylock-like antagonist "Saul" in contrast to the Christ-echo of the story's sorely tested goodness-loving self-sacrificing protagonist "Paul," was a bit overt. Otherwise, it is an inventive apocalypse tale rich in its landscape and allegory--or symbolism, as Klein insists in a lovely passage on pages 118-119: "Allegories exist in unreal worlds and stand for abstract qualities--like the characters Sin and Death in 'Paradise Lost.' SYmbols thrive in the real world, both as themselves and as a part of a higher, inexpressible reality that goes beyond the world. Look upon Ariel and Caliban [in Shakespeare's 'The Tempest'] as figures that embody certain elements of refinement and coarseness, and you'll see what I mean."… (mehr)

Paul Sant, teacher of English, is spared by a fortunate set of coincidences from the ravages of The Wave when it submerges California and the rest of the world bar a few mountain tops. On his fortuitously acquired surf mat he sails the seas until he finds land, and eventually one or two others who also escaped destruction.

But not everything is as it seems since The Wave, there are a few mysteries that need unravelling, and at times reality and illusion become confused, and Paul and his few survivor companions struggle to make sense of life as it never was. Paul Sant (is there a play on names there?) chronicles events since The Wave, as the title suggests.

A History of the World Beyond The Wave is refreshingly different from all other post destruction of the world stories I have encountered, stories which unfailingly degenerate into survival of the fittest or most violent, accounts which lead us to believe such a catastrophe would bring out the worst in people. This story, or fantasy suggests otherwise, and offers hope of a better and more civilised way of life. That is not to say it is all plane sailing for Paul and company, they have their moments of drama and encounter situations that threaten their to dash their hopes, but good triumphs eventually.

I found this a thoroughly enjoyable tale: likeable and interesting characters, touches of humour, enough mystery to keep one guessing, and the occasional confusion of dream and reality (but never to the point of confusing the reader), and a positive outcome that leaves the reader more than a little something to contemplate.… (mehr)