2007 books

93) Robert Charles Wilson, Julian, 2006
It's election year in 2176, deep in a Dark Ages period after the oil has gone the same way as secularism and any belief in science, and the sixty American states have been forced to revert to a kind of 19th century ideal after their wars with Brazil and the Dutch. The young Adam Hazzard is friends with Julian Comstock, nephew of the President and someone who must decide his future: whether to maintain the status quo of ignorance that grips the nation or hold true to his belief in the disappearing knowledge given to us by science and become something of a renaissance man instead. This historical background and Athabaskan setting for Julian is especially good – bleak, cold and uncertain, reflected somehow in the form of pre-20th century English with which the book is written. It may also be a Christmas story but in the given context that's no bad thing: it portrays religious belief as an archaic idea well past its sell-by date, especially in a 22nd century when science is needed more than ever. An engagingly good story.