Robert Charles Wilson is one of my three favourite living writers (the other two being Mike Resnick and Orson Scott Card). I have consistently found his books to be original, addictive and extremely well written. His are books of the type that make me realise why I read.

So when this particular book came through my letterbox I simply couldn't wait and (apologies to all the other books and the authors and publishers ahead of this book on my reading list) it became the book that had to be read NOW.

Well there was a lot of pressure on this book – could it live up to my expectations and hopes. I've put this pressure on previous Robert Charles Wilson andas before the answer is yes. This book is superb.

It's 2172, the current technological civilisation of the US has fallen, and we find ourselves in an 60 state America (having absorbed Canada) that feels more like the early 19th Century. This United States is a very tightly controlled one, with all aspects of life controlled by the oppressive Church of the Dominion.

Our lead character, Adam Hazzard, is a citizen of Williams Ford – he is seventeen but his role in the world determined by the circumstances of his birth. His mother being a seamstress working in one of the local estates guaranteeing him a life of servant status.

His class has not prevented him from forming a friendship with Julian Comstock, a young aristo and nephew of the current US president. Through Julian, Adam discovers more of the world, and gets to read uncensored books. But is is also this friendship that is about to put his life in danger. For the current president Deklan Comstock took control by ousting Julian's father and having him executed as a traitor - and now Deklan considers the very existence of Julian as a threat to his position.

For the few short days in this book we encounter the electoral system visiting town like a circus, a press gang and Christmas. But in these days we are absorbed totally into a book that reminded me of a Mark Twain story. The beauty of prose and description of Twain pervades throughout this short book. Now I have read many reviews in my life, and quite often I have read such comparisons as the one I've just made. I've always considered them to be overblown comparisons for in reality, just who could compare to Mark Twain or prose and world creation.

Well Robert Charles Wilson, in this book, does. This is exactly the kind of book that Twain might write if he were a current writer, he wasn't exactly a man who would shy away from writing science fiction – just think of A Conneticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court.

Absolutely brilliant!

Synopsis
It is the year 2176. The world has survived a catastrophic 21st Century, emerging from oil depletion, climate change, and epidemic disease with a drastically reduced population. And in the United States, it's an election year.

Young Adam Hazzard lives in rural Athabaska, one of the sixty States of the Union. His hometown of Williams Ford is – or seems to be – safely distant from the conflicts of the day: an ongoing war with European powers for possession of Labrador and ever-simmering rivalries among the military, the civilian government, and the theocratic Church of the Dominion. But that illusion of safety is quickly coming to an end.

Adam has been befriended by a young aristocrat his own age: Julian Comstock, who has been sent to Williams Ford by his family to protect him from the jealousy of the reigning President, his uncle Deklan. Unlike Adam, Julian is sophisticated, city-bred, and intellectually restless. His father, a military hero, has been hanged for treason. Julian's only protector in Williams Ford is his mentor, Sam Godwin, an ex-soldier who promised Julian's father he would keep the boy safe and help him make his way in the world.

That won't be easy. The election campaign brings a detachment of troops to Williams Ford. The War in Labrador is going badly; more recruits are being conscripted. And a trap is being laid for Julian...

Adam, struggling to come to terms with Julian's religious apostasy and the near-forgotten truths he has discovered in an antique book called 'The History of Mankind in Space', faces a wrenching decision about his own future... and there is much more at stake than he realizes.