Where Last Light focused its energies upon the end of civilization, this epic sequel takes us some ten years into the future, wrapping itself in the question of what comes after the total collapse of the first world. Can the light of civil society simply be switched back on, or must humans make the agonizing, centuries-long climb back up to a technological society step by laborious step? It's a worthwhile premise, but the extent to which Mr. Scarrow lets himself down in its execution left me disappointed.
In the ten years since the world's oil distribution system was destroyed by a series of coordinated attacks, all but a few thousand British people have survived on an island riddled with decaying ghost towns. The rest of the population has died from starvation and disease, leaving behind tiny pockets of life which stubbornly persist in spite of hardship. On one end of the island is Jenny Sutherland who, with her family behind her, has forged a community out on an oil rig just off the British shore. The Sutherlands and a few hundred of their followers pour their hearts and souls into eking out a living on the rig. But in spite of their best efforts, it's clear to virtually everyone but Jenny Sutherland, the matriarch, that they are merely treading water. Meanwhile, in London, thanks to the ruthlessness of its administrator, one of the many emergency zones, set up in the immediate aftermath of the disaster, is holding together remarkably well. It has occupied the O2 Arena, defending it against scavengers and cannibals, while functioning internally on a system of cult-inspired rewards meant to maintain order and allow the zone's leader to stay in power. These two communities know nothing of one another, that is, until Jenny Sutherland's restless son, Jacob, sets off with his best friend to see if there's something else out there. When Jacob discovers the Zone in London, he's sucked down into a savage and ugly world hungry to expand its powerbase. Consequently, the Zone's leadership takes a particular interest in Jacob's home, setting out to capture it at all costs.
I applaud Mr. Scarrow for his ambition here. He has bitten off far more than was necessary in order to tell his tale, but this is, unfortunately, also a contributer to Afterlight's problems. Firstly, the devastation here is far too universal for a disaster brought about by a lack of oil. Mr. Scarrow has essentially described here, and in Last Light, the worst case scenario for Peak Oil, and it seems extraordinarily unlikely that all life, everywhere, would snuff itself out for lack of food. Agricultural communities, fuelled by the knowledge base of educated elites, would persist, especially in the countryside. And and while these communities would cause England to revert to the 16th century, it would be a 16th century augmented by makeshift solar panels andsteam powered vehicles, not to mention handguns and all manner of related tools. Oil is vital to the maintenance of our lifestyle, I agree, but its absence can't reduce the population to a few thousand. Nothing short of an asteroid impact has that power. Secondly, while Mr. Scarrow deserves credit for pushing his characters through some truly trying tests, he wastes it all in a truly ridiculous final 20 pages. I have no wish to spoil the conclusion for anyone who hasn't yet read it, so I will confine myself to this. An author cannot commit 95 percent of his story to insisting the world is one way and then spend the other five percent trying to convince readers it's not. Expectations have been established. And when those expectations are overturned in this way, it's not clever, or revelatory. It's cheesy and sloppy.
There's a lot here: desperation, deception, fatalism, hunger... There's a lot to like, but Afterlight has one of the worst endings to a good novel I've read in some time. (2/5 Stars)
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