Customer Reviews

After London ; Or, Wild England (Science fiction)

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It would probably be accurate to call "After London" a botanist's delight. Richard Jefferies describes in great detail a world of the far future in which the wonders of our own civilization are mostly forgotten, or seen as fables. (Until Heinrich Schliemann dug up the ruins, the city of Troy was a legend also. Can we be certain that Atlantis was a legend?)

Much of England is covered in forests, the relics of our own civilization buried under thickets and shrubbery. London, once a centre of culture and trade, is long gone. Society has become medieval once more. Skills like reading and writing have been preserved, but these are forbidden to all but the nobles. Slavery is common and wars between cities are frequent.

It is almost certain that John Christopher has read this book. If you read the "Tripods" trilogy and the "Prince in Waiting" trilogy, you will see certain similarities.

In many of the post-technological stories I've read the one invention of ours that gets mentioned the most is the railroad, possibly because it helped us conquer the tyranny of distance, and made the world more accessible. In the early pages of "After London" the railroad is mentioned, though not by name, and references are made regarding our ability to communicate over a great distance with wires.

The main character in "After London" is 25-year old Felix, a sensitive character living in a world that has no place for sensitivity. Often ridiculed for his interest in learning rather than war and hunting, Felix carries out a plan to strike out on his own by embarking on a journey of discovery. Eventually Felix does make something of himself and greatness is thrust upon him.

A barbarous future is often imagined for us after a nuclear war or some other cataclysm, but in "After London" the cause of our decline is obscure and hazy. We can't be certain that the society in "After London" will eventually reach the heights from which it had fallen. Most of our inventions, like the light bulb and penicillin, were accidents. There was an ancient civilization that could produce metal of a better quality than we can produce now, but the skill is lost.

"After London" is a very descriptive novel with minimal dialogue. It is more concerned with the world it portrays than the characters who inhabit it. This is a pivotal work in the post-holocaust genre.

I wonder why I'm even bothering to review this book. I mean, other than me, there are probably NO lovers of late Victorian post-apocalyptic literature out there (though if there are, I'll marry you. Just don't tell my husband). This is a wonderful story which forces you to entertain alternate trajectories or 'counterfactual presuppositions' as we call them in internaitonal relations (can you tell I've been hitting the sauce?). This book actually has a lot of in common with MODERN post-apocalyptics, particularly those which focus on sustainable development. THat said, the premise is better than the actual narrative, but isn't that ALWAYS the case with post-apocto science fiction? The best passages by far are those which describe the sunken London which has been overrun by the flooding of the Thames, and the way one looks down through the water into the London Bridge and Tower of London below. Haunting, beautiful, elegiac. Mesmerizing. What a shame no one will ever read this review and share these sentiments with me. We're a small club, we lovers of Victorian post-apocalyptic literature. But we're loyal, fascinating and fierce. YMMV.

This 19th-century science fiction novel by Richard Jefferies (1848-1887), an English writer and naturalist, depicts an England of the distant future in which most of the human populace has either died from some cataclysmic event or plague or they have been removed to some other place. The people still living in England have no record of what happened, the event occurring centuries earlier. Most of the central part of the British Isle is now covered by a giant lake. A poisonous swamp covers the site of old London. Much of the novel is a description of this future England. The people live in a feudal-like environment and the hero of the story, Felix, sets out on a quest in a canoe to find fame and fortune so that he may win the hand of the daughter of a neighboring baron. This is probably one of the earliest novels (if not the earliest) depicting a future Earth following some cataclysmic event. This "sub-genre" or sub-category will form a significant portion of the science fiction literature. Any serious student of science fiction literature should read it.

After London is variously a phoenix-like rebirth of civilization, a critique of Victorian mediaevalism, a paradigm of fin de siecle fears of regression and atavism, a frontier adventure story, and an exploration of the fragility of historicism. Take your pick. Or don't. But read it.

This is an interesting book, if for no other reason than it was written in 1885 as an apocalyptic novel. The reader never is told what happened and all the action takes place in Great Britain with no mention of the rest of the world. Amazingly there is very little difference between something written so long before modern problems and many of the apocalyptic books of more modern times.
Of course in a book this vague about the reason for civilization's collapse many questions occur, there are many technical ones as well. The Irish come to the south of England - why and how do they accomplish this? and others don't, it leaves too much for me too wonder at times. Even though I am very familiar with the geography of England I was left wondering and lacking a `picture' of what the author was trying to depict..."the Avon rises over its' banks, the waters of the Lake rush over...as the tide returns, the level of the ocean rises to the Lake". It all is a bit puzzling at times; but Society develops and civilization builds much along feudal lines. There is a story of exploration and love and the human race goes on.
As a curiosity it is worth reading and as something well written it is worth taking the time too.

I enjoyed reading this book and think it is a very original work especially for the time it was written. The author is also a nature writer and he does a great job explaining the countryside, though often too well of a job. The book is billed somewhat as a post apocalypse story but it is really more of a medieval knights tale without the factual historical backing. It's set in a post apocalypse London where everything is overgrown back to a nearly natural state. The countryside has reverted back to endless forests that are full of bandits, shephards, gypsy caravans, and tribal wildmen. It is also bordered by a highly toxic impenetrable swamp on the ruins of old London. Life is centered along the shores of the flooded river Thames, which now creates a vast freshwater lake. Feudal kingships take root in the new society, very much reminiscent of political systems that existed there previously.

The main character is Felix Aquila, who is the disgruntled son of a lower liege Baron, whose family is near to having their land taken from them by debtors of the King. Felix is in love with a female of a more favorable political position to the king. She returns his love but must hide her feelings due to her fathers wishes of a more respectable husband for her. So Felix sets out into the post apocalyptic new frontier to make a name for himself, find his fortune, and to come back to marry his love once his respect is earned by the town.

The rest of my review may or may not need a SPOILER ALERT, so if you are the sensitive type you have been forewarned.

It's an emotionally compelling and very human story. You can empathize with Felix and understand the the necessity of his adventure. Unfortunately that is where my good review ends. Upon actually setting out on the adventure Felix remains the lackluster hero. He never really prevails over his shortcomings, or has any change in his ineffecutal personality that would qualify him as a leader of men. Most of his victories outside of Robin Hood like feats with a bow and arrow would be credited to chance or luck, rather than his planning, courage, or intelligence.
He conquers the toxic swamp when the wind blows him there safely without him knowing it. He finds his fortune when he randomly finds a sack of gold coins and a giant diamond on the ground. He becomes the leader of a kingdom in part due to his skill with the bow and arrow, but mainly due to a misunderstood comment to tribal shephards about where to find water, who then think he is a diety with esoteric knowledge and ask him to be their king.

The adventure starts off great, and I was waiting to see Felix become a hero, and return to his homeland to recieve his due respect. Unfortunately he never really does any of that. It's never really demonstrated why his lack of respect is unjustified and why his sense of superiority is earned. He is a rather emotional and girlish character. None of which changes. He remains a rather ineffectual hero, especially considering his ambitions as a leader of men. Towards the end I myself was wondering what the Lady Aurora saw in him, as opposed to her other suitors. A good read but it could've been much better. I'd still reccomend it though.

After London, first published in 1885, starts off with tons of information of England after the fall of advanced civilization. Chapters on the animals, plants, people and the landscape is then followed by the story of Felix. The middle son of a Baron, he is neither good with a sword nor has an income. He is smart, sometimes too smart, an armchair intelligence, he seems to find fault with everybody and everything. In the Dark Age society in which he lives in he is an uncommon boy. He sees the filth of the cities, the unorganized governments and the untamed wilderness as things that can be improved on. Yet he is in no position to do anything about it.
The character of Felix seems childish, paranoid, pushy and sometimes downright whiny. In other words, very realistic and the kind of boy you sometimes see on the Internet making blogs that give advice to everybody else on how to fix everything. Coming of age, in other words. And he is doing it all for love.
The book has heavily influenced later works. You can see it in the settings and backgrounds of many of today's books, movies and even TV series. For example, in the book A Scientific Romance by Ronald Wright the author acknowledges this work as one of the many that helped shape the story. Many sci-fi books about the future of man or the fall of man try to copy the flavor and broad scope of After London, using it sometimes without giving credit. Such as Legacy of The Daleks by John Peel, set in the 22nd Century, in which the Earth is recovering from the Dalek invasion of the planet. In this Dr. WHO book Knights and Lords fight over the remains London (and Southern England) with a mixture of technology. Guns and cars are used along side horses and lances. Wonderful, needed in any library, new or used.