Customer Reviews

False dawn

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Two people wander the earth after an unspecified apocalypse, struggling to survive in a world of complete anarchy. Cities are cesspools and troops of "pirates" reign unchecked. While not as good as Pat Frank's "Alas, Babylon" this is still an entertaining read, although definitely not for younger readers with its gritty violence and rape. The ending is somewhat unsatisfying as well with the fate of Thea and Evan left unresolved.

I read this book over 20 years ago. I still have the orginial hardcover book. Thea and Evan search for a place of haven,a safe harbor in a world gone wrong. The adventures are excellent and you really find yourself being drawn into their search and hoping they find a place to belong. I really wish another had been written to tell how they ended up.

The story pulled me right inside and I was there next to Thea and Evan. Sometimes brutal, but that is probably what it would be like under such circumstances. I would hope to be as brave. I first read it 20 years ago. I've still got the original copy from then, and I don't save very many books!

"False Dawn" is one of Yarbro's earlier novels telling of a bleak post-apocalyptic future.

Marauding Pirate gangs that don't give up, mutations (both planned and not), rapes, starvation, killer spiders, cold, volcanoes, killer monks.

While not the best P-A book I've ever read (nor the best Yarbro book), "False Dawn" held my interest and is a pretty fair example of one of the earlier tries at the genre.

NOTE: The cover on this version of the book - bloody wolf riding a motorcycle - has absolutely nothing to do with the book (but it looks cool).

I find myself going back to this book on a regular basis. Unlike most of my Science Fiction Book Club purchases from decades back, I kept this one. Maybe I'm just a sap for end-of-the-world fiction, but there's a solid tale here, one that's well written, and one of the first of its type, at least in my experience.

As post-appocalyptic fiction goes, Yarbro's "False Dawn" is medicore at best. I felt as if I had entered the story

in the middle of a situation that I new nothing about. It felt like the story started somewhere in the middle and

that I missed out in some previous background history. The story from there deals with mutants, pillaging, rape, as the main characters of Thea and Evan search for a sanctuary. Thea and Evan move from situation to situation as they try to survive one encounter after the other. The appocalypse, though never really explained in any detail appears to be a series of events over a 30 year period, from evironmental disasters, to chemical spills, to limited nuclear war. As quickly as the story starts, does it mysteriously end, as if the author didn't really know how to end the story, or have some sort of conclusion for the characters. Like an elusive sanctuary, there is an elusive ending to Yarbro's story.

The main character Thea is a mutant (nictating membranes over her eyes) in a world destroyed by an unknown apocalypse. Pirate-raiders roam the land, mutated animals fill the forests, and chemical/nuclear fallout from old army bases makes deathtraps. The story is introduced "in media res" [in the middle of things] as Thea slinks away from a settlement in the aftermath of a pirate attack; it is clear she is a hardened traveler (as opposed to living in the settlement) by her attitude and equipment. She soon saves the life of a wounded man, Evan, who has lost an arm but is slowly regrowing it. They travel together.

Despite being raped by hostile forces during their journey, Evan and Thea grow closer. It turns out Evan is has some past history with Pirates, and this adds an antagonist. Majority of the book is survivalist, as the two constantly escape from various evil people or mutated animals. This draws them together.

Overall I found the novel too unbelievable, I don't understand how the 'Pirates' could survive so long with the lack of crops and poisoned lands (even with cannibalism). The time-frame of the great disaster is over 20 years ago (got the impression Thea was born after), and no one anywhere has bothered to reorganize any functional society. The end also leaves nothing resolved in terms of both the 'romance?' and 'did they find a home?' questions.

Not recommended -- one of the worst attempts at post-apoc fiction I've tried.

False Dawn.

Written in 1978, our story begins with the world already gone to crap from an unspecified event. From bits, pieces and clues given in the text, I get the feeling that the Earth wore herself out from all of Mankind's excesses.
The story follows our couple and their adventures in their travel to the atypical post-apocalyptic sanctuary.

The book flows well, mostly. Unlike my reviews... Only 208 pages, but plenty of dodging the bad guys and interaction with some good. (Though I think T & E should have stayed in the fully provisioned house until forced to leave. Also my main complaint about McCarthy's The Road). Only choppy parts are the interaction between the lovers and that might be the author's intent.

I don't have a problem with the downer beginning, middle or end (pretty obvious how it's gonna end). I don't have a problem with being dropped into the story after it started and getting yanked prior to the end. I enjoy good post-apocalyptic fiction. That's part of the deal. But there's something about the book that left me unsatisfied/unsettled.

It may be that the writer excelled at projecting the hopelessness of the future back in 1978. Remember Love Canal, rising crime (Hillside Strangler, Ted Bundy) and the Carter Administration? Yeah, pretty hopeless...

False Dawn is a pretty good post-apocalyptic book. Is it great? No. Is it Post-Apocalyptic Canon? No. But you can get a hardcopy here on Amazon for a penny.

A really pretty ordinary post apocalyptic tale. A man and a woman
wander a nasty future wasteland in search of something that neither
they or the reader really seems to become sure of, in the end. There
are the usual mutants and other nasties of such a setting, but there
are plenty of better examples of the genre that you could try out
before getting tot his one.

I chanced upon this science fiction novel decades ago and it lingered as a tantalizing portrayal of post-apocalyptic survival. I recently have been reading William Cronon's "Changes in the Land" for a class on historical interpretations and remembered this book, so bought a copy here on Amazon. Its about ecological failure on the grand scheme and what the implications are for society - complete collapse and anarchy, might makes right until its all over. Chelsea Quinn Yarbro is a great writer and deserves attention.