Customer Reviews

The Yellow Wave: A Romance of the Asiatic Invasion of Australia (Early Classics of Science Fiction)

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"The Yellow Wave" by Kenneth Mackay is the seventh book in the Early Classics of Science Fiction series. While overall the series has been very good, this entry fell short of the others in the series. Not only is the novel itself a weak entry, but the supporting material could have been handled better. "The Yellow Wave" was first published in 1895 in Australia. It is a story set with the backdrop of a future Asian invasion of Australia, which is supposed to take place in the year 1954. The story itself is really a romance between Philip Orloff and Heather Cameron.

The story moves back and forth, sometimes focusing on the plot of the war, and other times focusing on either Philip or Heather. As a science fiction story of a future war, it doesn't really do very well. There is very little envisioned advancement in military hardware, with horses being the main source of transport and Cavalry still being a significant factor in battles. Mackay does recognize the significance of machine guns and the concept of body armor, but that is about the extent of his foresight. Politically he doesn't even see the federation of Australia as a separate country from England which was only six years away when the book was published.

While the story is only so-so as a science fiction story, it isn't good as a romance. The scenes between Philip and Heather do not feel real, and so the story really doesn't work. The biggest problem with the book is in its racist themes. The title itself is a racist way of referring to the invasion of Chinese (or Mongol) forces, which are depicted as almost inhuman with a propensity for raping and pillaging when not held in check by their Russian commanders, when they so choose. The novel plays on the basest fears of its intended audience, and it is often difficult to read. The story is not original either, as it draws on "The Invasion", a story written in 1877 by Kenneth Mackay's friend George Ranken.

As I indicated earlier, the supporting documentation for this particular entry also isn't up to the level which was established with the earlier books in the series. There are two areas of significance, the first being the introduction to this novel, and this is the one area where the high quality of the series was maintained. The second area is the text notes, and I did not care for the way they were handled. Because there are a lot of Australian phrases and Australian geography in this story, there are a large number of notes which are included in these areas. Instead of covering those areas with text notes, I think the reader would be better served if they provided a glossary and some maps and used the text notes for more in depth explanations.

All in all, this is a book which may be of interest to some people who have particular interest in this type of story or in the origins of Australian science fiction, but it is probably not a good choice for someone who wants to get a feel for this series of books, or who is looking for a great example of early science fiction in general.