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A review by wtb_michael
N by John Alan Scott
4.0
Massively ambitious, comprehensively researched and frighteningly plausible alternative history of Australia during WWII. A key independent in a narrowly held government dies, and in the chaos of a hung parliament, a viciously right-wing government siezes power, before negotiating a truce with the invading Japanese. The story unfolds from about five main angles: from the perspective of artists, politicians, soldiers, dissidents and public servants, with the threads occasionally interweaving, but mostly telling separate pieces of a grand story. The pace is slow - I feel like it could have dropped 100 pages without losing much (e.g. sections told from the perspective of a cat!). In the author's notes he acknowledges dropping a whole other strand of the story to keep things at a managable length, but I still felt like it dragged in a few places.
The last few pages make explicit the allegory with modern-day Australia's inhumane and unjust treatment of refugees - it seemed a bit unnecessary to hammer home this point, which came through relatively clearly anyway - the whole book is a warning about how easily populations are manipulated through fear and unncertainty. For all my minor issues, it's wonderful to read something this self-consciously BIG - I'm surprised it hasn't made a bigger splash.
The last few pages make explicit the allegory with modern-day Australia's inhumane and unjust treatment of refugees - it seemed a bit unnecessary to hammer home this point, which came through relatively clearly anyway - the whole book is a warning about how easily populations are manipulated through fear and unncertainty. For all my minor issues, it's wonderful to read something this self-consciously BIG - I'm surprised it hasn't made a bigger splash.