Walter Clark Boutwell’s EXILES’ ESCAPE takes place in a future where the United States has split into the Democratic Unity, a socialist techno-dystopia, and the Restructured States of America, peace can never last long. The Unity enforces “retirement” at age 40, telling its citizens (who are monitored and manipulated by implanted devices in their bodies) they will be cared for, but in reality transforming most into brainless zombie soldiers. Ruled by anonymous “Solons,” the Unity keeps its citizens in line with an immersive computer system and plenty of access to recreational drugs, but it’s in a state of inevitable decline as knowledge is forgotten and corruption runs rampant. The Restructured States are more stable and robust. A therapy known as Ageplay allows some of its citizens to live incredibly long lives, among them Jesse Johnstone. Often referred to as The Old Man, Johnstone, is a legend for his exploits battling Unity raids in American territory and his ability to navigate and survive the Scorch, a corrupted stretch of wilderness where strange mutations roam. It was there he fell in with Malila. The two were initially enemies, became lovers, and Malila returned to the Unity a changed woman. Her reception there was horrific. Lieutenant General Eustace Tilley Jourdaine plots a coup against the Solons and plunged Malila into a training and loyalty exercise known as Alpha_Drover, an immersive experience that breaks the individual, inspiring perfect loyalty or madness. Malila manages to escape, and intends to flee the Unity for once and for all as she is hunted by both sides and Johnstone navigates his own deadly fame without forgetting her or what they meant to each other.
Boutwell’s politics are fairly transparent here, as the Unity is almost comical in its mish-mash of elitist academics, operatically weird labor unions, and progressive politics resulting in a nightmarish world that is doomed to chaos but sustained in the moment by technology. One hilarious detail is the Brotherhood of Beltway Workers International, a labor union controlling the main public transport of the Unity that has evolved into a bizarre group of semi-hereditary fiefdoms who operate independently of the government and demand poetry from those who seek their assistance. Meanwhile, the implicitly Christian and more traditionally conservative Restructured States are clearly the better place to live. While these “take that” moments are slightly distracting, Boutwell does such a good job at building his universe it doesn’t really detract from the story. He also does excellent character work. Johnstone is a thoughtful, experienced fighter and frontiersman who approaches everything with quiet intelligence. Malila is a fierce and determined young woman (or, middle-aged woman by Unity standards) facing complete disillusionment with her entire life thus far. While the Unity is a bit cartoonish in its progressive horrors, the characters it produces are logical extensions of its philosophies who are often ruined by ignorance in a society that disdains experience and age. On the American side, Boutwell imagines fascinating technologies that combine far-out sci-fi concepts (semi-intelligent biogels that form high-altitude suits) and more grounded stuff, like the slightly steampunky idea of huge, high-tech dirigibles acting as dreadnoughts in the sky.
All-in-all, there’s plenty to enjoy in this universe. If there are flaws, they lie in the limited setting—there’s barely a mention of a single other country or anything else going on in the world—and the anonymous nature of the Solons, which makes anything to do with them feel distant and uninteresting. These are relatively minor concerns, however. Fans of military-esque dystopian sci-fi will find much to like here.
With effortless world-building and solid character work, Walter Clark Boutwell creates a compelling vision of a future America divided in every possible way in EXILES’ ESCAPE, Book 2 in his “Old Men and Infidels” series.
~Jeff Somers for IndieReader