‘Whaleroad’ by Kerry Greenwood 

At the "Spaced Out" mini-convention on Saturday 17 November, 2001, I had the singular pleasure to meet and to speak with multiply-published local authors, Kerry Greenwood and Jenny Pausacker. By e-mail, I have also been most fortunate to receive responses to some questions I had posed to Ms Greenwood. I’ll share said responses during this review, and would very much like to thank Ms Greenwood for her correspondence.

During the "Spaced Out" convention, I took the opportunity to inform Ms Greenwood that she had kept me up nights. No, dear reader: she and I are not neighbours, and I cannot confirm if she is, or is not, a party animal. However, mid-week, before the convention, I found that I simply had to stay up to finish her book: "only 75 pages to go"; "oh, it’s only 11.30pm, and only 50 pages to go"; then it’s 12.30am, I’m closing the book, and going to sleep. How could I sleep?! Well I did, and proceeded to dream quite vividly of her characters. I’ll conclude this line of thought, lest we become too Freudian.

"Whaleroad" is "only" 200 pages long. This is not a bad thing. Ms Greenwood employs an economy of language and style I’ve found rare in reading over recent years. She doesn’t over-write. Having said that - and I can’t immediately find a more sophisticated way to say this - I wanted the book to be longer. Personally, I would have been more-than-happy if Ms Greenwood had further fleshed out her story. Don’t get me wrong; her characters are indeed well-rounded. I speak here of the desire to follow their adventures, and indeed their development, more broadly. I really would have stayed up later for several more nights, if indeed she had chosen to make this her magnum opus, say, a la Stephen King’s "The Stand". Ms Greenwood advises that she tends to write "loaded, allusive, ornate prose if not stopped by some external force". I, however, hope that Ms Greenwood’s future editors allow her this indulgence.

"Whaleroad" would seem to be aimed, as Ms Greenwood indicated during her presentation at the conference, at a young adult, science fiction/fantasy audience, which perhaps explains the book’s length. I’m 30; I was totally captivated. I can imagine readers from about age 14-onwards enjoying this book. She doesn’t write down to this audience. In fact, her style in this book captures the ability to appeal to a wider audience. In comparison, from my limited knowledge of teenage literature, the closest I would approximate it to (if you will excuse the conceit) is the "Harry Potter" series, also in terms of a multi-generational appeal. (My mother - damn her voracity - has read all of the Potter books, where I have not read a one. But I have questioned her closely upon their appeal. I’m currently reading Nabokov’s "Lolita", which is fabulous, more-than-a-tad "icky", and a complete digression from my topic here.)

Like many (all?) gay men who read science fiction and fantasy, I was looking, if not actively then in passing, for any characters with a queer bent. In this book, I didn’t find any out-and-out, nor any thinly-disguised, queer characters. (Please: if you did, and I’ve missed them through shear exhilaration of reading - or complete obliviousness - then bring them to my attention.) I did however, find the interesting concept of two characters, "Alain Beastfriend" (male) and "Tyrell of the Dolphin" (female), melding their minds into a shared consciousness. This had most interesting ramifications in the story, and suggests intriguing implications for these and additional characters, in other books in this series .

Fortunately, Ms Greenwood advised that in further books in this series, she has indeed included queer characters and relationships. The series of books is as-yet unnamed, with the first book - "The Broken Wheel" (1996) - published by Harper Collins, and the latter three volumes - "Whaleroad" (1996); "Cave Rats" (1997), a continuation of "The Broken Wheel"; and "Feral" (1998), published by Hodder. Of her gay characters, Ms Greenwood writes:

"[The] gay characters are in a book which no one wants to publish...I have not given up on that book... It’s called "Stormbringer"... I was striking close with the triple (two men and a woman) in "Cave Rats" and "The Broken Wheel", but overtly gay characters - publishers don’t like them. When the Luddite community [referred to in the "Prologue" to "Whaleroad"] begins to break up in "Cave Rats", the two old men who have loved each other for years finally get together...The gay characters fit in like all the others."

Ms Greenwood has mentioned that "Whaleroad", written in 1996, was her eleventh book since she was first published in 1989. Given that she is well-known for her published works in the crime/mystery genre, I asked Ms Greenwood how indicative of her style of writing is "Whaleroad", to which she replied that "it was an experiment to find out how hard it is to write quirky, strange and interesting heroic fantasy. Therefore it is not indicative, if you mean typical."

I was initially dubious of the comment from the book-loaner that "there are some local settings, like Queenscliffe" in this novel. I was most surprised then to actually identify some of the locations in the book, in particular the coastal settings, despite not being the most familiar with Melbourne geography (as I’m a Queensland girl). Fortunately, Ms Greenwood didn’t hit us over the head with these references. Instead, she lets them drop in a subtle manner, mainly during the "Prologue" to the story, to add verisimilitude (that’s my big word for this review: I paid enough HECS for my English Lit. degree, so I’m using it). I would very much like to take a drive down the coast at some point, replete with a "Melways", a long-term Melbourne local at hand, and hopefully a "treasure-map" from Ms Greenwood, to discover some of the locations.

I’m a big fan of post-apocalyptic fiction: "Swan Song", by Robert R McCammon; "War Day" by Whitley Streiber and James Kunetka; and, of course, "The Stand" by relative unknown, Stephen King. This is to name a few. I’ll pursue the (hopefully) wise course of not keeping the rabbit in the hat, and not telling you all of the good bits about the book (as they do with movie "teaser" trailers). I will say though, that the twist on this genre in "Whaleroad", in lieu of a limited or world-wide nuclear exchange, or a virus let loose, is:

"the satellite defence system called Star Wars was knocked out of it’s orbit by a meteorite... [and]... the world was striped across with bands of fire. Of the population of Australia, eleven million people died in the fires, the explosions, or from hunger and disease." (1)

As a result, much of the technology has been rendered useless. My take on the time-setting, based upon some of the technology gradually uncovered over the course of the story, is that the disaster occurs between twenty and fifty years into our current future. The action of the story is then set, as mentioned in the novel, ten years after the catastrophic events of "The Three Days".

I really only have one issue with "Whaleroad", and that relates to the pace at which society regresses. In the decade after the disaster, society has reverted to an almost feudal - in historical terms - order. That’s not to say that this isn’t captivating and intriguing. I love the fact that we have knights and castles and damsels-in-distress. But I would argue that it would take quite a bit longer for this to occur. Yes: the availability and access to technology has been severely limited, and people are thus reduced to focus on the immediate needs of food, water, roof and protection. I believe, though, that the echoes of the standard of living before the war, including the popular culture of the era, would exist for a great deal longer than 10 years, and more likely for a generation. Having said that, there is still technology in the story, including the "Worldnet" communication system. Indeed, many of the artifacts of the techno-era are absolutely pivotal within the story.

This leads me to briefly (if that’s possible) ponder how this novel fits sits within genres. I use the plural in the sense that "Whaleroad" is far from "hard" science-fiction, closer to fantasy, and firmly embedded in the post-apocalyptic tradition in literature. It’s an heraldic story, for a very good reason. (Let’s hope that I’m not giving away a major hook by which the story hangs...) The "dominant" group, in this story of Ms Greenwood’s series, emerges from a club of hobbyists, who come together regularly to hold medieval tournaments. We’re talking: armour, swords, peaked-hats-with veils, and chivalry. It so happens that, at the time of the disaster, they are holding one of these festivals at the eponymous fortress in Queenscliff. After a period of confusion, the burgeoning society that emerges has taken on the trappings of this life-style, and forms the core of a new heraldic, embryonic, post-war (too many adjectives there) society, as least on a regional scale for their "territory" on one side of Melbourne’s bay, in the area called the "Three Mile Rampart".

And here’s a neat tie in about issues of sexuality and social hierarchy: many of the knights are actually women. There appears to be a breaking down of gender barriers in at least one area of this new society (I won’t call it a utopia). Indeed, within the principal cast, there is "Queen Katherine" an intelligent, wise woman, without whom "King Alexis Emerald" would be lost, and the female knight "Sir Marina", who brings calm to, and also shares the life - and mind - of "Sir James Farseer". That’s not to say there aren’t other life-styles that have emerged after the war. There’s also more-than-a dash of "Robin Hood" - literally - in one of the communities ("The Landsknecht"), who have secreted themselves in a lush valley, separate from the rest of society. In addition, there’s a community who abide on an ocean-going platform of crafts linked link together, living off the sea’s bounty, led by the unrelenting character, "The Man". And there are a group of amoral pirates under "Red Eric" who terrorise all sea-living and coastal folk. Of the peoples in her series of books, Ms Greenwood comments that they’re "about how different groups of people survive a big catastrophe. Some revert to nomads, some form religious communities, some role-play and find a king. It is all about inter-dependence. No one can live alone. I was interested in how they lived".

Combine this with: the ubiquitous bad guy ("The Great Beast"), who’s both more and less than he seems; the unknown element of hinted-at advanced technology still laying round ("The White Tower"), ready to be used for mischief; the hero and heroine, who get to know each other in a most innovative way; and the second string (I’ll most likely be challenged as to who is defined as the major and supporting protagonists) hero and heroine, who, more-so that the standard hero and heroine pair, display exhilarating extra-sensory powers. There’s also a fascinating insight into the minds of animals, and the interplay of human and beast in this story, particularly between "Alain Beastfriend" and his enhanced canine companion, "Ruffian", and "Tyrell" and "The Dolphin" (plural). Add to this a number interesting characters (my favourite being the irascible healer, "Mitress Yasmin"). You do indeed have a large-ish, although not overwhelming, cast, whose adventures transported this reviewer into an extremely engaging alternative reality. And as for the theme of this novel? Ms Greenwood suggests of "Whaleroad": "my main point... is that wars are serious... people get killed and the first thing that you do when you win is bury the dead".

Have I covered everything then? Probably not. I should exhort though, in the strongest terms, that you all go straight out and read - preferably by purchase, as this is a local writer who deserves our support, or at least borrow, a copy of - "Whaleroad", by Kerry Greenwood (or anything else she has written for that matter). How does that sound? Also, having recently visited "amazon.com", and found that "Whaleroad" was listed but not reviewed, I would encourage you to read the book and to then write your own review, something which I also intend to do. Hopefully next time I write (if there is indeed a next time, dear editor?), I’ll have something to ramble on with about our other guest-author at the "Spaced Out" convention, Ms Pausacker. Her conversation and presentation, like that of Ms Greenwood’s, was hilarious, riveting, and insightful. Ms Greenwood recommends that we read "What Are Ya?" by Jenny Pausacker - not a science-fiction book (I believe) but one that she nevertheless describes as "superb" - a copy for which I have started a-hunting.

Thank-you for your attention. Now: go and read something. And turn off the television (unless it’s "Star Trek", of course). And remember to never start a sentence with "and".

Notes:

(1) "Whaleroad" by Kerry Greenwood, Hodder, 1996, vi