Earth Abides Book Review – A Sci Fi Classic

What comes to mind when you think of a post-apocalyptic fiction novel?

Marauding gangsters, cannibals, a collapsed society, roadblocks swiftly followed by confrontation and the odd death, which eventually culminates with everyone killing each other off? Not here. Earth Abides offered something totally different to the usual theme attached to dystopian novels.

It’s a slow, yet intriguing novel set in post-apocalyptic USA and follows the path of Ish, or “Isherwood”. Ish wakes up while isolated from society on a field trip, and realises most of humanity has been wiped out by some deadly plague.

Yes, that would suck.

The plot follows him as he travels across post-apocalyptic USA and tries to find some sort of community or place of belonging where he can kickstart civilization.

Ish ultimately finds his tribe and this book follows them through the decades as they try and survive, self-govern, make decisions, as well as raise the next generation in a world devoid of humans.

The story is seen through the eyes of Ish, who is the protagonist. He is a stubborn and controversial character who values intellect above all else; he doesn’t hide it by his use of words such as “stupid” and “half-witted” towards others.

He starts off as quite a reserved guy who you may initially think will go down the road of survival in solitude, but this changes as the story progress and he meets more people. He assumes role of leader and from then on is quite dismissive of the rest of the group’s contributions.

Taking place in the USA, near San Francisco, Earth Abides takes quite a positive tone at the start, especially considering humanity has been all but wiped out. For this again makes Earth Abides different from the usual post-apocalyptic novel, but it does gradually dampen as the tribe faces and tackles certain problems.

I like that nothing massive happens in the story, it just follows a group of people tackling life on a day-to-day basis. The one key difference is that they are some of the last ones left on earth.

While not a gripping page-turner, Earth Abides kept me positively intrigued throughout which, in my eyes, is the sign of a good book. The pace is slow, but George R. Stewart keeps it interesting, and it’s a very well thought out story.

The story was published in 1949, so obviously some of the language and opinions are a bit dated, but certainly not as much as it could have been. The language used is a bit sexist at times, and uses certain words with alternate, now offensive, meanings which have become obsolete over time.

The author’s take on how humanity would proceed if very few people were left intrigued me. I’m still unsure if it’s an accurate portrayal of what would happen in such a scenario. I liked this and I see it as a good novel if I’m asking myself this sort of question.

To summarise, I enjoyed Earth Abides because it offers something different and deviates from what you’d generally expect from the genre.

The plot is character driven and the author steadily develops the character of Ish; however, I found his character difficult to like as the story went on. His opinion on intellect caused this and his dismissal of anyone who he didn’t deem as “smart” as him. This irked me the most.

Also, on occasions, it slowed down a bit too much for my liking. There were a couple of points where I was struggling but, to his credit, Stewart would manage to salvage the story and keep me fully invested in the story.

What would happen if there was a virus that wiped out humanity? We don’t know! But this book is a deep dive on what COULD be an accurate representation of how survivors would behave and what the remains of society would look like. I’m still trying to decide how I think the leftovers of humanity would react.

I enjoyed the book and, despite the slow pace at times, I would give it a solid 4 beans.

If you’re into fast-paced page turners where the end of every chapter keeps your mouth watering for more, then this probably isn’t for you. But if you like a slow-burner with no massive plot twists following a group of people just trying to adapt and make decisions – with the one caveat being they are among the last in existence – then give it a shot!