The Carhullan Army - Sarah Hall

Another Clarke nominee, yet another Science Fiction novel packaged like a mainstream novel. It's all there, the mainstream cover, the non-genre publisher, the slim 207 pages. Yet The Carhullan Army by Sarah Hall (UK/US) is Science Fiction and it is a mainstream novel. At the same time. This is the sort of book I can imagine making Richard And Judy's list.

The setting is a grim near-future England, after some kind of social collapse. There is mention of floods and aid packages and a Restoration Plan. At first I was wary of the historical infodumps, but that settles down into wonderfully evocative writing, from the descriptions of the claustrophobic town to the wild lands of the Lake District.

The plot follows a woman's escape from a town, out into the wilds, and to a legendary commune known as Carhullan. Then it focuses on character, analysing the lives of those Carhullan, and examining what people would do to protect a way of life. It's an intriguing question, and the notion of hiding away on a remote farm seemed initially appealing to me, until it's revealed how hard the life is, and what compromises they have to make.

It is also the story of a charismatic leader, and the ordeals that followers will go through. Brainwashing or pragmatism or compromise? Plenty of food for thought.

When I finished the book I thought the ending was rushed, but looking back it now seems just right. A different book would have spun another hundred pages of action off the end, but that isn't the story, and I actually think Hall should be applauded for the ending and the focus of the story. I wonder whether there would have been greater pressure for a different ending if the book had been published by one of the usual SF imprints?

Another sign of a good book, I've kept thinking about the story and the issues it raises. A nice novel. Thought provoking and nicely written, with a refreshing non-SF feel to it.