REVIEW | Soft Apocalypse by Will McIntosh (Night Shade)

In the not so distant future resources are scarce and jobs are even scarcer. Water is a commodity. Biological agents are being released around the world and society is slowly degrading into tribal-like groups just out for survival. Anarchy is reigning over everything as society looses their way and Jasper is just trying to find his way through it all and hopefully a girlfriend.

Will McIntosh, winner of the Hugo for best short story, has certainly impressed me creating a believable future and understandable characters. Soft Apocalypse is McIntosh's horrifyingly realistic debut of an apocalyptic nature. Only he turns the idea of an apocalypse a bit on its ear by showing it through the rise of the everyday unprepared people rather than the survivalist who instinctively "knows" what to do and frames it around the love life, or lack thereof of one character skipping ahead through time by months and sometimes years to see how he and the world develops.

The reason apocalyptic stories rarely get stale for me is because of the human factor and unexpectedness of the characters reactions during conflicts and McIntosh loads Soft Apocalypse with conflicts aplenty. I mean, does everyone know what they would do if their friends were being attacked by a crazy group of militants? Most would think they'd like to help, but when the shit gets real many would just turn and run.

Soft Apocalypse really gets inside the head of its main character Jasper. We slowly see how each situation he finds himself in changes him from a very naïve post-grad leading him into what he becomes and why he makes certain decisions. At times he can seem like a wimp or a pushover yet he isn't faced with easy choices, but Jasper is, generally, able to move on and find the resolve to do what needs to be done. People faint of heart should beware.  Soft Apocalypse is often an unsettling book in many ways. People and animals are dying all around, many of which happen from unspeakable acts that occur daily.

Soft Apocalypse is made in the mold of Earth Abides by George Stewart yet even more believable. Thoughts of a prequel in the world of Mad Max also come to mind. McIntosh shows that even in the worst of times life goes on, but it is ever changing. I give Soft Apocalypse 8 out of 10 hats. While not perfect Soft Apocalypse is an absorbing read right up to the somber ending. McIntosh has a heck of a career ahead of him and has already signed the contracts for his second novel Deadland retitled to Hitchers with Night Shade that will probably be out in February 2012.

It was also interesting to re-read the short story that was the basis for the novel afterwards to see what was changed and used from the original. The short also gives you a decent idea of what to expect.

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