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I’ve had this review sitting in draft form for a while but Kim’s link to the post A sociological theory of bad sci-fi seemed a good opportunity to dust it off and release it into the wild.

John Birmingham is an Aussie author who started out with the now legendary tale of share house living He Died with a Falafel in his hand. Over the years has churned out some interesting books such as Leviathan – the tale of the dark side of Sydney and Dopeland – a hilarious look into Australia’s marijuana culture.

The past few years he has joined the alternate history crowd. The first effort was the three volume Axis of Time trilogy where elements of the modern US Navy were sent back in time to World War II. It was rollicking yarn that made easy but entertaining reading.

His latest effort Without Warning is another alternate history novel. The conceit in this one is what would happen if the United States disappeared prior to the Gulf War in 2003.

To facilitate the removal of the US, a mysterious wave appears over most of the North American land mass. Through machinations unknown, every living person inside the wave disappears. Those who approach the wave get turned into pile of smoking goo. Removing the US in one fell swoop as an international player opens up some marvellous avenues for Birmingham to explore. The political and social upheaval would be immense and provide all sorts of juicy geopolitical explorations.

But instead of an interesting examination of how the power vacuum would be filled, Birmingham decides to go with a series of right wing fantasies. The first one, of course, is that there would be celebration around the world at the demise of the United States. Sure, some would indeed raise a glass in celebration, but that is a fringe reaction. The idea of such widespread reaction (especially in Europe and then doubly especially in France) is just popular notion of victim hood that fuels the myth of anti-Americanism.

One must remember that the rise of anger against the United States was directed against the policies of the Bush Administration. It wasn’t Macdonald’s, Disney or Microsoft (well maybe a little). We foreigners knew who the bad guys where. But Birmingham goes for a caricature of anti-American sentiment and takes delight in giving it to France (via a super secret killing machine running around Paris shooting the place up). He also conjures an apocalyptic wing-nut fantasy of Israel unleashing its nuclear arsenal on the Middle East.

Birmingham’s shallow assessment of what would happen if the US disappeared doesn’t jibe with reality. Indeed, at times I was wondering if he was parodying right wing thought. But as satire, the novel doesn’t make it. The fantastical nature of the event precludes satire that cuts close to the bone and there aren’t enough sly winks (that I could detect) to mark some tongue in cheekiness writing.

Birmingham does love his military hardware. The descriptions at time resembled some technological porn. That may explain the lack of any sexual activity in the book. The hardware is what gets the attention of Birmingham’s mojo. If only he had of taken to the political and social conjectures of a missing US with such enthusiasm (something he did a lot better in the Axis of Time trilogy).

The world, whilst distressing against US cultural imperialism via Hollywood and other perceived ills, still looks to the US for leadership. That is evident by the great reception of the election of Obama as the 44th president of the United States. The world wants the US to return to a time (albeit one that is mythical as well) when it benevolently strode the world.

Without Warning is a missed opportunity for Birmingham. He has the chance to write a rip-roaring novel of alternate history that also capably dealt with the geopolitical and social implications raised by the plot. The story does race along and it is a quick read with some style. But in the end, you are left under whelmed and wishing for a story with a little more substance less cartoonish characters and polts.