date: 2016-01-15 18:48:09
title: If Then - a Review

In a  near future  world, the systems  of government  and economy
have completely  collapsed. The citizens  of the  United Kingdom,
abandoned by  the state, have been  left to survive as  best they
can. Some  eke out  an  existence in  the abandoned  countryside,
while  others have  sold themselves  to private  interests, among
them the people  of Lewes. That town is now  owned and controlled
by The  Process, a computer  algorithm, designed to  maximise the
available resources,  including the people, marshalling  them for
an eventual resurrection of proper governance.

That a  least is the  theory. The reality  is that the  people of
Lewes  have  sold  themselves, their  emotions,  desires,  fears,
their  every  waking  moment,  to  the  Process,  so  the  system
can  be perfected  prior  to implementation  across the  remnants
of  Britain. James, the  Bailiff,  is closely  integrated to  the
Process, acting  as the literal  embodiment of its  most terrible
decisions, while his wife Ruth has found her role as a teacher in
the local school.

This is  an accomplished work of  science-fiction/fantasy from De
Abaitua. So much of this book is done so very well that it should
be attaining higher praise from me. The worldbuilding is expertly
handled, the revelation of the  collapses of society which led to
the current world  inhabited by the characters is  never trite or
simplistic. I particularly loved  those parts of the  book set in
the town of Lewes, with the Eviction Night being a highlight.

The problem  is that the  book then goes  off the rails,  and not
just a little, but completely. De Abaitua has _clearly_ put a lot
of research into  the disaster at Suvla Bay  during the Gallipoli
Campaign, it  was nice  to read references  to the  various Irish
(The Inniskillings, Munster Fusiliers) and the Sikh Regiments who
suffered and died  there, as opposed to  the usual ANZAC-oriented
mythos of  the conflict^1. It was  just that there was  just so
much  of the  detail  of Suvla  on the  page  that it  completely
overwhelmed the narrative. Writing about  war and battles to give
the reader an appreciation of the conflict and its effects on the
participants  while  giving  detail  of the  actual  fighting  is
**hard**, but  it can  be done  succesfully, some  examples which
come to mind  would be (for example) Kim  Stanley Robinson's _The
Years of Rice and Salt_, or Steven Erikson's _Deadhouse Gates_. I
don't  think De  Abaitua succeeds  here, as  I found  myself just
skimming over pages.

Which is a shame, because  the story remains atmospheric, and the
twin stories of the Bailiff and  his wife are, in their own ways,
utterly  compelling, as  is the  meditation on  war and  conflict
which forms the key narrative  element. I just wish he'd left out
most of the middle third of the book.

"If Then"  by Matthew  De Abaitua  was  published by  Angry Robot
Books in  September 2015,  and may  be purchased  from various
online retailers  and book stores. If  you wish to use  my Amazon
Affiliate link, that would be cool.

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^1: Thanks to Eric Bogle and his wonderful, albeit maudlin and
    ahistorical, "And the Band Played Waltzing Matilda"