The Wasteland Saga by Nick Cole

Published by Harper Voyager on October 15, 2013

The Wasteland Saga is a post-apocalyptic trilogy. The first and best of the novels, The Old Man and the Wasteland, follows a scavenger known as the Old Man as he takes a journey of redemption. Carrying a Hemingway novel and engaging in an internal monologue with the character Santiago from that novel, the Old Man is tested as he engages in conflicts with nature, with other people, and with himself. The second novel, The Savage Boy, focuses on a young man who is overcoming a disability while taking his own journey of self-discovery.

The third novel, The Road and the River, doesn't seem to have been separately published. It contains echoes of the first novel -- too many echoes, perhaps, as I was left with the feeling that I'd read this novel before. The Old Man is on a mission (rescuing people trapped in a Colorado bunker). He travels through the Wasteland. He talks to, and takes advice from, Santiago. He's introspective. He faces his fears. He perseveres. He learns to trust himself. Sacrifices are made. Good conquers evil.

The primary difference between the third novel and the first (apart from the fact that the Old Man is driving a tank instead of walking) is the addition of the Old Man's granddaughter as a traveling companion. She sees the world with the clarity of innocent eyes and helps focus the Old Man's conscience. Also joining the Old Man is the Savage Boy from the second novel. Like the granddaughter, the Savage Boy is an archetype of purity. That's good in the sense that he's admirable, but the complexity of his character that we saw in the second novel is missing here.

Perhaps due to the story's familiarity, the first half of The Road is a River lacks the intensity of the first two novels. The novel begins to build dramatic tension in the second half and it springs a surprise at the end of the Old Man's journey. The surprise isn't particularly convincing but it sets up a high-impact ending.

As was true of The Old Man and the Wasteland, the most memorable aspect of The Road is a River is the Old Man. Forty years after the bombs fell, he's forgetting the past. He can't remember what a feather duster is called, or the name of the canned stew he always made when he was a student. He wants to return to a past that no longer exists, not because he longs for its comforts (he can't imagine any home other than his little shack) but because he longs for its values. He wants life to have meaning. He wants people to have dignity. He wants people to care about each other, to behave unselfishly. He wants a better world for his granddaughter than the one into which she was born.

While not as emotionally affecting as the first novel, The Road is a River has some touching, resonant moments. Nick Cole has modeled his writing style in these novels after Hemingway, and emotional honesty was Hemingway's strength. The story could easily become maudlin, but honesty saves it. On the other hand, the "story of salvage" theme is reprised from the first novel so often that it becomes tiresome, and I could have lived without the epilog. Still, The Road is a River is a fitting end to a strong trilogy.

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