The Last President (novel)

Last updated
The Last President
Author John Barnes
Cover artistCraig White
LanguageEnglish
SeriesDaybreak
Genre Science fiction novel
Publisher Ace Hardcover
Publication date
2013
Publication placeUnited States
Media typePrint (Hardcover )
Pages386
ISBN 9781937007157
Preceded by Daybreak Zero  

The Last President is a science fiction novel by John Barnes. It is the third of the three books constituting the Daybreak series. [1]

Contents

Plot

In 2025 and 2026, after the Gaia-worshipping but environmentally destructive "Daybreak" movement unleashed a nanotech plague and nuclear and EMP attacks, the population of Earth has been greatly reduced and forced back to 19th-century or earlier technology. Two regions, one with its capital in Seattle, Washington and the other with its capital in Athens, Georgia, claim to be continuing the government of the U.S., while semi-independent regions around New York (increasingly fascist), in California (feudal), in Colorado (ostensibly neutral and dedicated to research and communications) and in Texas have some desire to participate in a restored U.S. Much of the Northeast is inhabited by "tribals" who have been mysteriously brainwashed into "Daybreak", but in one of their strongholds, Lord Robert is breaking away from the movement.

Despite tensions between the secularist believers in human rights in the Northwest and the fundamentalist Christian theocrats in the South, most of the regions attempt coordinate in a military campaign against the tribals and build up to a Presidential election to reunify the country. However, it turns out that the leaders of those regions were tricked into the campaign by Daybreak because it unifies it with Lord Robert. The U.S. forces are defeated disastrously. One of the leaders in Colorado makes herself president for the sole purpose of dissolving the United States and resigning. She and other survivors of the reunification attempt find refuge in California and the West Indies, which may become centers of the drive to rebuild civilization.

Reaction

Kirkus Reviews said, "There is a fair quota of action, often involving brave defenders attempting to resist ravening zombies in human-wave assaults. But again the cast of thousands, incessant scene shifts and sheer density of the narrative makes for tough going. Nevertheless, the story inches toward a conclusion." [2] Linda Marie Schumacher of SFRevu described it as a "fun" book with "lots of surprises and insight". [3]

Related Research Articles

<i>Farnhams Freehold</i> 1964 SF novel by Robert A. Heinlein

Farnham's Freehold is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein. A serialised version, edited by Frederik Pohl, appeared in Worlds of If magazine. The complete version was published in novel form by G.P. Putnam later in 1964.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction</span> Genre of fiction

Apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction is a subgenre of science fiction in which the Earth's civilization is collapsing or has collapsed. The apocalypse event may be climatic, such as runaway climate change; astronomical, an impact event; destructive, nuclear holocaust or resource depletion; medical, a pandemic, whether natural or human-caused; end time, such as the Last Judgment, Second Coming or Ragnarök; or any other scenario in which the outcome is apocalyptic, such as a zombie apocalypse, cybernetic revolt, technological singularity, dysgenics or alien invasion.

<i>Executive Orders</i> 1996 novel by Tom Clancy

Executive Orders is a techno-thriller novel, written by Tom Clancy and released on July 1, 1996. It picks up immediately where the final events of Debt of Honor (1994) left off, and features now-U.S. President Jack Ryan as he tries to deal with foreign and domestic threats. The book is dedicated to former U.S. President Ronald Reagan, who helped launch Clancy's worldwide success as a novelist. The book debuted at number one on the New York Times bestseller list.

John Barnes is an American science fiction author.

<i>Tehanu</i> 1990 fantasy novel by Ursula K. Le Guin

Tehanu, initially subtitled The Last Book of Earthsea, is a fantasy novel by the American author Ursula K. Le Guin, published by Atheneum in 1990. It is the fourth novel set in the fictional archipelago Earthsea, published almost twenty years after the first three Earthsea novels (1968–1972), and not the last, despite its subtitle. It won the annual Nebula Award for Best Novel and the Locus Award for Best Fantasy Novel.

<i>Footfall</i> 1985 science fiction novel by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle

Footfall is a 1985 science fiction novel by American writers Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. The book depicts the arrival of members of an alien species called the Fithp that have traveled to the Solar System from Alpha Centauri in a large spacecraft driven by a Bussard ramjet. Their intent is conquest of the planet Earth.

<i>1632</i> (novel) 2000 novel by Eric Flint

1632 (2000) is an alternate history novel by American author Eric Flint, the initial novel in the best-selling series of the same name.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Allen Drury</span> American writer

Allen Stuart Drury was an American novelist. During World War II, he was a reporter in the Senate, closely observing Presidents Franklin D. Roosevelt and Harry S. Truman, among others. He would convert these experiences into his first novel Advise and Consent, for which he won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1960. Long afterwards, it was still being praised as ‘the definitive Washington tale’. His diaries from this period were published as A Senate Journal 1943–45.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Nick Sagan</span> American novelist and screenwriter (born 1970)

Nicholas Julian Zapata Sagan is an American novelist and screenwriter. He is the author of the science fiction novels Idlewild, Edenborn, and Everfree, and has also written scripts for episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation and Star Trek: Voyager. He is the son of astronomer Carl Sagan and artist and writer Linda Salzman.

<i>Cowl</i> (novel) 2004 science fiction novel by Neal Asher

Cowl is a 2004 science fiction novel by British writer Neal Asher. The novel deals with time travel and an epic time war between two factions from the 43rd century. Asher first started working on the novel as a novella named Cowl At The Beginning, which he eventually developed into the full novel Cowl.

<i>Forge of Heaven</i> 2004 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Forge of Heaven is a science fiction novel by American science fiction and fantasy author C. J. Cherryh. It was first published in June 2004 in the United States by HarperCollins under its Eos Books imprint.

<i>Finitys End</i> 1997 novel by C. J. Cherryh

Finity's End is a science fiction novel by American writer C. J. Cherryh. It is part of the Merchanter novels series, set in her Alliance-Union universe, in which humanity has split into three major power blocs: Union, the Merchanter's Alliance and Earth. Finity's End was shortlisted for a Locus Award in 1998. It constitutes a loose sequel to Downbelow Station.

Mike Bond is an American novelist, ecologist, war and human rights journalist, and poet.

Candle is a science fiction novel by John Barnes that was published in 2000, it is part of the author's Century Next Door series.

<i>Semper Mars</i> 1998 novel by Ian Douglas

Semper Mars: Book One of the Heritage Trilogy is a military science fiction novel by American writer Ian Douglas. It is the first novel in the Heritage Trilogy.

Daybreak Zero is the title of a science fiction novel by John Barnes. It is the second of three books comprising the Daybreak series.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Climate fiction</span> Fiction in a setting defined in part by climate crisis

Climate fiction is literature that deals with climate change. Generally speculative in nature but inspired by climate science, works of climate fiction may take place in the world as we know it, in the near future, or in fictional worlds experiencing climate change. The genre frequently includes science fiction and dystopian or utopian themes, imagining the potential futures based on how humanity responds to the impacts of climate change. Climate fiction typically involves anthropogenic climate change and other environmental issues as opposed to weather and disaster more generally. Technologies such as climate engineering or climate adaptation practices often feature prominently in works exploring their impacts on society.

Ig Publishing is a New York-based press devoted to publishing original literary fiction and political and cultural nonfiction. The editor is writer Robert Lasner, and the publisher is Elizabeth Clementson. The press was founded in 2002.

<i>The Mysterious West</i> 1994 anthology edited by Tony Hillerman

The Mysterious West is a 1994 anthology edited by Tony Hillerman and published by HarperTorch. The book went on to win the Anthony Award for Best Short Story Collection in 1995.

<i>Axioms End</i> 2020 science fiction novel by Lindsay Ellis

Axiom's End is a 2020 science fiction novel by American writer Lindsay Ellis. Set in 2007, the novel is about a U.S. government coverup of contact with extraterrestrial life. Axiom's End entered The New York Times Best Seller list at number 7. It is Ellis's debut novel.

References

  1. Letson, Russell (December 2013). "Review". Locus .
  2. "THE LAST PRESIDENT by John Barnes". Kirkus Reviews. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. Schumacher, Linda Marie (3 September 2013). "The Last President (A Novel of Daybreak) by John Barnes". SFRevu. Retrieved 21 September 2024.