This is one of the better post-apocalypse books I've read. Maybe not quite as good as A Canticle for Leibowitz, its still quite good. The basic story is that years after an attack that has decimated the United States, a survivor unintentionally, and at first fraudulently, takes the role of a postal carrier, and begins uniting people who desperately desire communication. Basic plotting with a bit of technology, and Brin's usual crispness and solid characters. I enjoyed this very much, and while the movie version wasn't great, it did do the book some justice. The book is better. ( )

I really wanted to like this. The setting is great. The prose is good enough. It's just the plot which disappoints. ( )

i picked this up and started reading it and finished at 2:00 AM the next morning. Gordon Krantz' struggle with his responsibilty is played out in a world destroyed by nuclear and biological war. The survivalists are creepy and enough like some people I know to make me lay awake at night. George Powhatan is the type of person I aspire to be. ( )

Superb. Powerful, compelling, poignent.

Set in post apocalypse america, some 16 years after a limited world war, society has collapsed back into shattered enclaves. Gorden, ex-marine, ex-milita and almost ex-survivor is alone in the wilderness of Oregan. An encounter with local bandits - both more and less organised than himself - goes badly and he flees deeper into the hills, chancing upon an abandonded and unfound jeep for shelter. In the morning he disregards any scruples (which already sets him out as different from many others in this world) and takes the jacket and gear from the long dead postman / driver who no longer requires them. Little does he realise their potential. But as he travels westward isolated and deeply suspicious communities - managing to raise themselves out of subsistance level barbarianism - are awed at the symbol he represents in his uniform, and life goes easier for a while. However like a cancer eating away at society, not everyone is willing to pull together and in these barbaric ages, Survivalists, gun nuts, alpha men, and those with short term vision threaten the very tenuous existance that even the most hardy farmer manages to eke out. Gordon's uniformed presence and the concept of "offical" help damages their ideals and self justifications, forcing a dramatic showdown.

The only slightly discordant note is the dates. This was written in '85 and the story is set in 2011 which makes the great collapse about 95-98 or so. Some of the technology postulated for this 10 year advance from 85 is just highly improbable - but have seemed much more reasonable set 25 or more years later on. The only other gripe is that the book is not long enough! The ending came far too soon - although perfectly paced as a plot - I wanted to carry on reading for days more. The characters are skillfully crafted, deftly handled to pull at emotions. The motivations and complex moral and ethical dilemmas required to stay alive in such a world are subtley introduced, and you feel the characters' pain as difficult choices have to be made. The descriptions are limited but again very well crafted leaving glowing images of a world just starting to recover. This allows the story to flow from location to location over time spans that are clearly indicated within the text at a gripping pace. The social commentry is muted, but clearly marked - humankind has to pull together, everyone, or else all will perish.

Truly a masterpiece of dystopia, hope, spirit, and meaning of being human rather than just alive. ( )

The main character sets out across a post-apocalyptic world looking for hope and order. Through his guise as a Postman - an attempt to save his own hide from starvation and a rogue militia - he inadvertently brings the hope and order he was searching for to his corner of the devastated continent of North America.

If you saw this movie and did not enjoy it you need to give the book a chance. I did not dislike the movie; however, the book has a depth to it that the movie did not have. The movie cut out an important plot development near the end of the book. ( )