Far North — Marcel Theroux

Right off the bat: this book wasn't what I expected. Not even close. Saw it making rounds when it dropped, but never really paid attention to what it was actually about. The title grabbed me. With a name like Marcel Theroux, I figured he was Canadian, thought this would be Jack London territory. Dead wrong. Turns out Marcel Theroux is British, and Far North is post-apocalyptic sci-fi. Not my usual thing.

Somewhere in Siberia, Makepeace is the sheriff of a ghost town. We don't know what catastrophe wrecked the place, but there's barely anyone left and the survivors are clawing to stay alive in a brutal environment. "Here, ten months a year, the climate bites your skin. Silence reigns now. The city is emptier than paradise." A sheriff in Siberia is anachronistic as hell, but we learn fast that Makepeace is the child of American settlers—Quakers, deeply religious, who fled Chicago to escape consumer culture and the tyranny of money. They chose the extreme North of Russia to live closer to nature, but violence caught up with them anyway.

When a plane crashes in the forest, Makepeace decides to leave town, convinced there's still civilization somewhere and this plane proves it. That's the start of a harsh, long journey through the taiga that throws brutal trials at Makepeace. Hard to say more without spoiling what makes this book startling: every chapter delivers a new surprise, a new revelation, a new twist—and for Makepeace, a descent into horror.

The first part hints at what led to catastrophe: climate collapse, resource depletion, overpopulation, famine, war. Theroux slips in a quiet warning about what's coming if we don't ditch our current lifestyle fast. Then he imagines how humans try to survive in the aftermath. Spoiler: it's bleak. There's not much humanity left in this devastated world. The most human character is Makepeace—formidable, disillusioned but determined, suspicious but curious, fearless but cautious. Doesn't believe in much anymore except the strength of his own soul and nature's power to renew itself.

A novel that celebrates the beauty of wild nature but left me feeling pretty damn pessimistic.

Original title: Far North

Translated from English by Stéphane Roques

10/18, 2012 — 348 pages