Julian Comstock - Wilson

This is a 2010 Hugo nominee.

As with so many books on the Hugo list, the setting is really what brings the story to life. And so it is with 'Julian Comstock'. This story takes place a couple of hundred years in the future from now. The global economy has gone through the peak oil shock and global warming has created shipping lanes north of Canada. As you can imagine, there has been quite a bit of chaos. The United States has absorbed central Canada and most of Latin America down to the Panama canal. The Dutch (more properly read as Deutsch, or Mittleuropa) have conqured the maritime provinces and have been fighting US forces in Labrador. American society has lapsed into more of a feudal system and the prime powers are a President for life and a powerful central church based out of Colorado Springs. Got it?
The story is told by Adam Hazzard, a budding writer and childhood friend of the title character, Julian Comstock. Comstock is the nephew of the President and is in voluntary exile since his family fears the jealous whims of the executive. They're living in a farming town in Saskatchewan when an attempt is made to draft Comstock, certainly in order to martyr him. The boys escape and the adventure is on.
This is a very well written and fun book. The world-building is satisfying and the story is quite unpredictable. There is very much a civil war era feel, even though the battle grounds along the St Lawrence seaway shift the setting considerably.
And did I mention that it's fun? One of the stops is in Montreal where Hazzard falls for a local girl. Small portions of the book are French quotations from her. No attempt is made to translate and the misunderstanding is delightful. The same thing is true for a captured letter that is written in Dutch. In fact, the book has a delightful number of easter eggs that the reader can tease out.
I had one small problem with the continuity, in that much of the knowledge gained since the 19th century seemed to be lost. I suppose there is some over-arching theory of church suppression but that doesn't make sense with such obviously useful things like medicine or battle technique. But I'm sure that was put in place to keep the transition to a 19th century feel.
'Julian Comstock' isn't a literary wonder. But it is a fun read, well written. And that's a good thing all on its own. I doubt that it will win the Hugo but it certainly does the shortlist no shame. I look forward to reading more from Wilson.