Wild Jack

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Clive lives in a world depopulated by societal and environmental crashes and now split into high-tech luxurious cities and ‘savage' wild lands. He's the privileged descendant of the scientists who created and protected the city enclaves, served by a servant class who may or may not be happy about their status. When political machinations put Clive in brutal detention, he learns more about how savage the wild lands really are.

Review
Much as I like John Christopher, his YA stories have a certain sameness to them. That's exacerbated here, in what's more a sketch or introduction than a full novel.

The book, slim as it is, is an enjoyable read, but at a scant 100 pages, it mostly just sets up a story that we're then not told. I'm not sure whether Christopher always intended we imagine the rest (which we can readily do), got bored with the idea (though it's not very thoroughly explored) or his publishers just didn't buy the continuation. This very much feels like a proposal/sample for a full novel or series – it introduces the world and characters, sets up the major conflict, and then stops. It has enough resolution that it's not really frustrating, but it does also clearly feel unfinished.

The plot itself is fairly standard Christopher – young, privileged man is betrayed, finds out that the ‘savages' aren't really so savage, etc. The remainder of the story would presumably have been his struggle to reform society, including conflict with his father (who I surmise might have been in favor of slower change). As always, Christopher does a great job of creating an engaging, interesting protagonist who is nonetheless sometimes a bit dim (which makes the reader feel smarter).

I enjoyed this, but recommend it principally for Christopher completists who would enjoy seeing a YA trilogy that might have been.