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Gould's second novel is a most rewarding example of thinking person's action-adventure. It tells the tale of five spunky high school graduates who travel through a gateway — located in the back of a barn on a ranch belonging to Charlie, the story's narrator — that takes them to an alternate Earth in which human beings never evolved and the land is fresh and virginal and teeming with numerous extinct species like bison, passenger pigeons, and sabre-tooth tigers. Directly after graduation, Charlie introduces his friends, two guys and two girls, to the gateway, and offers them the opportunity of a lifetime: to go across to this untamed and untapped wilderness, discover gold, and make more money than any of them have ever thought possible. And naturally, it will be of paramount importance to pull all of this off without the feds learning of the gateway's existence, taking it over, and doing all of the most horrible things you could conceive of our government doing once they've got access to this unspoiled world. Wildside takes its time getting wild. If you come to this book looking for tons of swell action scenes in which screaming victims get torn to shreds by sabre-tooths, you'll be disappointed; this is a much different kind of adventure. In fact, you don't even see a sabre-tooth in this book at all. Instead, the first half of the novel is concerned with getting to know our young heroes, and in relating their intensely complex preparations for going into business as otherworldly gold prospectors. And it's fascinating, even if the way in which Gould (with a true Analog veteran's obsession with detail) chronicles their activities makes them seem more like a unit of highly trained Navy SEALs than a bunch of regular 18-year-olds! Gould goes into such thorough coverage of every aspect of our young heroes' preparations — taking flying and skydiving lessons, learning to shoot, buying and assembling tons of electronic flight navigation gear (with money made from anonymously selling passenger pigeons, extinct since 1914, to astonished zoos), building hangars and control towers, setting up base camps, etc., etc. — that by the time you're done reading it all you feel like you might know how to hop into a light airplane and take it for a spin. And of course, comparing the activities of these whiz kids to many of today's youth, whose most advanced technical achievement might be unlocking all the secret levels on Tomb Raider II, you begin to realize just how far Gould is expecting you to stretch your suspension of disbelief. But stretch it you can, because Gould gives Wildside a freshness and a readability that echo the best of the classic Heinlein juveniles. Indeed, this novel could be thought of as a Heinlein juvie filtered through Chris Carter or Dawson's Creek sensibilities, though this book predates the latter. Gould's kids must go through all the growing pains that even non-light-aircraft-flying, non-gold-prospecting, non-skydiving, non-secret-bank-account-holding 18-year-olds do, and most of them are thankfully out of the TTA zone (Typical Teen Angst). Gould succeeds in making his kids very real in spite of the fact their activities regarding the portal come off at first as a bit superhuman. Joey must confront a drinking problem; young love, unrequited, confused, and otherwise, is tackled from every conceivable angle. In all the characterizations are deeeply heartfelt and give the novel a rock-solid emotional core. By the time the shit finally gets around to hitting the fan, you're completely hooked. The final hundred pages notch up the action and suspense to genuine white-knuckle levels, and the resolution is most satisfying. Though I must say a sabre-tooth tiger encounter would have been way cool (especially since both the paperback and hardcover artwork feature one prominently), you'd do well all the same to take a walk on this Wildside. |
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