The Postman, David Brin
I enjoyed the first two parts of this very much. The first part covers serendipitous discovery of an old uniform by the main character, Gordon Krantz, just when he needs it after his camp has been raided and all the gear he needs for survival taken. The second part involves the way he becomes a symbol, at first without meaning to, and then the way he builds up a movement around himself, making his lies a reality.
The third part is where it falls down a bit for me, where he comes seriously involved in a basically military operation, and themes of scientific manipulation and so on come in. The climax of the novel is a fight between two characters which barely involves the protagonist, though fortunately it returns to being about Gordon for the last part.
The world of The Postman is bleak, post-apocalyptic, both recognising the elements among us who are violent and opportunistic, and the basic decency a lot of people have. There’s hope here as well.
The way the novel deals with female characters… troubled me. The fact that there are few to no women in positions of power — at least among the decent folks, though of course not among the antagonists due to their philosophy — and the one who is ends up proving herself dangerously naive. Many women are strong, and would be capable of a lot better in a post-apocalyptic dystopian situation than the showing they make here.
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