After the Deluge

by Chris Carlsson

A teenage arsonist threatens a partially submerged mid-22nd century San Francisco. As a Public Investigator "tryout" seeks evidence across the utopian city full of canals and veloways, political and social conflicts erupt. When there is no such things as property, what is crime, and how does a utopian society protect itself from bad behavior? Should scientists be as free as artists to create? What is a "free market" for work without and money and commodities?

Genres: Fiction, Science Fiction

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Chris Carlsson, executive director of the multimedia history project "Shaping San Francisco" (foundsf.org), is a writer, publisher, editor and community organizer. He was a founder of the ground-breaking magazine Processed World, and helped launch the monthly bike-ins known as Critical Mass that have spread to five continents and over 300 cities. Carlsson has edited and authored numerous books, including Reclaiming San Francisco: History, Politics, Culture.

Reviews

[Max · Rating 5 out of 5]

five stars for ideas and conversation starters. The characters are not as strong as the various political and social issues. No private property, no money, everybody works means everybody is healthy and not wanting. Most people only need to work half time it seems. It is difficult to swallow, but mainly because I think most people get greedy.

[DeAnna · Rating 3 out of 5]

Carlsson’s book is set in the futuristic San Francisco. The “deluge” submerged much of the city below sea level, which reframed the built and wild environment, accordingly. Eventually, a worldwide disease-based “die-off” and revolution followed. What survived of San Francisco was a land and culture of simple prosperity. Residents manage to have plenty of everything with a currency-free economy and only minor work requirements, in part by simplifying their lives by no longer having so many private goods, eliminating most internal combustion engines and turning roads into gardens.
The best asset of this book is the vision of San Francisco that Carlsson creates. It is the default of radical/progressives to critique. Therefore, there are many resources out there that lay out the problems that exist, yet so few that provide thought about what could be. Any attempts at giving alternative ideas at what our world could look like are laudable. Carlsson goes as far as creating maps of the futuristic SF, which is a great touch. Of course many environmental visionaries use maps and art to make the point that open creeks and fewer roads are accessible, beautiful and achievable. This book feature also makes it easier for non-locals to follow the spatially oriented story.
The story-line, overall was good. It took a while to get going, but once it did I got interested. It had all the elements of a great book...a newbie San Franciscan looking for love and belonging while chasing down a discontented young rebel. Carlsson uses plot devices like a bicycle crash to explore the possibilities of integrative medicine and a job search to look at labor conditions and employment structures.
This is all set in a city having undergone radical change and struggling with socially debated ethical dilemmas around scientific growth, which is one of the things that is defining them as a society. The post-revolution culture relies heavily on biotechnology resembling the internet, but powered by organic matter. The primary debates framed in the novel is where to draw the line on what is the acceptable appropriation of life forms for human life, as well as the question of human need versus a healthy and balanced ecosystem.
Although Carlsson does a good job of bringing up many complicated and fascinating issues, this book was pretty hard to read. It was often long winded, rambling and in need of editing. It got bogged down in description, which was sometimes useful for creating the utopian setting, but other times tended to drag out the more interesting aspects of the plot. Every major event was interluded by a bike or ferry ride somewhere, a trip to a cafe, a puff of weed and noticing a cute girl. Haha, pretty easy to tell from this what Chris's an ideal day in SF looks like.
His characters, although involved in complicated relationships and painted three dimensionally, were also difficult to relate to and annoying. The two main characters were both ungrounded, uninvested and adolescent-seeming, which made me feel distracted from any particular movement in the plot our outcome. Although the plot is one that facilitates the building of suspense, I felt very little tension and didn’t care too much about the outcome.

[Jeffrey Paris [was Infinite Tasks] · Rating 4 out of 5]

Chris's book is an imaginative rendition of a post-flood San Francisco, in a post-economic communitarian society. I love how folks get along without money! The two primary characters are wound together in a plot that ties up surprisingly well. I taught this book in a Science Fiction and Philosophy course at the University of San Francisco, and the students enjoyed it. Chris also came to class, and the discussion with him was very revealing. I think this book should be picked up by a publisher with a good editor who could help turn it into a real blockbuster.

[Anastasia · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/27/10 I am slowly reading the beginning of the novel, working my way through the author's vision of a future San Francisco in which much of the current city is underwater and life is very utopian.

3/5/10 It took a long time to finish this chingin' book! Fascinating vision of the future, but poor plot lines and boring characters. I couldn't relate to the two young straight men, one boring and insecure, the other boring and surly.

[Larry-bob Roberts · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great post-apocalypse anarchist utopia book set in San Francisco. As in Delany's Triton, there's one person in the utopia who just can't seem to get along.

[Jessica Shupe · Rating 1 out of 5]

1.5 Stars
The plot isn’t strong enough to make either of these characters interesting, and to be honest both main characters are the same….Straight, insecure men who can’t keep it in their pants!

I wanted to keep a counter to keep track of how many times BOOBS are mentioned in the book (hint: an uncomfortable amount of times).

This book was def hard to get through, but I was so adamant about not DNFing so I could write a review :’)

….Came back to knock it down a star! I did some thinking and I was caught off guard by the literal slur said in the last couple pages of the book, and I had to stop and think—was it tastefully used? Was there a purpose for that slur being written into the story? Is there something that can be learned/grasped from the interaction between characters or the writing itself? Unfortunately all of these questions can be answered with a ‘no’. That was the final nail in the coffin for me. The author thought “let me throw a little N-word in (hard R) there and see what the readers think”. It was unnecessary.

[Ceilidhchaos · Rating 5 out of 5]

I would murder for a sequel.

[Monica · Rating 3 out of 5]

Maybe 3 1/2 stars? I liked Carlsson's vision of a future San Francisco, and it is worth reading just for that. However, I had some trouble getting into the characters, and may have started skimming near the end.

[Colin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Couldn't handle it. Laughably horrible clunky didactic dialogue and world-building. Only made it to page 35.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

Awesome ideas, not the greatest writing which is why I didn't finish it.