AFTER 12000 YEARS

by Stanton A. Coblentz

Henry Merwin finds himself 12,000 years in the future.

Genres: Science Fiction

295 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1928

About the author

Stanton Arthur Coblentz was an American author and poet. He received a Master's Degree in English literature and then began publishing poetry during the early 1920s. His first published science fiction was "The Sunken World," a satire about Atlantis, in Amazing Stories Quarterly for July, 1928. The next year, he published his first novel, The Wonder Stick. But poetry and history were his greatest strengths. Coblentz tended to write satirically. He also wrote books of literary criticism and nonfiction concerning historical subjects. Adventures of a Freelancer: The Literary Exploits and Autobiography of Stanton A. Coblentz was published the year after his death.

Reviews

[Warren Fournier · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am surprised there is not more written or said about this book online. Likely, this is because it is a bit hard to find. It is a shame more people are not familiar with this little gem, because it is quite a good piece of sci-fi adventure.

Firstly, the way the main protagonist ends up in the future is absolutely wild. There are no crazy steam-punk time machines or contraptions with bells and whistles involved. The set-up for the main future adventure is in itself an interesting stand-alone story, and it is quite intense and claustrophobic. Honestly, the opening act is some of the best I've read in a long while.

The remainder of the book takes on a different tone. After the initial horrorific Twilight Zone kind of intro, the book takes on the feel of "Planet of the Apes," with our hero misplaced in a future Earth where humans as we know them have long been replaced. However, this story long predates "Apes," and is even superior in some respects.

What stands out the most is the way civilization has evolved into three different morphologies of the same species depending on the societal class and role of the individuals, much like an ant colony. There are small-headed but brawny worker drones, wolfish bureaucrats, and barely-mobile talking brains in the ruling class. The descriptions of the society, their technology, their cities, and their politics is fascinating. The action is also well-paced and entertaining.

Though not a masterpiece, I can't find many faults with the execution of this novel. I hope that more fans of sci-fi and adventure run across this almost forgotten tale, as it certainly should rank up there among many classics in the genre.

[Daniel Smith · Rating 3 out of 5]

I really wanted to give this book a higher rating, and at times during my read I sort of convinced myself I could do it, but as the story wrapped up and I could see the outline of the conclusion, I began to become disappointed by what felt like a lack of plot direction. I've been on a real kick of reading books from the 1920s recently, and I can say that this novel has all the positives and drawbacks of the sci-fi of this era. While I was prepared to accept it on its own terms, what really hurt this novel is a sense of squandering both the setting and the main character's identity and backstory.

When I first cracked this novel, it almost immediately reminded me of E.E. "Doc" Smith's Skylark series. There is a sense of real imagination and literary genius which results in a brilliant thought experiment grafted onto a sort of impersonal treatment of the characters within. This seems to be a common theme of much of the sci-fi from the first half of the 20th century. I really like the precedent of hard sci-fi involving a really creative Big Idea that these early novels introduce, and you can see the bones of what contemporary sci-fi will become. Some of the elements of my very favorite novels are clear to see in this book and others like it. The level of ingenuity is incredible. There is even mention of tidal power generation at least four decades before its earliest implementation. Things like this make me really appreciate an author's attention to detail. That being said, the negative aspects of the science fiction of these decades are also apparent in this novel. As I mentioned prior, it often feels that authors in this genre tend to neglect turning their characters into believable - or at least sympathetic - people in favor of fleshing out the finer points of their Big Ideas. This certainly feels like the case in After 12,000 Years. A relationship which ends up being a key part of the plot seems welded on and neglected in proportion to its plot impact, and the main character's own stoic and unemotional responses to even the most extreme circumstances make it hard to connect with these characters. While there are some incredibly unique ides in this book that kept me turning pages, it felt somewhat clinical and detached, as the author didn't ever seem to bring his cast into clear focus for us.

My biggest issue with this book was a sense of potential wasted. There is a powerful set up for a time travel story that doesn't end up utilizing any real ramifications of the travel. The time travel itself seemed to simply be a plot device to excuse a complete reimagination of our Earth without the reader being able to question much, if any of the choices made due to the huge gulf in time from our present circumstances. Another frustrating aspect of this time travel is that despite traveling many centuries into the future, our civilization and technology are actually less advanced than the current (1920s) day. Somehow this gnawed at me as I read, and felt like another missed opportunity to grasp onto the setting Coblentz had created. Finally, it felt as though the character's own background was neglected entirely and had little bearing on the plot. We get a harrowing portrayal of his life as we join him in the first portion of the book, but these powerful scenes seem to dissipate to naught as we proceed through the novel. A poignantly crafted image of our main character's life seems to just fade away from one chapter to the next, and his changeability here and at other times throughout the story seem to obfuscate his identity and squander any rapport we may be feeling we're building with him.

At the end of the day, author Coblentz's imaginative and unique work felt worth reading. Partly, I must admit this is due to its age and my curiosity about the roots of our modern version of science fiction. I was definitely satisfied in my literary geological quest back in sci-fi history, but some of the sticking points of the sci-fi genre in the early 20th century are apparent here. It seems to meander at times, and focuses heavily on the author's Big Idea at the detriment of character development. This stunted character development occasionally resulted in the reader feeling unengaged with some of the more impactful and tense scenes. Overall, fans of classic sci-fi will probably like this if they're able to accept it for its own merits and meet it on its own terms. Those who prefer a more modern science fiction experience may not get as much out of this as I did.