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On Wheels
Book by Jakes, John
174 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published February 1, 1973
About the author
John Jakes
426 books983 followersJohn William Jakes, the author of more than a dozen novels, is regarded as one of today’s most distinguished writers of historical fiction. His work includes the highly acclaimed Kent Family Chronicles series and the North and South Trilogy. Jakes’s commitment to historical accuracy and evocative storytelling earned him the title of “the godfather of historical novelists” from the Los Angeles Times and led to a streak of sixteen consecutive New York Times bestsellers. Jakes has received several awards for his work and is a member of the Authors Guild and the PEN American Center. He and his wife, Rachel, live on the west coast of Florida.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
Also writes under pseudonyms Jay Scotland, Alan Payne, Rachel Ann Payne, Robert Hart Davis, Darius John Granger, John Lee Gray. Has ghost written as William Ard.
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Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews
April 6, 2023
4.5 stars
Sometime in the future, when the United States gets too full and there is no room, gangs of rambling travelers cruise the interstates where they never stop moving. Living, dying, and working in a perpetual state of inertia.
This is a bizarre synopsis for a book but somehow John Jakes (the same of the The Bastard and other best selling colonial America doorstopper novels) makes it work.
What seems like a Mad Max post apocalyptic novel of freeway destruction ends up more along the lines of Judge Dredd meets Fahrenheit 451 in a dystopian nightmare of the not too distant future where fascism rules with an iron hand and life means never slowing below 40 mph.
On Wheels is typical 1970s sci-fi with the usual fears of pollution, communism, and overpopulation. It’s schlock and cheesy as hell with fake literary aspirations and overly cliched descriptions of a terrible future but as a fan of mid 70s speculative fiction, this one is far better than the ridiculous cover would suggest.
Sometime in the future, when the United States gets too full and there is no room, gangs of rambling travelers cruise the interstates where they never stop moving. Living, dying, and working in a perpetual state of inertia.
This is a bizarre synopsis for a book but somehow John Jakes (the same of the The Bastard and other best selling colonial America doorstopper novels) makes it work.
What seems like a Mad Max post apocalyptic novel of freeway destruction ends up more along the lines of Judge Dredd meets Fahrenheit 451 in a dystopian nightmare of the not too distant future where fascism rules with an iron hand and life means never slowing below 40 mph.
On Wheels is typical 1970s sci-fi with the usual fears of pollution, communism, and overpopulation. It’s schlock and cheesy as hell with fake literary aspirations and overly cliched descriptions of a terrible future but as a fan of mid 70s speculative fiction, this one is far better than the ridiculous cover would suggest.
January 10, 2024
Ain't gonna lie, I bought it for the cover art. Somewhere between the Road Warrior and Snow Piercer. Fine little piece of early 70s sci-fi, with its concerns on the human condition. Surprising level of depth in terms of thematics.
November 29, 2017
In a post-apocalyptic future, gangs of road clans (who all take their names from car parts or roadside businesses) roam the freeways in large trucker convoys. The biggest crime is to drop below 40 mph, at which point you are ostracised from your community, and sent to live as a "stopper", if you don't go mad first.
Billy Spoiler has a rivalry with the nefarious Ramp clan, and after stealing Lee Ramp's girl (in a drag race, natch) he settles down to a not entirely satisfactory domestic life. Will Lee return to take his revenge? What happens below 40 mph? Will Lee and Rose Ann find happiness, or will Lee see the mythical Firebird - the harbinger of death to a road clan member.
While the writing style pushes the action on effectively, there are some serious flaws. I honestly thought the book was from the 50s given how unbalanced the genders are. Apparently in the far future, there are no women drivers, and it is heavily implied that the women in this world are married off at 18 - and allocated to men as prizes in drag races. Also, there are some fairly major issues with the world building. Refuelling a moving car while travelling at > 40 is dangerous enough, but too many things are never explained. How does trade with the stoppers work? How do you get more fuel, build new cars or get food when constantly travelling above 40 mph? Overall, I liked the imagery and the high-speed chases, but it could have done a lot more with the characters and the world.
Billy Spoiler has a rivalry with the nefarious Ramp clan, and after stealing Lee Ramp's girl (in a drag race, natch) he settles down to a not entirely satisfactory domestic life. Will Lee return to take his revenge? What happens below 40 mph? Will Lee and Rose Ann find happiness, or will Lee see the mythical Firebird - the harbinger of death to a road clan member.
While the writing style pushes the action on effectively, there are some serious flaws. I honestly thought the book was from the 50s given how unbalanced the genders are. Apparently in the far future, there are no women drivers, and it is heavily implied that the women in this world are married off at 18 - and allocated to men as prizes in drag races. Also, there are some fairly major issues with the world building. Refuelling a moving car while travelling at > 40 is dangerous enough, but too many things are never explained. How does trade with the stoppers work? How do you get more fuel, build new cars or get food when constantly travelling above 40 mph? Overall, I liked the imagery and the high-speed chases, but it could have done a lot more with the characters and the world.
October 1, 2019
It’s hard to believe that an author who wrote such great historical fiction, wrote such awful science fiction. This is a story from 1973 about our overpopulated future, where the cities are so full that entire clans of people have to live entirely on the road in large vans, never stopping. I found this story hard to understand because they had a different kind of dialect. It was all about cars, because the main clans in this story race cars. No one in the story seemed to have much of a life. The main character, Billy Spoiler, gets married to a girl he loves, Rose Ann. She’s a horrible person and lives to make him miserable. Perhaps that’s what wives do in this future. She was just a terrible character. I’m glad this story was short, because I couldn't relate to anyone in it and I found it pretty depressing.
August 27, 2017
The bizarre premise here is that urban population growth has rendered the middle of the country uninhabitable so that ten percent of the population has to stay on the road permanently, never slowing below 40 miles an hour. To this is wedded a coming of age story that seems straight out of the 1950s.
November 2, 2023
Don’t judge this by the cover art which is misleading. Yes, it’s a crazy future of living on the highway, never stopping. (But the souped up cars are not at all like the guy on the cover.) Billy is part of the Spoiler clan and he finally finds a girl he likes. He has a rival Lee Ramp he has to compete with in a crazy race. It’s all fun with high drama like a futuristic 50s hot rod culture. Crowded mega cities, multi 16 lane highways stacked on top of each other. Rival clans.
The reason I did not give this 5 stars is because the last part of the book repeats a scenario that happened earlier with his wife being hurt. This is used again to heighten the tension of yet another big competition at the end. Still the story keeps the reader entertained till the very end.
Anyway put your imagination into high gear, throttle up the action, and race to the finish!
Hard to believe this is the same John Jakes that later created North and South and 40 other books around the Civil Ear era.
The reason I did not give this 5 stars is because the last part of the book repeats a scenario that happened earlier with his wife being hurt. This is used again to heighten the tension of yet another big competition at the end. Still the story keeps the reader entertained till the very end.
Anyway put your imagination into high gear, throttle up the action, and race to the finish!
Hard to believe this is the same John Jakes that later created North and South and 40 other books around the Civil Ear era.
September 30, 2025
10%??? 10% of the overpopulated USA belongs to a Speed (1994)-ass road clan that can't drop below 40 mph in their life, but they're all on a first-name basis with each other John Jakes?????
I read this as a joke with some friends so it almost feels unfair to give it a rating. I'm not even sure 2 stars is the correct rating? I had a great time? The worldbuilding made me want to tear my hair out? The prose is genuinely good? A central plot thread was spurred by the protagonist's violent misogyny and every character seemed largely fine with that? The edition I had compared itself to Dune??? John Jakes. What have you wrought, John Jakes
I read this as a joke with some friends so it almost feels unfair to give it a rating. I'm not even sure 2 stars is the correct rating? I had a great time? The worldbuilding made me want to tear my hair out? The prose is genuinely good? A central plot thread was spurred by the protagonist's violent misogyny and every character seemed largely fine with that? The edition I had compared itself to Dune??? John Jakes. What have you wrought, John Jakes
March 22, 2020
Full review: https://sciencefictionruminations.com...
"'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of mileage.’ Folk Saying” (11)
John Jakes’ satirical On Wheels (1973) subverts the popular trope of the freedom of the road. The clans (convoys of linked cars, mobile stores, residential cars, bars, and mechanics) who journey across the massive highways that crisscross the USA [...]"
"'Life, liberty, and the pursuit of mileage.’ Folk Saying” (11)
John Jakes’ satirical On Wheels (1973) subverts the popular trope of the freedom of the road. The clans (convoys of linked cars, mobile stores, residential cars, bars, and mechanics) who journey across the massive highways that crisscross the USA [...]"
February 1, 2018
I enjoyed it. Dated? Sure. Improbable? Maybe. Unlikable characters? Flawed, definitely. But all set within a world that makes those things work together, and the characters' situations and motivations work well in that world.
I recommend it. It won't waste your time, or at least not too much - it is a quick read.
I recommend it. It won't waste your time, or at least not too much - it is a quick read.
March 8, 2017
John Jakes is an acclaimed author of sprawling family sagas. This isn't one of them. As a car guy, the premise appealed to me. The characters are so unlike able, however, that it ruined the book for me. Two stars for an intriguing premise and a few terse race scenes.
May 30, 2024
An adrenaline-fueled and dark vision of the future. The central conceit is perhaps far-fetched, but the story is carried forward on its own momentum. I can't help but feel like it was an influence on the first Mad Max movie.
May 29, 2010
A literary love letter to reckless driving, On Wheels is a satire-of-sorts on America's love affair with automobiles.
Set in an unlisted future, tribes of motorists careen across the highways of the nation, comprised of individuals born on the road, and who subsequently die on the road, always clicking along at speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour. To drop below this would be tantamount to blasphemy. Never to stop, remaining in perpetual motion, for fear of losing one's sanity or – worse yet – one's manhood. And, hidden within this world, is the woman who rides atop the bird of flames. The myth says that a man only sees her right before he dies (or whenever he has almost died. Or his speedometer rolls past the 50,000,000-mile mark. It's unclear.).
Billy Spoiler finds himself in direct competition with a clan known as the Ramps (every clan member takes their last name from that of their clan – Spoiler, Rail, Turnpike, etc.), and each clan name originates from some highway sight, thus maintaining the dignity of the road). In fact, the book is dedicated to the rivalry between Billy Spoiler and Lee Ramp. They both have much by way of bragging rights to the highways, and – of course – both are romanticizing the same girl. (She is, in fact, the only girl to appear in the novel, excluding for one female driver who gets killed off within the first few pages, face unseen. In a world where women are collectively referred to as “that gash,” and the sole female character is a duplicitous, shrill, two-timing nag – who ends up in need of immediate medical assistance directly because of her husband, our hero Billy Spoiler - this hardly seems surprising.)
Realistic it is not. These drivers never stop – not for refueling, not for traffic backups, not for malfunctioning gear, not for critical medical procedures... nothing stops these vehicles. Whether they are in motion with wheels on the asphalt, or on the bed of a transport truck, they are in a constant forward trajectory. But when one thinks on it, someone must stop somewhere. Who fills up the refueling trucks which provide gasoline to motorists in transit? And, although gasoline-powered vehicles are technically outlawed in this futuristic universe, how can such a thing as a refueling truck be allowed to remain in existence? And isn't it potentially lethal to refuel a car with gas while the engine is not only still engaged, but is hurtling forward at speeds of at least 40 per?
Satire, sure. It's supposed to be more inconceivable than logical. But On Wheels remains a satire that takes itself somewhat too seriously. And the real surprise here is that On Wheels was written by John Jakes - yes, the man who wrote North & South.
Set in an unlisted future, tribes of motorists careen across the highways of the nation, comprised of individuals born on the road, and who subsequently die on the road, always clicking along at speeds in excess of 40 miles per hour. To drop below this would be tantamount to blasphemy. Never to stop, remaining in perpetual motion, for fear of losing one's sanity or – worse yet – one's manhood. And, hidden within this world, is the woman who rides atop the bird of flames. The myth says that a man only sees her right before he dies (or whenever he has almost died. Or his speedometer rolls past the 50,000,000-mile mark. It's unclear.).
Billy Spoiler finds himself in direct competition with a clan known as the Ramps (every clan member takes their last name from that of their clan – Spoiler, Rail, Turnpike, etc.), and each clan name originates from some highway sight, thus maintaining the dignity of the road). In fact, the book is dedicated to the rivalry between Billy Spoiler and Lee Ramp. They both have much by way of bragging rights to the highways, and – of course – both are romanticizing the same girl. (She is, in fact, the only girl to appear in the novel, excluding for one female driver who gets killed off within the first few pages, face unseen. In a world where women are collectively referred to as “that gash,” and the sole female character is a duplicitous, shrill, two-timing nag – who ends up in need of immediate medical assistance directly because of her husband, our hero Billy Spoiler - this hardly seems surprising.)
Realistic it is not. These drivers never stop – not for refueling, not for traffic backups, not for malfunctioning gear, not for critical medical procedures... nothing stops these vehicles. Whether they are in motion with wheels on the asphalt, or on the bed of a transport truck, they are in a constant forward trajectory. But when one thinks on it, someone must stop somewhere. Who fills up the refueling trucks which provide gasoline to motorists in transit? And, although gasoline-powered vehicles are technically outlawed in this futuristic universe, how can such a thing as a refueling truck be allowed to remain in existence? And isn't it potentially lethal to refuel a car with gas while the engine is not only still engaged, but is hurtling forward at speeds of at least 40 per?
Satire, sure. It's supposed to be more inconceivable than logical. But On Wheels remains a satire that takes itself somewhat too seriously. And the real surprise here is that On Wheels was written by John Jakes - yes, the man who wrote North & South.
May 13, 2025
Plenty to like but the domestic abuse is irredeemable and the twist is a let down.
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May 1, 2019I have the german edition:In Banne des Feuervogels
Displaying 1 - 14 of 14 reviews