The whole concept of the story centers around a man named Graham who falls asleep during the Victorian era and wakes up 203 years later in a dystopian future. Upon waking up, he suddenly finds out that he is the leader and king of the entire world... which immediately causes a war.
Basically, he inherits the entire world while he was asleep, and a council is formed to make decisions for him. When he awakes, the council immediately loses power and decides it might be best to kill him. Fortunately, a rebellion prevents this from happening, and places him on the throne where he belongs.
This vision of the future is very interesting. Land vehicles are now obsolete because the roads themselves move like conveyor belts. They still have aircrafts that fly like bugs. Energy seemed to be entirely generated by wind. The fashion seemed to have devolved to simple colored robes.
The story goes into some politics and deals with concepts of socialism quite often. If you really dislike stuff like that, then you might want to pass this one up. It is a major theme of the book.
One thing that kind of blew my mind about this book was how it very meticulously covers every second of every moment that Graham experiences, especially after he wakes up. Every moment is described very carefully to make you feel like you are the main character, or at least seeing from his perspective.
This method of writing was especially interesting during intense scenes such as battles, chases, and flight scenes. And it should be noted that this story is very heavy on the action. It had an extremely exciting dogfight scene with the aircrafts. Top notch. It has a modern day action movie feel to it. Positively thrilling to imagine. I just about got air sick from just reading about it.
The only drawback of this writing style is that it can sometimes make the book a little boring. There were moments where I just wanted the book to get on with a scene, but it was much too busy explaining each and every second that Graham was experiencing. It isn't always bad, but it did overstay its welcome a number of times.
"The Sleeper Awakes" had a surprising action packed presentation for the time it was written in. If it was made into a movie today, it would get the full CGI, 3D glasses treatment. The reason it probably isn't talked about much is because it has quite a lot of politically incorrect stuff in it, but I still recommend it. It's too much of an oddity to pass up on. It also had one of the most exciting final chapters I have ever read in a book. Give it a go!
This blog was written on April 5, 2023.
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I've read THE TIME MACHINE and WAR OF THE WORLDS. H.G. Wells was very imaginative. He was probably the kind of guy who muttered to himself as he immersed himself into what he imagined. His stories were very modern, in their style, though articulated in the way of his time. Interesting that this particular book was action-adventure. Such was not associated with science fiction at the time.
ReplyDeleteIt was a bit stunning how exciting much of this book was. At times it was exciting as a movie.
DeleteTalk about a rude awakening... imagine waking up and most of the world hating you because you are their rightful leader. It doesn't sound like the politics bogs down the story too much so I probably would enjoy this one. I'm surprised this hasn't been made into a movie with the way you described the action.
ReplyDeleteThere was an attempt to make it into a movie, but it never got enough support.
DeleteWe see the story through the perspective of the characters. So, it is good to experience their lives. Yet, too much immersion can be exhausting.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was exhausting, but it was probably exhausting for the character also.
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