It's thousands of years in the future, and mankind has left the Earth for the stars. Hundreds of new planets have been colonized by small groups of human beings; the Earth, for many, is only a distant relic of their humanity. However, some do return to the Earth, and still others have never left. A large corporation, called Mother Earth, Inc., has turned the Earth into a vast cemetery, a place where the rich can “return home” to be buried, a place where religious pilgrimages are taken by others, and a place caught in turmoil because of the small pockets of humanity who continue to live on the planet in primitive, but not barbaric, settlements.
Clifford D. Simak's Cemetery World possesses a fascinating setting and hits the ground running with a interesting premise. The central character of the story is Fletcher Carson, an artist. Carson journeys to the Earth to make an artistic composition, a kind of multi-media art project that truly captures the milieu and essence of the subject. Joining him on his creative sojourn are Elmer, a sentient robotic mechanic, “born” on Earth in the distant past, and Bronco, the mechanical, insect-like robot the aids Fletcher in his composition. These three are soon joined by a young woman named Cynthia Lansing. Cynthia has been sent to the Earth by a university to search for a lost human treasure. The four adventurers set out on their journey, but quickly find themselves on the run for their very survival.
At times, Cemetery World reminded me of Stephen King's The Dark Tower series (especially books III and V) and of Harry Harrison's Westworld. The world Simak creates is a hodgepodge of genres, anachronisms, and worlds. It feels like a theme park not unlike Disneyland; while one moment the characters find themselves in an old west-style town, the next moment they are being chased by mechanic wolves with long, sharp metal teeth. Add in a couple of gigantic cyborg war-machines, relics of the Final War, an immortal alien, and a group of shades (ghosts), and you have the makings for a very colorful adventure.
Cemetery World is a strange book, one that left me with mixed emotions. On one level it disappointed me, but on another level I felt satisfied with it. Simak creates a high-concept setting with a premise - the artistic composition - that could have been used to tell a thought provoking and intensely personal narrative of mankind's longing for the past. I expected a more subtle, introspective narrative closer to Simak's Way Station.
What I got is something more along the lines of Philip Jose Farmer's To Your Scattered Bodies Go, and this is not a bad thing. Cemetery World is really just a rip-roaring adventure yarn, one full of cliffhangers, double-crosses, and action. The narrative is quickly and expertly paced, the characters are interesting, and the scenarios are inventive and engaging. It is a quick, fun, and exciting read.
However, I really did want more substance from it. I wanted more out of the setting and more out of the idea of the artistic composition. At the end of the day, Fletcher's being an artist is not important at all. It doesn't temper his personality in any way, nor does he ever really ponder about things in a creative manner. The composition itself is almost never considered, and Bronco is used more as a pack-mule and mount than a creative instrument. He's like a great big awesome synthesizer that never gets used.
While the entire artistic premise is wasted in lieu of a more typical action-adventure, I would be lying to say that I didn't thoroughly enjoy my time with the book. It just didn't offer me what I was expecting. There were more than a few moments that brought a great big grin to my face (usually involving Elmer - Simak knows how to make cool robots - and the giant war-machines), and I was consistently impressed with all the stuff Simak threw my way; it really is a wild ride. So while part of me longed for a more introspective and intellectual story, another part of me was satisfied with what I got, and at the end of the day, this is what really matters.
