Title: |
Beyond the Burn Line |
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Author: |
Paul McAuley |
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Category: |
Fantasy / Science Fiction |
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Rating: |
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Date Reviewed: |
March 31, 2025 |
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eyond the Burn Line is set 200,000 years in the future. Human civilization perished in some unspecified disaster - the title of the book refers to a dark layer of ash that scars the geologic record which coincides with the end of humans, who are now all extinct. The implication is that there was a cataclysmic disaster (nuclear war? Raging infernos due to global warming?) the directly caused all of the humans to perish. Thousands of years later, a race of intelligent bears arose, built cities and started their own civilization. But 200 years ago, some sort of insanity virus infected the bears, driving them all mad and their nascent civilization crumbled into ruin. However, the collapse of the bears meant that their oppressed slaves (whom we learn much later in the novel are descended from raccoons) were now free to build their own civilization - and that is where the novel begins. |
Pilgrim Saltmire is a scholar. Unfortunately, his mentor - Master Able - has just died, leaving Pilgrim without secure funding or purpose. Although Master Able was well established and respected, in recent times he had taken to investigating the persistent rumors of lights in the sky and glimpses of ogres haunting the grounds. Is it possible there is kernel of truth to these rumors? Master Able was writing up his research and theories but died before he could publish. Pilgrim wishes to finish what Master Able started, but no serious academic is going to waste time on stories told by charlatans and liars. Pilgrim will have to find a new career. Master Able's books and notes are confiscated by his heirs.
Pilgrim ends up banished to the far southern tip of the continent, where it is cold and isolated. Once a bigger city stood there, but it is decaying away. Pilgrim is assigned to spend a year sorting through an old library, to find books and scrolls that are worthwhile and discard the rest. In the course of his work, Pilgrim finds a map. It looks like a copy of an ancient map made by the bear civilization - it shows where their cities were located, with strange bear-text and crude images. Most curiously, near one of the cities is a drawing of what looks like an ogre-figure (racoons called the extinct humans "ogres") wearing a helmet. Master Able would have loved to have seen this map. It turns out that there are others who else are greatly interested in that map and its implications. Much of the first half of the novel deals with these rumors of extraterrestrial visitors and Pilgrim's investigations.
Beyond the Burn Line is a tale told in two parts. The second half of the book brings in a whole new set of characters and describes events a generation after Pilgrim. McAuley reveals a lot more details in the second half, but even so, I thought the ending of the story was surprisingly abrupt. When McAuley shows his cards and explains what is going on, it led to more questions for me. Indeed, I looked to see if there was a sequel, but it looks like this is a stand-alone novel.
McAuley has a lot of interesting idea here as he describes a far-future of Earth without any humans in it. The racoon culture has a lot of similarities to our own, but it also is less violent and greedy. I thought this was a worthwhile read.