In fiction, dystopian societies often tend to overwhelm the characters that inhabit them. With the possible exception of Winston Smith from George Orwell's 1984, most readers tend not to remember the names of the characters from such books as Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, Ayn Rand's Anthem, Ira Levin's This Perfect Day, or Yevgeny Zamiatin's We. These novels are among the pre-eminent classics of dystopian fiction. For the most part, things tend to go bad in dystopias (of the above books, Levin and Rand are exceptions), as it seems that the authors seek to showcase their worlds rather than their characters. Orwell's 1984 is certainly the best known of these books, with its now familiar themes of eternal war, memory hole, constant surveillance (which the UK these days is desperately trying to emulate), and the use of political language. The general dystopian theme itself strikes a chord deep within each reader, particularly those with an anti-authoritarian streak. Still, in general there aren't that many memorable dystopian works. Perhaps the concepts are too similar to present any originality, or maybe the depressive nature of these books is such that most authors tend to shy away from them.

Along comes Bruce Boston's novel, The Guardener's Tale, published by a small press called Sam's Dot Publishing, with a staggeringly small run of 200 copies. Given this number of copies, it's very likely that this novel will slip below the radar of most readers and critics. This is truly unfortunate, as The Guardener's Tale stands firmly in the same company as the classics mentioned above. It is an ambiguous novel, with no real hero, and leaves many unanswered questions. But still, Boston addresses the issues of individuality in a seemingly perfect world, a world that in actuality is rife with problems.

The society in Boston's book is fairly calm and organized, but also quite regimented, with a minor but important social outlet. The citizens generally live comfortable lives, advance through professional ranks, and suffer only if they stray outside certain rules. They suffer few apparent wants, and release any tension through a weekly night out where they don masks and act out sexual and social fantasies. A small corps of Guardeners maintains order, and few people are killed as punishment. Every citizen is scanned, and their potential for deviancy tracked, plotted, and forecast through an intricate visual picture of their personality. Mental adjustment takes care of most cases, while others are exiled to the countryside. Still, the vast majority seems content. Occasionally, a few incurable individuals crop up, such as Richard Thorne.

The Guardener-ruled society endures a few flaws, such as minor slums where intractable persons live, and wastelands outside the main cities. In these slums live people who refused to fit into the more regimented society. Their options are limited, and most tend toward illegal activities, such as smuggling and prostitution. Some inhabitants appear to be able to choose to live outside the normal patterns, and they tend to congregate in these slums. Thorne is a disaffected computer operator, somewhat aware he doesn't fit the normal mold in his society. He seems to lack ambition, and finds the weekly nights out contrary to his personality. His wife, or chosenmate, revels in her ambition and embraces her nights on the town. Thorne instead takes to wandering in the slums as an outlet, and befriends a disaffected co-worker already on the edge of social deviancy.

This co-worker introduces Thorne to a prostitute, Josie Jimson, the daughter of a former radical leader who disappeared many years ago after a failed revolution. Unexpectedly, Thorne falls in love with Josie, and spends more and more time with her instead of his chosenmate. Josie introduces him to banned books, marijuana, and whiskey, all guaranteed to land him in trouble should the Guardeners discover his activities. Complications ensue when his chosenmate, Diana, becomes prey to a powerful architect who blackmails her for sexual favors. When she finally confesses this to Thorne, he is enraged despite his new emotional distance from her; a new persona has emerged, and he takes action that attracts the notice of the authorities. Thorne's infatuation with Josie has driven a usually calm and indifferent man over the edge, and once committed he confesses his affair to Diana, stating his intent to leave her. Unwilling to let go, she drags him into a virtual vacation that forces Thorne's mind to unravel, and the Guardeners step in, taking stock of all events and drastic action to restore equilibrium to society.

Although Thorne is not a very likeable person, yet he does have a strong personality. I felt somewhat frustrated with Thorne as a character, but he is not a typical heroic character, and his flaws seem to make him more human than the society in which he lives. Perhaps this frustration stems from the source of the person writing the story, whose own feelings certainly might cloud the way the characters are portrayed? As the title states, the narrator is one of the Guardeners, a certain Sol Thatcher. Thatcher is an older agent, very even keel. And yet he sees something in Thorne's actions that affects him deeply. Thatcher indeed is the person who undergoes the most radical change in the novel. Through the investigation of Thorne, this veteran and staid Guardener begins to question the very fabric of his society and especially his own role within that society, at tremendous personal and professional cost.

Dystopias tend to be damned near impossible to conquer. Inevitably, humans prove malleable, breakable; they tend to fall back into the society from which they're trying to escape. Yet in the end this is a book about individuals. Boston occasionally falters, such as in portraying Diana's blackmailer as so blatantly and lecherously evil, and perhaps even Diana as too flighty. Josie Jimson could have stepped forward a great deal more; she seemed to serve mainly as a bit-character, without any of the fire that she seemed to stoke in Richard Thorne. Thorne's changes could be attributed to lust and passion, but he also develops a taste in the more epicurean matters of life, and in this regard any respect for the state and Guardeners vanishes. One almost imagines Thorne taking up the mantle of Josie's father, but not every revolution seeks the overthrow of the state. The pace moves relatively quickly towards the end, though I found the virtual honeymoon episode a little distracting. The narration sometimes seems stilted and melodramatic, but in general this book certainly belongs as a great anti-authoritarian novel for the ages.