The most conservative of the Pelbar cultures is the most southerly, Three Rivers. Here men must behave within strict parameters or be punished (generally with more labor). The fortress was designed and built by Craydor, the engineer philosopher many generations ago. She used as her model various seashells and the building is an aesthetic marvel as well as being impregnable. Udge (yep, shades of Dolores Umbridge!) is presently the Protector for this community and she brooks no disobedience from anyone and feels very threatened by the changes in the Pelbar communities to the north. Bival, an engineer, closest to her, buys a spiral shell (taking her husband's money as her right) and while she is holding it, two boys, careening around on errands, bump into her and the shell breaks. She badly injures one of the boys and the other boy in a rage injures her. Udge is livid. From that moment on, you know that Three Rivers, under Udge's rule is doomed.
One boy, badly injured is sent north (to Udge's disgust) and another runs away southward, hoping to fix everything if he can only find another shell like the one that was broken. They both have adventures and make amazing discoveries and it all comes together in a smashing climax. There are some very moving scenes in this one as well, as one person learns to rethink everything from the ground up. **** ( )

This takes place five years after the third book (16 years since the first). The third Pelbarigan city, Threerivers, proves to be the most conservative by far; almost absurdly so, perhaps serving to explain why it was so little mentioned earlier. The story is that of the twins Gamwyn and Brudoer as they grapple with their city's governance, but I was most interested in watching how relations develop between Pelbar's alliance and neighbouring tribes. The Peshtak are as savage as ever, practically animals in need of taming. The Tusco are far more organized, and their stilted speech pattern hides a well educated and organized society, albeit one dependent on slave labour. We also meet the Alats, the Atherers, and a few more Siveri. Williams has done a stellar job of creating seemingly endless varieties of surviving cultures. I'm hoping this book closed the final chapter on the Pelbar cities getting over themselves and the rest of the series will be looking outward.

This is the first volume I have that includes a glossary at the back for locations and characters (it may have been introduced in the second printing). It's worth a full read through, as it includes additional background information not provided by the novel's text. ( )

This is the fourth book in the Pelbar series, which continues to follow the rebirth of civilization after a devastating world war. The people of the Pelbar region are struggling to deal with the changes occurring in their society from internal and external forces. Hard decisions of whether to hold onto past ways even though they are less and less effective and some have even become forces of corruption must be made. Each of the previous books were very character driven and so is this one, where two young boys unwittingly bring about the destruction of a corrupt Pelbar city so that its people can begin to grow again. ( )

Like the previous books in the series, this continues the story of Stel of Pelbar. Stel is a male from a female dominated society in a post-apocalyptic United States. With some allies, the cities of Pelbar are gradually bringing back knowledge and civilization, along with ideas of equality for men.
Its hard to explain why these books were so good, but they are some of the better post-apocalypse novels I've read. ( )

F/SF