The City, Not Long After

Author: Pat Murphy

Pat Murphy is another writer who has not produced nearly as much fiction as we might like, but what she has written has a distinctive feel to it that makes each novel welcome. The one that perhaps best represents her work is The City, Not Long After, in some respects a love song to the artistic bohemia of San Francisco. At the time, Murphy was working at the San Francisco Exploratorium, a museum designed to give a hands-on experience of the relationship between arts and sciences. And something of that sense is conveyed in this novel also. Set after a plague that has depopulated the city but left it largely intact, it tells of a group of artists who make the whole city the focus of their art. When a military force arrives, intent on establishing a police state, art becomes the principle weapon used to defend the city against the threat. Through art, reality is changed, and it is this change that allows San Francisco to retain its peaceful independence.Why it's on the list: There are any number of science fiction books about art, but none appreciate the way that art can change our reality the way that this novel does. The fact that it is so firmly and lovingly rooted in San Francisco also adds to the book's appeal.