Review of Appleseed by Matt Bell

The political climate being what it is in 2022, there is extreme debate over the environment. Have humans caused global warming, is it part of nature's cycle, or somewhere between? Should humans set certain expectations on capitalism for the sake of the environment long term? Should governments which seem to take less interest in the environment bear larger responsibility for global warming? And I'm sure philosophers are asking the question: is it possible for humanity to collectively organize an environmentally sustainable future? Tackling all of the above (and more) in science fiction form is Matt Bell's Appleseed: A Novel (2021).

Cli-fi for the 21st century, Appleseed plays off the American legend of Johnny Appleseed from near-future to far-future perspectives. It answers the philosophers' question by saying: no, humans cannot stop the inevitable, Aztec-esque growth into non-sustainability, and will collapse for it. Told in three strands of story, the first is a few years down the road wherein global warming has driven major political and physiological change. The global structure virtually collapsing, power remains with the corporations—entities which can offer the basics of life through economic power. Bands of non-corporate humans roam the wilds, scavenging and surviving off the corporate grid. One such man is John. A former biologist turned survivor, his tale underpins how the world becomes as it is in the second strand. A sentient faun—yes, sentient faun—roams icelands in a gadget-loaded crawler looking for signs of life. Self-promulgating, death means nothing to the faun. He needs only to survive long enough to get back to his crawler to grow a new body, memories and mind intact. The third strand is a far-future Johnny Appleseed. Another sentient, faun-like creature, he and a brother roam Ohio planting apple trees, having mythical, fantastical experiences along the way.

If that last paragraph wasn't clear, Appleseed is an extremely ambitious novel. Bell has a lot to say, politically, environmentally, sociologically, and in story, and it seems to all go into the book. I like Paul Di Filippo's summary that Appleseed is a novel “which refract[s] mankind’s eco-sins through strange lenses of grief, desire, hope, and doubts.” I would have put “strange” in italics, the reason being I'm not sure the book knows what it wants to be. I would argue, in fact, the book is overburdened.

By turns, Appleseed is adapted legend, techno-thriller, myth, science fiction, environmental manifesto, Make Room! Make Room!, science fantasy, allegory, parable, and likely more. It's not a book that can be taxonomized with a snap of the fingers. Which leads to the question: how well does Bell combine these facets to complementary effect?

Again, I'm unsure whether Bell's eyes were too big for his plate. A lot of lenses are needed in the reader's mind to make sense of the proceedings. Also, a fair lot of the philosophizing could have been dispensed with to good effect. The story does a good enough job representing those ideas. The supporting, ideological verbiage is mostly spurious, as if Bell didn't trust his readers to pick up on the clues.

A further complaint is that there is little questing for answers in Appleseed. Bell has an agenda, or at least an assumption of humanity's ability to deal with population, the market, and the environment, and sets about depicting that in story. Rather than a non-determinist, constructive view to what humanity's future might be, there are assumptions in place which trump open-endedness. Bell does not portray himself as a prophet, but certainly personal views leak through—at times in effective, empathetic fashion, and others in pretentious, preachy fashion.

In the end, Appleseed is a novel that will likely appeal to more literary sf readers who like high-level speculation on sociology, politics, economics and the environment. But the novel does not feel like a Kim Stanley Robinson creation. Where KSR maintains a constructive approach to the challenges we know exist, Bell's voice and direction are more akin to Richard Powers'—a kind of helpless, fatalistic view that does a lot of finger pointing but is less suggestive of alternate routes. He seems to say, there are a group of people who know what's best for humanity, but their voice is not enough to prevent the masses from allowing the whole to crumble. I am not a card carrying MAGA loyalist who thinks the environment is to be exploited and woke elites are ruining the world. I'm only pointing out that Bell, at times, maintains the tone of voice such people turn their noses at. (For the record I am more Daoist and Confucist in thinking; everything has its cycle, and everything in moderation if we don't want those cycles to be too dynamic.) A lot of mixed feelings about the novel. The environment is a critical issue for all of humanity, which in some way makes this an “important novel”. At a minimum Bell keeps the topic relevant, and at a maximum, for those who share his views, raises a red alarm bell. Like Powers, I'm just not sure if Bell isn't preaching to the choir...