Review: Winter Comes in June by David Crane

A visceral and intimate account of two future parents who know the world is about to end, Winter Comes in June by David Crane is an intriguing mixture of apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic fiction.

When a scientist on the moon discovers a planet-killing asteroid on a collision course with the Earth, humanity has 30 days to prepare for annihilation. Told through the converging stories of Oksana, an astronaut close to the disastrous discovery, and Michael, a geologist on Earth who survives the Amira impact, this is a before-and-after account of worldwide devastation.

From the impenetrable depths of Hydra Cave and the barren lunar surface to the sprawling luxury of the Valhalla space complex – a highly advanced orbital laboratory and space hotel – these characters record the collapse of Earth as we know it, the extreme efforts required for survival, and the beginning of a newly forged future.

Post-apocalyptic settings open the door for social commentary on the mistakes of humanity’s past and present, and this book is no exception. Crane pulls no punches in this department, leveling his judgment on our current addiction to extractive capitalism and materialistic culture, as well as the short-sightedness of global governments in the realm of scientific funding – a thinly masked commentary on our climate change preparedness, which provides fertile ground for envisioning what the leaders and citizens of the world would do with a doomsday countdown hanging over their heads.

The novel covers the gamut of themes for apocalyptic storytelling, as existential stakes of an extinction-level event bring up questions of honesty, morality, mortality, responsibility, religion, greed, technocracy, and the weakness of human nature. While the prose is generally blunt and declarative, mimicking the direct style of a journal or diary entry, the chapters are each marked with a relevant quote, and the writing is peppered with understated but profound musings, as well as ominous lines that hit hard: “People behave differently when they know that death is coming.”

As a straightforward dystopian survival drama, this novel doesn’t reinvent any trope of the genre; there have been a number of books, TV shows, and movies centered on an imminent asteroid impact that sets a countdown for humanity’s survival, and this novel doesn’t entirely offer anything new in this territory. Beyond any issue with originality, the story also strains credulity in a few areas, as the premise that mankind missed a massive asteroid, twice as big as the one that killed the dinosaurs, starts the novel on somewhat improbable footing. While some of the claims and plot points are backed by thorough science and well-embedded explanations, there are also some conveniently cut corners that will be spotted by readers of the genre.

More essentially, the quality and consistency of the prose tend to overshadow the stronger sections of storytelling. From redundant and incorrect word use to clumsy phrases, misspelled words (“bizons” vs “bison”), excess expositions, tense inconsistencies, missing punctuation, and frequent grammatical errors, there seems to be a lack of editorial oversight throughout the novel.

Before this book can properly deliver its prophetic warning, it needs to undergo a thorough editorial pass, but its potency and potential are undeniable, for a familiar but thematically powerful novel.