REVIEWS
Fiction
Title: Siam
Author: Steven M. Webb
Rating: 
Excellent!
Publisher: Noble Woods Press
Reviewed by: Eric Jones
Steven M. Webb has created an ambitious debut novel with arcs within arcs, and a multitude of voyages that will take you many different places. The consequence of having so many various plots is that there are some inevitable misses, but there’s no doubting Webb’s ability to paint vivid pictures with his words. And once “Siam: A Voyage” gets off the ground its resulting flight is nothing less than astounding.
Largely, “Siam” is two novels in one. The first and main thread follows Leon Rose, a city planner in the small town of Elder, Oregon who feels his boss, Mayor Jim House, is cutting corners on a business deal with a large company called Exacting. The other novel, told through some enchanting flashbacks, is a World War I drama about love and loss and brotherhood and everything that makes World War dramas good. The two stories have nothing to do with one another, except for the fact that Leon is a reincarnation of his World War I counterpart, and Jim House is also a reincarnation of Leon’s enemy. As the politics between them heat up, both men are consumed with their prior life history until it inevitably spills over.
It’s in the collision of these two storylines that the novel really puts on a show. By following the Mayor’s actions during a, dare I say, Katrina-like flooding Webb holds up a mirror between the contemporary mid-west and the No Man’s Land trenches of war-shattered Europe. Both men seem to be at war with their own souls even as they commit to both political and armed warfare. These struggles play out best during the flood where the images are reflections of one another, offering the reader a front seat ticket to watching two worlds collide. From that point on the novel is relentless, and Webb seems to thrive on being unpredictable, managing to avoid cliché without forcing his hand.
But before that the novel is hampered by some pacing issues and the stark contrast of its dueling storylines. It’s no light weight reader. Clocking in at over 600 pages and completely devoid of chapter breaks, it’s a stark ascent to get even midway. And Webb seems more concerned with the small town politics of Elder than with the world shifting calamity of World War I that dwarfs the town’s concerns over whether or nor House’s deal with the company of Exacting will go through.
These early tribulations might have been stronger had we been given a broader, more detailed view of life in the town of Elder, and characters who were as unique as the world Webb puts them in. But we only see Elder and its people through the scope of its dealings with Exacting, which consumes the novel’s first half, making the eventual collision of past and present that much more satisfying.
“Siam: A Voyage” is a slow crescendo that reaches towering heights, and is a worthwhile first outing for its author, who’s unique creative vision shines through the murkiness of its opening to be something of literary gem. Whittled down, “Siam: A Voyage” has the potential for strong mass appeal, as the view from the mountain top is something everyone should definitely see.
SIAM
A Voyage
Author: Webb, Steven M.
Review Date: SEPTEMBER 08, 2009
Publisher: Noble Woods Press (630 pp.)
Price (paperback): $20.95
Publication Date: 2009
ISBN (paperback): 978-1-58385-271-2
Category: AUTHORS
Classification: FICTION
A fascinating meditation on war, memory and the nature of the soul—as compelling as it is unexpected.
One wouldn’t think it possible to create a fascinating novel by combining municipal politics in Oregon with early-20th-century trench warfare, but Webb pulls off this unlikely feat in a strong piece of new fiction. Leon Rose runs a nursery in the town of Elder, but he lives part of his life in vivid streams of memory that float up to him from the deep well of the past. Vibrant, preternatural reveries pull Leon back to World War I-era Europe, where the love of a startling beauty and the horrors of the foxhole animate a moving alternate life. The protagonist’s intense participation in these reminiscences eventually—and surprisingly—compels him to enter a mayoral election in his hometown. But what is the nature of these recollections? Are they his or someone else’s? Is he going insane? Siam explores the possibility of the soul’s continuity, and wonders, in fascinating ways, how history and memory drive us in the present moment. The book weighs in at a shade over 600 pages, and that bulk sometimes feels like too much. But even in the slower parts of this extraordinary narrative, the author draws out his tale with a sure hand. He strikes the correct balance between opulent descriptive passages and stark dialogue, not only delivering pitch-perfect writing, but melding the disparate parts of his fictional world into an entrancing and thoroughly innovative whole. Further, Webb imbues accounts of military action, electoral politics and business dealings alike with a taut excitement that drives his reader ever onward, from past to present to future.
Molly Simms
FICTION
Siam: A Voyage
Steven M. Webb
Noble Woods Press
630 pages
Softcover $20.95
978-1-58385-271-2
Four stars (out of Five)
Leon Rose has a problem with his past: It’s not his. A city planning commissioner in modern Oregon, Leon finds himself overwhelmed by firsthand memories of trench warfare in World War I. He soon discovers a past life as a British soldier, a life in which he loved and lost a staunch pacifist, Jenny. Both Jenny and the grim details of his experiences on the front lines haunt Leon as he tries to figure out the purpose of these visions. Why is he, a man whose greatest battle is a mayoral race against the charismatic autocrat Jim House, experiencing such memories? Why does House have similar WWI flashbacks? Steven M. Webb’s Siam sets Leon and House on a collision course as they try to unravel the mysteries of their pasts.
Born in London, raised in Sydney, and now settled in Oregon, Webb takes on his first novel without fault. The modern sections, told from a U.S. citizen’s point of view, contain appropriate idioms, while the WWI sections, from a British perspective, ring true as well.
Siam takes a little while to get going, but when it does, it roars ahead with full steam. Webb either was a planning commissioner in a previous life or he has done his research thoroughly. He enlivens the minutiae of Leon’s job with a true sense of urgency. Leon and House wrangle over which site in the town they wish to offer Exacting, a tech company that the town is wooing. This conflict, the center of which contains the nitty-gritty of 100-year flood lines and water tables, remains interesting and engaging, even to a non-technical audience. Webb displays a detailed knowledge of town politics, but his brisk, workmanlike style never allows the novel to seem dull.
Webb alternates his story between the mundanity of Leon’s mayoral race against House and the lurid memories of warfare that the two experience. Here too Webb shows a sure hand. Descriptions of the mud and misery of trench fighting immerse the reader in another time. Simultaneously, Webb draws the central character of Jenny, Leon’s beloved from the past, with deftness and detail so that she is more than just a symbol or an ideal. While both sections of the novel are well done, the WWI segments outstrip the modern ones in pace and passion.
As a mystery thick with historical fact and emotional resonance, Siam, with its strong characters and realistic presentation, may attract readers who are not usually into stories of time travel or historical fiction. History buffs, WWI enthusiasts and people who like romantic love stories will also enjoy Siam.
Elizabeth A. Allen
