Review of CLUB FASCISTLAND by Kevin Brink Neilsen

Authorhouse, April 2005

After a childhood of abuse and questionable sexuality, a tornado wisks Tod, along with his super-intelligent pig, Otto, to the outskirts of the fabulous New Zirconium City. To Tod, New Zirc is a dream of tolerance, acceptance, and freedom. As he drives his airstream mobile home closer to the city, Tod finds and rescues a girl/boy tied to a scaecrow by a challenged football team, a post-human soldier in desperate need of mechanical improvement, and a truck-driver who both lusts after and fears Tod.

The strange company finds that New Zirc is not exactly what they had hoped. While there are plenty of freqs, men and women living on a different frequency than average, the mayor is quick to crack down on any threat to order--and any attempt to have fun. Tod's early enterprise of a coffee house becomes transmigrated into a center of protest--a Club Fascistland. If New Zirc falls short of its legend, Tod figures he can just change it.

Author Kevin Brink Nielsen translates the story of THE WIZARD OF OZ into a plea for a world where people can live in acceptance and harmony. As with the original Wizard, each character learns to look within themselves to find their greatest dream. But as with the original Wizard, the central protagonist's dream cannot simply be given.

Although CLUB FASCISTLAND has a few editing flubs and the occasionally thunky sentence, Nielsen offers an entertaining retake on the ever-popular OZ. Readers who aren't afraid of people whose orientation differs from the standard, and who share a concern that the fearful's attempt to legislate morality is ultimately destructive, will certainly enjoy this modern morality tale.

Three Stars

Reviewed 8/03/05

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