The Wild Shore was published by Ace Books in 1984, the first volume of Robinson’s “Three Californias” triptych — three novels set in the same Orange County geography but in three different futures (post-apocalyptic, dystopian present-extrapolation, and utopian).
In 2047, sixty years after a nuclear attack destroyed American cities, the survivors live in small communities along the California coast. Hank Fletcher, a teenager in the village of San Onofre (built near the ruined nuclear plant), is drawn into a resistance movement against the Japanese, who patrol the coast to enforce America’s quarantine. An old man, Tom Barnard, is the village’s connection to the pre-war world — his memories are the only history anyone has.
Robinson uses the post-apocalyptic setting not for survivalist adventure but for a meditation on community, storytelling, and the meaning of America when America no longer exists. The novel’s central tension: should the survivors attempt to rebuild the civilization that destroyed itself, or should they create something genuinely new?
Collecting The Wild Shore
First edition (Ace Books, New York, 1984): Paperback original (Ace Special series, edited by Terry Carr).
Market values:
- First printing paperback, fine: $30–$80
- Signed: $80–$200