''Long Voyage Back'' was written by

George Cockcroft George Powers Cockcroft (November 15, 1932 – November 6, 2020), widely known by the pen name Luke Rhinehart, was an American novelist, screenwriter, and nonfiction writer. He is best known for his 1971 novel ''The Dice Man,'' the story of a psyc ...

under the pen name of Luke Rhinehart. It was published in 1983, at the height of the Cold War, and it shows that influence. The author sides with the

nuclear disarmament Nuclear may refer to: Physics Relating to the nucleus of the atom: *Nuclear engineering *Nuclear physics *Nuclear power *Nuclear reactor *Nuclear weapon *Nuclear medicine *Radiation therapy *Nuclear warfare Mathematics * Nuclear space * Nuclea ...

side of the debate and the only character in the book with vociferous views on the subject, the daughter of the lead character, probably represents his own views. It also reflects his love of sailing.

Plot summary

: "In a nuclear war, the USSR will win. This is because the average Russian doesn't have a gun, so they can't all shoot each other and the army for food" The story concerns a hypothetical

World War III World War III or the Third World War, often abbreviated as WWIII or WW3, are names given to a hypothetical worldwide large-scale military conflict subsequent to World War I and World War II. The term has been in use since at ...

between the

USSR The Soviet Union,. officially the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR),. was a transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 to 1991. A flagship communist state, it was nominally a federal union of fifteen nationa ...

and the United States, and graphically depicts the ensuing carnage. One family and some friends try to run away in a sailboat, and the story describes their battles with

nuclear winter Nuclear winter is a severe and prolonged global climatic cooling effect that is hypothesized to occur after widespread firestorms following a large-scale nuclear war. The hypothesis is based on the fact that such fires can inject soot into t ...

and

fallout Nuclear fallout is the residual radioactive material propelled into the upper atmosphere following a nuclear blast, so called because it "falls out" of the sky after the explosion and the shock wave has passed. It commonly refers to the radioac ...

, and with the ensuing collapse of civilization.

Reception

Dave Pringle reviewed ''Long Voyage Back'' for ''

Imagine Imagine may refer to: * Imagination Music Albums * ''Imagine'' (Armin van Buuren album), 2008 * ''Imagine'' (Eva Cassidy album), 2002 * ''Imagine'' (Janice Vidal album), 2012 * ''Imagine'' (John Lennon album), 1971 ** ''Imagine: John Lennon' ...

'' magazine, and stated that "it does not live up to one's expectations of yet another 'cosy catastrophe' ..There are no pastoral fantasies of Noble Self Sufficiency here."

References

1983 novels 1983 science fiction novels Novels set during World War III Post-apocalyptic novels Works published under a pseudonym Novels set during the Cold War {{ColdWar-novel-stub