Immobility

February 13, 2012
Josef Horkai wakes, remembering nothing of his circumstances except for an apocalyptic event known as the Kollaps, and is dispatched to find a mysterious stolen cylinder in a postapocalyptic landscape whose intensity and chilling details rival those of A Canticle for Leibowitz. Uncertain who or what he is, unable to distinguish true memories from dreams, Horkai faces his own physical limitations as a paraplegic as well as a quest whose purpose is ambiguous and laid upon him by people he does not know or trust. Prose honed to a razor sharpness carries him through a broken landscape of menace and despair that never brightens. Grim and unrelenting, this compelling book will darken the mood of even the most lighthearted readers as Evenson (The Open Curtain) drives it toward an inevitable but still surprising ending. Agent: Matt McGowan, Frances Goldin Literary Agency.

March 1, 2012
Realization of what appeared, briefly and fictionally, as a "hypothetical" novel in one of Evenson's (Last Days, 2009, etc.) previous works. In this combination of two classic science fiction tropes--the post-apocalyptic future and the protagonist who has no memory--a man who may or may not be named Josef Horkai wakes from what he is told has been 30 years of cold-sleep storage. Following the Kollaps, the landscape is pocked with craters, scarred by violence and poisoned by radiation; only a few scattered groups cling to survival in shelters and caves. Rasmus, the leader of the group, tells Horkai that he is the group's "fixer," needed to retrieve a mysterious cylinder that has been stolen by a rival group. Horkai's legs are useless and, according to Rasmus, he needs regular injections in his spine to stop a lethal disease spreading upwards to his brain. To get Horkai where he needs to go, two "mules," placid, literal minded individuals of limited intelligence, will carry him. Qanik and Qatik, the mules, don radiation-resistant suits, but Horkai needs none; more, he can heal from any injury and seems to be immortal. According to Qatik and Qanik--they refer to their group as the "hive," and neither expects to survive the trek--there are other, similar, survivors. It's a formidable what's-going-on scenario, told from the point of view of a character who has every reason to be unreliable, that merited further development rather than just a slam-dunk ending. Satisfying if not particularly surprising or original.

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April 15, 2012

Awakened from a cryogenic stasis to find himself paralyzed from the waist down and with few memories, Josef Horkai learns from his caregivers that a cataclysmic event known as the Kollaps has destroyed the world as he knew it. Sent on a mission to recover a stolen cylinder, the contents of which remain unknown to him, Horkai is carried alternately on the backs of two men, Qatik and Qanik. When Horkai finally arrives where the cylinder is kept, he discovers information that seems to undermine the reality he has pieced together so far. The author of The Wavering Knife and Last Days delivers a Kafkaesque tale in which the hero struggles to understand not only the meaning of his life but also his identity and world. VERDICT Infused with an atmosphere of allegory, this stand-alone postapocalyptic story questions the nature of human existence and the choices individuals make to survive or die.

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

March 15, 2012
Awakened after being frozen for 30 years, Josef does not remember his name, his past, or even the paralysis affecting his legs. He knows only what those who woke him tell him. The human race, save a few, was destroyed. No living plants or animals survived the Kollaps. They have a mission for him, and if successfully executed, it may save what is left of the human race. However, without his memory, Josef must actlike a newborn babycompletely on impulse. Frustrated and confused, he attacks a technician. When his fingers are pried off from around the technician's neck, he learns that those who have awoken him fear him, fear his physical prowess despite his inability to walk. He is dangerous. What other information are they holding from him? Do they fear his mind as well? This is an exciting futuristic thriller in which Evenson explores the ability of humans to bend others to their will.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2012, American Library Association.)