Everfree, by Nick Sagan

(hb; 2006)

From the inside flap:

"A small group of humans has survived the apocalyptic epidemic called Black Ep, a disease that ravaged the world and left them alone on Earth. The survivors gradually awaken others, who have been put into a state of frozen sleep to await a future when disease might be cured. At first, everyone agrees on the basics: We're lucky to be alive. We're all in this together. Let's look out for each other and build a better world.

"But inevitably, as more sleepers are roused, there are those who disagree. People who remember power are waking up to a new world, and they do not intend to wait their turn politely. And from very far off indeed, one more surprise awaits the survivors -- a shock that will transform the future for everyone in this post-plague, perhaps even post-human, world."

Review:

A few years after the happenings of Edenborn, the six surviving post-humans (Vashti, Champagne, Isaac, Pandora, Halloween and the largely-absent Fantasia) are still working to revive the cryogenic human sleepers (dubbed "Popsicles" by the post-humans) and create a society for the humans that will evolve into a more permanently-structured society -- a society that humans run, without too much help from the post-humans.

Inevitably, there are attempted coups and political factionings by the humans, and other threats -- crazy and unforseen -- that threaten the tremulous balance of this uncertain new world.

Everfree is as humorous, exciting and unputdownable as Sagan's two previous books, Idlewild and Edenborn, evolving the characters, and wrapping up pertinent plot points, while leaving room for future ones -- much like life itself, if one views life as a story.

Stunning series, this. Check it out.

Edenborn, by Nick Sagan

(hb; 2004)

Review:

Eighteen years after their collective awakening from the IVR (Immersive Virtual Reality) Academy in Idlewild, five of the six clone-children -- socially maladaptive Vashti and bubbly Champagne in Germany, loner Halloween in America, Sufi-faithed Isaac in the Middle East, and Halloween-loving Pandora in Germany -- are struggling to rebuild the world as they know it via different sciences and faiths, as well as deal with the amassing fallout of their decisions dating back to their childhoods. Fantasia, who voluntarily disappeared near the end of Idlewild, is still unaccounted for.

But then two threats make themselves known: the mysterious Deuce shakes the integrity of the Pandora-run IVR where a second generation of clone-children (fourteen of them, including Penny, a wild child waiting to explode) are visiting, learning the things they'll need to know to further their parent-creators' designs. The second threat is of the microbial variety: it appears that the Black Ep virus, which destroyed humanity, as well as rendering it barren, has mutated, and might kill the new generation of clone-children, and by extension, the human race -- this time for good.

Sagan's writing and imagery is less mindf***ish than in Idlewild's, but is no less effective here. As the possibility of humanity's final hours grow more probable, the characters -- whose personalities are sharply defined, and often at odds with each other -- become more real (and therefore worth caring about), via quirks, actions and Sagan's fascinating language.

Worthwhile follow-up to Idlewild, this. Check this series out.

Followed by Everfree.

Idlewild, by Nick Sagan

(hb; 2003)

Review:

A young man -- who quickly discovers his name is Halloween, and he's a in strange place where disembodied voices and crazy hallucinations run amuk -- works through various onion-layers of "reality" to discover who's trying to kill him. Is it one of his eight classmates, who, like him, have a virtual instructor (Maestro), who seems to becoming increasingly hostile? Or is it Maestro himself? And who is that gray human-shaped phantom who flickers in and out of his reality?

Sagan ably cuts between two storylines: the first one, where Halloween is not only puzzling out the mystery of his and his classmates' circumstances, but the identity of a murderer, whom everybody claims doesn't exist; and the second, where a group of scientists are trying to outrace a pandemic disease (Black Ep) which has a hundred-percent mortality rate, and will certainly wipe out the human race. The two storylines, cleverly woven around each other and full of brainy quips, are suspenseful, with a denouement that ends one chapter of what promises to be a Matrix-style (but better, if Idlewild is any indication) epic trilogy.

Fun, informative (it's full of weird story-enhancing facts), quick-moving and engrossing, this is one of the best science fiction books I've read in a while. Highly recommended, this.

Followed by Edenborn.