What is the name of the book and when was it published?
The Prelapsarians, published October 20, 2015.What’s the book’s first line?
“Bidzina waved a hand across his face, gesturing to the east, toward Derbent.”
What’s the book about? Give us the “pitch”.
Twenty-five years after a major natural disaster and the world war that ensued, the scattered, desperate remnants of the human race are in a desperate struggle for survival and freedom from the oppression of a group of self-declared tyrants who control the supply of a drug necessary for survival. In the North Caucasus region of Russia, a band of retired mercenaries joins forces with a young, idealistic smuggler to bring relief to the needy, encountering fierce combat and interpersonal struggles along the way.
All the while, one soldier must use this opportunity to confront ghosts from his past that haunt him, to seek redemption in a world overcome with decay, and to give purpose to a life that he suddenly realizes is one of failure.
What inspired you to write the book? A particular person? An event?
Two things in particular influenced the novel, one fictional and one real-world. On the fictional side, I am a huge fan of the 1979 Russian science fiction movie Stalker, which follows three men through a haunting wasteland as they seek answers to life’s most abstract questions. From the real world, I used an event from the same year, the nuclear reactor accident at Three Mile Island, just a few miles from where I grew up. I tried to imagine a world in which a disaster such as what would’ve become if Three Mile Island had been like Chernobyl, for instance, and multiplied the effects on a global scale.
What’s the main reason someone should really read this book?
It’s a novel that offers a complete reading experience, with ample quantities of both visceral action and character intimacy. Add the odd bit of history, philosophy, and humor, and it’s a novel that ought to keep the story in readers’ minds long after the last page has been turned.