After a global virus seemingly wipes out the entire male population, a skinny, socially awkward, self-conscious video game junkie is somehow still kicking. And he's wildly unprepared for this new world. Out there waiting for him are physicians who want to study him, a cult of spiritual extremists who want to deify him and brutal gangs with far more nefarious intentions. Throughout his journey, Fletcher does his best to act like a real man, being that he's the only one around. Unfortunately, this only leads to more problems ... for him and humanity.
Erik Dargitz's debut novel is a satirical post-apocalyptic tale about the last man on Earth-who also might be the last man you'd pick for the job.
I adore a good apocalypse story, and I read a lot of them, so a novel needs to have something new and interesting to hold my attention. The idea here isn't brand new - Y the Last Man did it a while ago - but Fletcher's character certainly is. Survivors in this type of novel aren't usually such - well, I hate to be mean, but he really is a putz.
That's not to say he's not an interesting character. The joy of this story is watching Fletcher strive, try, occasionally backslide, but ultimately become someone very different than he started out as. Watching the different ways people react to the plague is interesting as well - I'm always fascinated by how people react to things like this.
This is a fantastic read - I won't spoil the ending, but while a sequel is possible and hoped for, if it ends here, it would be perfectly satisfactory. I very much enjoyed this intriguing look at another possible apocalypse.
The Odyssey of Fletcher publishes on the 20th October, 2023. I received a free copy and am giving an honest review.
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