As in his debut novel, Here and Now and Then, Mike Chen brings a refreshing new emotionalism to science fiction with his latest work, A Beginning at the End. This is a refreshing take on post-apocalyptic sci-fi. A flu pandemic devastates the world population—and takes with it the world economy and infrastructure—bringing an end to the world as we know it. As a physician, I found that aspect both realistic and terrifying. Chen does a great job in his near-future world-building, showing the after-effects of such a pandemic. He weaves together the lives of Rob (who lost his wife not to the flu but to the mob-mentality afterward); Krista (a survivor of childhood physical and emotional abuse from her alcoholic mother); Moira, a former child musical prodigy and pop star running from an abusive father; and Sunny (Rob’s daughter who, despite the new world order, is a refreshingly outspoken and slightly precocious child). These characters read as real—flawed, but surviving. They search for normality in an abnormal world, living with the accumulated trauma of this post-apocalyptic world while staring at a new pandemic. They grapple with questions of identity, the new vs the old morality, how to become a family related, if not by blood, then by choice. Like Here and Now and Then, A Beginning at the End is a kinder, gentler look at post-apocalyptic science fiction and well worth the read
********************
A Beginning at the End is available through:
Here and Now and Then is also available through:
Links in this article are Amazon affiliate links.
