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The Real Demands of the End of the World
Endemic follows a book smart woman that is wanted for her intelligence in a collapsing society, she has to figure out a way to survive her traumatic past and her bleak current situation. What was the inspiration for the setup to your story?
I share a lot of Ovid’s issues. We both have a sensory processing sensitivity and we both worked in the book publishing industry. I don’t have her green thumb, but Ovid’s kind of my surrogate through much of her ordeal. The pandemic was a profound inspiration that allowed me to capture the realities of a viral apocalypse from the safety of my blanket fort. I guess you could say I went into lockdown, wrote in isolation, and extrapolated.
Ovid wants to survive but has limited survival skills at the start. What were some driving ideals behind your character’s development?
Extraordinary people using unlimited resources to survive aren’t interesting to me. I think too many apocalyptic books load up on easily defended fortresses and ammunition. A nerdy book editor who discovers her capabilities and deals with the real demands of the end of the world is compelling. Ovid is an outsider, but her struggles with her troubled past and daddy issues make her relatable. By the end of Endemic, readers cheer for her.
What were some themes that were important for you to explore in this book?
I wanted to do more than make Endemic solely a survivalist narrative. We’ve seen all that already. Instead, we discover Ovid was a survivor long before the pandemic hit. She didn’t know how tough she really was until more was demanded of her. Many people wanted to tell her what to do and keep her weak. She’s much stronger than she thought she could be. Readers relate to those issues. Call it a therapeutic apocalypse, especially for book nerds.
What is the next book that you are working on and when will it be available?
I’m devoting all my writing time to a new epic fantasy. Mostly, I write apocalyptic suspense and crime thrillers, but my editor encouraged me to play in a new pond and I’m having a blast writing it. Not sure when I’ll pull the new series together, but probably not until the new year. I’m supposed to be working on making audiobooks, too. I already have a big catalog, so I’m swamped.
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She was a nail. She will become a hammer.
As the United States falls to disease, killers and thieves rule New York. Bookish, neurotic, and nerdy, Ovid Fairweather finds herself trapped in the struggle for survival.
Bullied by her father, haunted by her dead therapist, and hunted by marauders, Ovid is forced to fight.
With only the voices in her head as her guides, an unlikely heroine will become a queen.
Fun, surprising, and suspenseful, Endemic is the new apocalyptic novel from the author of Citizen Second Class, This Plague of Days, and AFTER Life.
Endemic
Endemic by Robert Chazz Chute follows Ovid Fairweather as she tries to navigate a world ravaged by a disease that turns people essentially braindead. As with any collapse of society, a power vacuum develops, and various individuals group together to seize that power. The Memory Keepers are no different, as they seek to weaponize information necessary for all to survive. Can Ovid find a way to survive in a world that aims to take whatever she has left? And can she do it while reconciling with her troubled past?
Other reviewers have it right when they say that this story is not one that neatly falls into the post-apocalyptic or dystopian genres, thanks in large part to the level of realism it maintains. This is a considerable strength of the story and will keep readers interested from chapter to chapter.
The structure of the story, while this could have been action-packed or dripping with tension from scene to scene, we are instead interrupted by flashbacks from Ovid as she attempts to deal with the trauma of her past, both with her parents and her therapist. Some readers may find these enlightening, giving readers a look into Ovid’s past and gaining a better understanding of why she does the things she does.
Ovid endures a great deal in her past and present life. The author does a fantastic job incorporating her past experiences into the main plot points, thus keeping readers guessing and gasping as they read. I would be happy to read more from this setting, and its characters in the future, so here’s hoping there’s a sequel on the way soon.
Endemic is a suspenseful and thrilling science fiction novel with a dystopian twist. Readers will be drawn into the world that at times is almost too real and plausible and left with an eerie feeling of could this happen to me.
Pages: 412 | ASIN : B09KMDMBGC
LITERARY TITAN 