Paladin's Odyssey
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- $3.99
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- $3.99
Publisher Description
Joseph Paladin is a national hero everyone thought they knew - a former major in the United States Army, retired colonel in the Maine Republic Militia, and considered one of the key founders of the New American Confederation. His legendary odyssey to reunify a fractured nation in the aftermath of the great flu pandemic is a household story. In his long awaited memoir, Paladin shares untold stories of his past, including a shocking secret that he's harbored for decades. Is he really someone who should be held in such high esteem?
"Fottler departs nicely from the usual survival fiction formula." -Publishers Weekly
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Fottler departs nicely from the usual survival fiction formula by presenting a hero who isn't already trained in prepping and survival, but who organizes the nitty-gritty details of continued existence, taking small steps in the shadows. Eventually he would be called Maj. Joseph Paladin, cofounder of the New American Confederation. But first he was Walter Johnson, who was an ordinary middle-class civilian when the world was laid low by a pandemic-born apocalypse. This novel is cast as Walt's memoir, written in his old age to explain how someone with no military experience or survival skills eventually became a key player in America's restoration by using logistics rather than guns, acting behind the scenes, enduring terrible circumstances, and making hard decisions. In the process of restoring modern amenities, Walt stumbles across the story of a hidden treasure trove that is just what the survivors need to rebuild. But getting to it if it exists will require a dangerous journey from his relatively safe but slowly decaying life. The conclusion feels anticlimactic, but the understated suspense otherwise works very well. This is an intriguing new slant on apocalyptic fiction, and fans who are tempted to snub it because it breaks away from genre expectations should set aside their concerns; they're likely to enjoy it far more than they expect. (BookLife)