A new book from Elizabeth Engstrom is always a cause for celebration. After the unbridled weirdness of her last novel, Guys Named Bob, I had no idea what to expect. The title, The Itinerant, gives away very little of the plot.
It turns out The Itinerant is a post apocalyptic story. Which is sort of a surprise. Apocalyptic fiction is generally painted upon a broad canvas, while Engstrom typically writes intimate stories of emotional conflict.
Post apocalyptic fiction has never been a favorite trope of mine, despite citing novels like Earth Abides, The Stand, and Swan Song as longtime favorites.
The Itinerant is a timely piece of fiction about a pandemic that decimates the population of the world. At first it seems cliched. You have your survivors, a mentally unbalanced used car salesman-turned religious leader, a youth with paranormal powers. The deranged leader is almost certainly directly influenced by the Trump administration and its response to Covid-19.
Most of the population has died from a global pandemic. Survivors begin to establish bases throughout the regions. A mute teenage boy can assist spirits to pass into the next realm. A colony of decent-hearted people are building a civilized community but are threatened by the quasi Godly leader of a nearby group.
I'll give a mild spoiler here, so be forewarned.
The Itinerant is a novel with a positive spiritual message and the end is one of uplifting hope. It's a fable, or perhaps a parable is a better word for it. There's so much hostility out there in the world right now, and so much nastiness in extreme horror fiction. It's really nice to read a book that provides a good feeling. We need that now and then.
Unfortunately I have a pessimistic side and I don't believe we as a species will ever be without fear, hate, and violence. It's how we are built. I do think most people lean hard to the side of decency. We'd have been wiped out long ago if it were not so. Still, it's nice to dream sometimes.
The Itinerant won't take the place of Lizard Wine as my favorite Engstrom, nor do I believe it will attain the kind of classic status When Darkness Loves Us has, but it's a damned good novel that beats the hell out of most of what passes as quality horror fiction these days.
Written by Mark Sieber
It turns out The Itinerant is a post apocalyptic story. Which is sort of a surprise. Apocalyptic fiction is generally painted upon a broad canvas, while Engstrom typically writes intimate stories of emotional conflict.
Post apocalyptic fiction has never been a favorite trope of mine, despite citing novels like Earth Abides, The Stand, and Swan Song as longtime favorites.
The Itinerant is a timely piece of fiction about a pandemic that decimates the population of the world. At first it seems cliched. You have your survivors, a mentally unbalanced used car salesman-turned religious leader, a youth with paranormal powers. The deranged leader is almost certainly directly influenced by the Trump administration and its response to Covid-19.Most of the population has died from a global pandemic. Survivors begin to establish bases throughout the regions. A mute teenage boy can assist spirits to pass into the next realm. A colony of decent-hearted people are building a civilized community but are threatened by the quasi Godly leader of a nearby group.
I'll give a mild spoiler here, so be forewarned.
The Itinerant is a novel with a positive spiritual message and the end is one of uplifting hope. It's a fable, or perhaps a parable is a better word for it. There's so much hostility out there in the world right now, and so much nastiness in extreme horror fiction. It's really nice to read a book that provides a good feeling. We need that now and then.
Unfortunately I have a pessimistic side and I don't believe we as a species will ever be without fear, hate, and violence. It's how we are built. I do think most people lean hard to the side of decency. We'd have been wiped out long ago if it were not so. Still, it's nice to dream sometimes.
The Itinerant won't take the place of Lizard Wine as my favorite Engstrom, nor do I believe it will attain the kind of classic status When Darkness Loves Us has, but it's a damned good novel that beats the hell out of most of what passes as quality horror fiction these days.
Written by Mark Sieber
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