The Postmortal

Mar 21, 2012 Melissa rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: yikes, apocalyptastic

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I was tempted to give this fewer stars because it depressed me so badly. If a cure for aging (but not death) is invented, it turns out that things will go down this way - first it's banned and fringe groups are blowing up the black market doctors who provide the "cure" anyway. Worldwide protests take place, the National Guard kills some protesters & eventually the ban is lifted, so most of humanity goes crazy as we are wont to do. Some paint their faces green & throw acid at others, brea...more I was tempted to give this fewer stars because it depressed me so badly. If a cure for aging (but not death) is invented, it turns out that things will go down this way - first it's banned and fringe groups are blowing up the black market doctors who provide the "cure" anyway. Worldwide protests take place, the National Guard kills some protesters & eventually the ban is lifted, so most of humanity goes crazy as we are wont to do. Some paint their faces green & throw acid at others, break into houses & steal cats and let them go somewhere far away - can you just imagine how weird that would be, if you came home & your cat was stolen? A culty Church of Man springs up, claiming that God & the afterlife are clearly not all that since people aren't dying on a regular basis, so why not worship Man instead? I can think of a few reasons why not, see the cat stealing & acid throwing above, but oh well. In an offshot that I found particularly disturbing, a mother gives her baby the cure so she can be a nine month-old forever. In China, they begin to tattoo people's "real" ages on their arms, so if your real age is 50 years old & you still look twenty, off to the gulag to you! Because China is the perpetual bad guy, they also eventually nuke several parts of their own country as a form of population control.

Despite all this doom and gloom, this is a pretty engaging read. I kept at it because I wanted to see what horrors would come next - man beats bad guy to death, alienates the woman he wants to marry, so she accidentally runs front of a bus! Texas makes rape, assualt, and theft death penalty-worthy crimes! U.S. government begins to sanction death squads to take out people who are tired of living, then eventually moves on to criminals tried "in absentia" and the elderly! To top it all off, there's a nasty sheep flu that starts killing millions. I wish the sheep flu would've been expanded on a little bit or left out altogether. There are some confusing little lingo elements; when Sonia gets pregnant again and he says, "You're going G2," what does that mean? And what does WEPS stand for? I also think the end with the whole "Solara Beck, you've haunted me for years because you maybe killed my best friend - let's get married!" bit was preposterous (and this is a HUGE spoiler, but if the WEPS was down after the nuclear explosions, how on earth did he make that final, death-bed upload?). On the whole, this'll keep you going, but don't expect to feel rosy when you finish. (less)

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Feb 25, 2012 Dan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: literature, read-in-2012

I'm out of book reviewing shape (among other kinds of shape), and it's hard to get back into the swing of things (if there ever was a swing). I always have a number of false starts when trying to write reviews. I usually start off with an idea for a review only to grow frustrated and switch into adjectival blabber.

So after three false starts let's see if I can get this thing reviewed.

What would happen to our world when the cure for aging, and thus dying of old age, is commonly available?
Would...more

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May 16, 2012 Miquel Codony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Bajo una u otra forma, la inmortalidad forma parte del repertorio habitual de la ciencia ficción pero no recuerdo ningún título en el que sea el tema principal de una novela o, al menos, no con el enfoque de Drew Magary.

El punto de partida de The Postmortal (publicado en español con el título Eterna Juventud por Minotauro) es simple: de forma casi accidental la humanidad descubre un tratamiento que interrumpe el proceso de envejecimiento convirtiendo a todos aquellos con acceso a él en post-mor...more

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Aug 29, 2011 Kristin (MyBookishWays Reviews) rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fantasy

You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/08/...

The Postmortal is told from John Farrell’s POV,from 60 years of collected text files that were recovered in 2093. John,a divorce lawyer,decides,after much though,that he’s going to get “The Cure.” The cure in question is the cure for aging,oddly discovered while trying to isolate the gene for hair color during a rather frivolous experiment by a scientist at the U. of Oregon. The problem is that the cure has been banned by...more You may also read my review here: http://www.mybookishways.com/2011/08/...

The Postmortal is told from John Farrell’s POV,from 60 years of collected text files that were recovered in 2093. John,a divorce lawyer,decides,after much though,that he’s going to get “The Cure.” The cure in question is the cure for aging,oddly discovered while trying to isolate the gene for hair color during a rather frivolous experiment by a scientist at the U. of Oregon. The problem is that the cure has been banned by the president,so he’s forced to seek it out via the black market. It’s successful,and $7,000 later,John is 29 forever.

John is somewhat charming,a bit arrogant,and more than a little immature,but as the book goes on,events will occur that have the effect of knocking the arrogance right out of him,and then some. A tragedy involving the cure and his roommate is the first sign that things may not always sunshine and roses,and as John lives a life of aimless passivity,events begin unfolding in John’s life,and around the world,that threaten the false patina of happiness that’s settled over this privileged generation. The president finally legalizes the cure,and a “cure” trip to Vegas for a friend only serves to highlight the excesses that are being thrown about so freely now that people feel that they have many more lifetimes ahead of them. Meanwhile,in places like China,babies are being branded at birth with their true birthdays and pro-death terrorists are wreaking havoc on the streets. Remember,the only thing the cure actually “cures” is aging. Anything else is fair game:disease,accidents,murder…you get the idea. With The Postmortal,the hits just keep on coming,and the emotional roller coaster it took me on was pretty brutal at times. This novel will make you think about what you have,how precious life is,and how easily it can slip away. The horrifying implications of The Cure unfold relentlessly,and John will begin to question everything he’s ever believed in.

The Postmortal covers 60 years (with a 30 year break),and is told in very short chapters (in John’s voice),and also media excerpts,which I loved,and which also provided some of the most disturbing material in the book. At turns profoundly sad,humorous,and terrifying,The Postmortal will move you to examine what it means to be human and keep you turning pages until the explosive end.(less)

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Jan 13, 2013 Chris rated it 1 of 5 stars

I had difficulty deciding which style to use to review this book, so I was only able to narrow it down to four possibilities:

a) Succinct: Fake characters with fake quirks being fake.

b) Ad homenem attack: Lazy-ass writers shouldn't tackle interesting ideas.

c) Pop-culture reference: Remember that kid who gave the monologue at the beginning of Malcom in the Middle? Age him 20 years and make him one-third as insightful and you have the protagonist of this novel.

d) Social criticism: This novel demons...more

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Sep 30, 2011 Michael William West rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's hard, with some books, to figure out what point on the five star scale to land on. This could have been a 2,3 or 4, so I've copped out a little and ended with a 3. The problem with the Postmortal, or the End Specialist as it is more appropriately named in the UK, is quite well illustrated by its two different titles. It's not quite able to be what it wants to be, which is the Postmortal - a fascinating, pragmatic and restrained deconstruction of a future where no one needs to get old and di...more It's hard, with some books, to figure out what point on the five star scale to land on. This could have been a 2,3 or 4, so I've copped out a little and ended with a 3. The problem with the Postmortal, or the End Specialist as it is more appropriately named in the UK, is quite well illustrated by its two different titles. It's not quite able to be what it wants to be, which is the Postmortal - a fascinating, pragmatic and restrained deconstruction of a future where no one needs to get old and die. Drew Margery's experience as a journalist allows him to create news reports, live feeds and so on in print that are really very accurate and subtle in reflecting the slightly changed world of 2019/2059/etc. in crisis because of the 'Cure'. The ideas in the book and the reaction of humanity to this breakthrough seems very plausible, and it is a commendable novel of ideas.

However, the early part of the book contains warning signs. Clumsy prose, ill-timed, platitude ridden dialogue lifted from a thriller cut-out book, an overwhelming desire to tell, tell, tell ('I've seen a thunderstorm and it reminds me of THIS') and characters that seem to not matter when they are hilariously killed off here and there, unemotional, flat and uninteresting. This would be fine if the Postmortal pressed on with its agenda of explaining Drew Margery's vision of the future, but it collapses and about halfway through becomes a lazy thriller ploughing through the noir-ish day job of the end specialist. It becomes undisciplined - deus ex machina on top of deus ex machina, seemingly forgetting that it is actually supposed to be a journal entry (why do this? why contrive to make something a journal then write swashbucking 1st person prose in a way no one would ever write to their journal? Just don't make it a journal.)

Is is fascinating, and I also feel it is not cynical. It has the rapture of a first novel. The prose is dull at times, the dialogue self-conscious but it is ultimately a moral book, innocent, and well-adjusted without being philosophical or moving. It shows a harrowing and very plausible dystopia, something in itself really quite commendable.(less)

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Aug 01, 2011 Maria rated it 3 of 5 stars

The Postmortal is a powerful book. Magary takes an honest look at society's reaction to not aging - constant partying, marriages fall apart, the earth's resources are dwindling. We see John Farrell, a wise-cracking lawyer, who's life changes markedly throughout the book as he gets older without aging. His optimism turns to skepticism, even on to hopelessness. The storyline is very dark in this book, but Magary manages to add humor and lighten the mood in just the right places.

It's an interestin...more

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Oct 18, 2012 Anna R rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-fantasy-s-f, favourite-books

I 've been interested in that books since it has been announced that it's gonna be published in Poland. Drew Magary wrote a great book though I've expected somethind different. I thought that it's gonna be an interesting, funny book, but when I started to read this I knew that I was wrong. It's a pesimistic, depressing book, easy to read but also so written with such a good style that the vision of future when nobody dies because of age is depressing and a little bit frightening. If I culd desci...more

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Mar 21, 2013 Dawn Peers rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: amazon-vine-reviews

"One of the most superior books I have read in a long, long time"

And Drew Magary's first novel, which I find even more astonishing (though he has written in a variety of media before). Everything I see from this author will get pre-ordered.

No exaggeration.

I can see some readers comparing the premise of "The End Specialist" to the current plot of Miracle Day (which, to be honest, I haven't watched that much of because I found the premise too far-fetched).

But the blurb behind The End Specialist se...more

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Feb 20, 2013 Trike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013, science-fiction

"Cure for aging" stories are a dime a dozen in SF, with Joe Haldeman's Buying Time probably my favorite example of the genre. Postmortal covers much of the same emotional ground as Haldeman's book, except that it's a good deal more depressing.

Immortality is rarely seen as a positive thing in science fiction and this book is no exception. The problem here is that it becomes so relentlessly depressing that there seems to be no upside to "The Cure" at all. Everything goes straight to hell immediate...more "Cure for aging" stories are a dime a dozen in SF, with Joe Haldeman's Buying Time probably my favorite example of the genre. Postmortal covers much of the same emotional ground as Haldeman's book, except that it's a good deal more depressing.

Immortality is rarely seen as a positive thing in science fiction and this book is no exception. The problem here is that it becomes so relentlessly depressing that there seems to be no upside to "The Cure" at all. Everything goes straight to hell immediately, then tunnels into Hell's sewer system.

The writing is fine, but the main character of John Farrell exemplifies the snarky remark made by author Susan Ertz, "Millions long for immortality who don't know what to do with themselves on a rainy Sunday afternoon." I'm not one of those people who feels the need to identify or root for the protagonist -- I find most human behavior inexplicable and unreasonable, therefore people all seem alien to me -- but after a while this guy was really getting on my nerves. He's self-absorbed and shallow, as if Magary designed him explicitly to bring Schopenhauer's comment about immortality to life: "To desire immortality is to desire the eternal perpetuation of a great mistake." Even his few instances of being a stand-up guy can't seem to dislodge this impression, and he *does* try to be better sometimes. It just feels rather Teflon-y.

Of protagonist Farrell, I'm reminded of the Oingo Boingo tune, "Nothing Bad Ever Happens To Me." (Yes, both Schopenhauer and Elfman referenced in one review.) He bears witness to some truly horrible things and they do affect him greatly if impermanently, but he generally gets lucky most of the time. Even when he is attacked by anti-immortality muggers, the scars they leave behind are erased by plastic surgery.

Aside from the eventually-grating main character and the constant stream of genuinely shitty things that happen to everyone he knows, the ideas in the book are interesting enough to propel it along, But at the end of the day it does feel as if this has been done before and it's definitely not the feel-good hit of the year.

One thing I did find interesting were all the east coast references. I live in New Hampshire and both Concord and Nashua are mentioned, and I read this while on the train yesterday to NYC to see Book of Mormon (awesome show, go see it), and a lot of it takes place in NYC, then moves down to the DC area, even mentioning specific neighborhoods and streets I traveled last weekend while in the capitol to see Danai Gurira's play The Convert. All of that may have propelled me further along than normal.(less)

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Feb 08, 2013 Clio rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013

This book has something that seems rather rare these days; an original sci-fi plot! What if you could halt ageing, what if most of the first world aged 20+ took this age halting drug? The world is taking "the cure" or adamantly NOT taking it. This book lets us explore this concept through all its iterations... After all, our narrator is technically immortal. We see its first exultant usages and the political and social ramifications, its acceptance and commonality and finally the way in which th...more

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Feb 04, 2013 Colin Taylor rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013, science-fiction

Shortlisted for the Arthur C Clarke award in 2012, and debut novel for Drew Magary, The End Specialist is a book of sound concept and deep imagination. It successfully steers away from getting embroiled in the detailed minutae of a vast future world in which the end to aging has been discovered, the Cure (no, not the band), and instead narrates the story through the viewpoint of a single man. There is a little bit of dystopia box ticking, but in general this novel feels original enough to warran...more

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Jan 29, 2013 Crash Karri rated it 4 of 5 stars

So I don't really write reviews, I may poorly review a book in a meager attempt to convince someone to read it but I do so vocally. I guess now is as a good time as any to start trying.

I have a good intuition. When I'm at a book store I'm able to look and pull a book off the shelf I know I'll like. I saw this book, it was just staring at me. I just picked it up and bought it. I rather not know too much about a book. That way I don't judge it prematurely.

So, it was a delightful surprise to find...more

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Dec 20, 2012 Kate rated it 4 of 5 stars

I was expecting something funny and light, but The Postmortal turned out to be surprisingly serious and somewhat disturbing. I really enjoyed it, although the final section dragged a little and the stuff with Solara just didn't really work for me. The Solara storyline seemed like it came out of nowhere. The story of how the world copes with an ageless population was fascinating and some of my favorite parts of the book were the news articles and transcripts that didn't deal so much with John's p...more

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Nov 17, 2012 Scott Smithson rated it 4 of 5 stars

We learn from the vampire cliche that immortality has a price. Too often, we get to see it being the longing of the undead for some nubile piece of flesh. We almost sympathize with the erotic suffering of the undead, and we don't recoil in horror at the agony they inflict on themselves and others. The vampire industry has made immortality boring, whitewashed and as pretty as sparkly suffering goth boys. 'The Postmortal' is different. It isn't about vampires. But, it is about immortality and all...more

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Aug 22, 2012 Aaron Goldfarb rated it 3 of 5 stars

Drew Magary is one of my favorite writers on the entire internet (I never miss a Deadspin Funbag), so I thought I finally owed him legitimate money for his time. Not to mention, I was damn curious to see if his writing worked in a fictional narrative form. It kind of did.

"The Postmortal" is an absolutely killer idea (if you follow the Funbag you know Drew likes wacky hypotheticals) and I liked how the book is arranged, I just didn't love it.

Drew is an enviably effortless writer and I was indee...more

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Jul 31, 2012 Cecile rated it 4 of 5 stars

I have never written a full review since I became a member of good reads because all the books I have starred I read in the past. This is the first book that I have read since I got the goodreads app.

Let me start by saying that I got this book in the bargain bins section of Barnes and Nobel for $5. That is the best five dollars I have spent on a bargain book in a while.

The book is interestingly written in the form of journal type entries collected in the "past" (really our future) a cure for a...more

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Jul 12, 2012 Elise Whitworth rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm torn between giving 3 and 4 stars.

The whole premise, concept, and theory was absolutely fascinating. How would an aging cure affect us socially and culturally - what a great question. Margary came up with many very plausible scenarios.

I also enjoyed the light humor and pop culture references. The main character was very relatable.

It's not a 5 star because the writing wasn't a marvel, a little awkward at times and even though the storyline pace was not slow, sometimes it felt slow to read....more

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Jul 10, 2012 Brianne rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: apocalyptic, contemporary, dystopian, futuristic

Now this was an interesting (depressing, dark, horrifying, thought provoking) book. It's 2019, a cure for aging has been discovered. It's illegal at first, but that's almost a pointless part of the plot, it doesn't stay illegal. John Farrell, a lawyer, although his original career is rarely really a part of things, rushes to get "the cure" from a doctor giving them out illegally in his home, and remains 27 (I think it was 27? 20-something) permanently. The author provides enough of a scientific...more Now this was an interesting (depressing, dark, horrifying, thought provoking) book. It's 2019, a cure for aging has been discovered. It's illegal at first, but that's almost a pointless part of the plot, it doesn't stay illegal. John Farrell, a lawyer, although his original career is rarely really a part of things, rushes to get "the cure" from a doctor giving them out illegally in his home, and remains 27 (I think it was 27? 20-something) permanently. The author provides enough of a scientific explanation for how the cure works to easily allow suspension of disbelief so that we can move on to the real meat and potatoes of the book - social implications. "Cycle marriages" become a thing - you sign up for a marriage that you know is going to end in 40 years, divide your assets in a way that you'd previously agreed upon, and move on - or, if you'd like, you can renew your contract. Forever being truly indefinite, not "until we start aging in 10 or 20 years and die in 60" changes everything about how people relate to one another. Commitment is scoffed at, people raise a set of children and then 30 years later raise a new set. "End specialists" - government sanctioned euthanasia providers - become common. Some barely-explained "greenies" crop up - troll-like men who terrorize, mutilate, and kill people who have received the cure - I hated that entire plotline, it's never really explained who they are, how exactly they're green (simple body paint?), why they're always short and bald (what if there's a tall guy willing to throw lye at people and dye himself green? Is he not allowed?). Not surprisingly, people are continuing to live and reproduce while dying at a much less frequent rate (the cure only prevents aging - not murder, suicide, cancer, accident, etc.), so the earth's resources are being stretched far beyond their capacities. Pregnant women are being killed in the streets, because the last thing the world needs is more mouths to feed. A culty new religion, Church of Man, has formed, more or less on the premise than mankind discovered the cure for aging, so we are who we should be worshiping. People realize, oh sh!t, I can never retire now. Rich people are stockpiling food and weapons in underground bunkers. People are living in caravans on the side of the road. I think that the biggest compliment that I can give this book is the subtle change in the main character's voice - you don't notice it happening, but when you finish the book (60+ years after John has received the cure), then go back and read the first chapter (in blog-entry form), he sounds so much more innocent, less jaded, cleaner than he ultimately does, but it's a very gradual change. The end of the book gets more grim than the cartoonish book cover would suggest - I mean truly, miserably depressing and disturbing - but this is one hell of an interesting read. Unfortunately, I was much more interested in the stories of John's father and sister - both reluctant to receive the cure. In his father's case, it's because his wife has already died before the cure was discovered, and there's no reason for him to prolong being with her. He ultimately gets the cure and regrets it bitterly. His sister is married with small children when it's discovered, and her very minor side-story as her husband becomes interested in a cycle marriage and her children grow up stay the same age forever was, to me, far more interesting than John's ongoing relationship strife and bad decisions, but that's probably just because I'm a woman in a long-term relationship who will have children soon, and stories you can relate to are always more interesting. All in all, it's a book well worth reading.(less)

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Jun 21, 2012 Rachel rated it 3 of 5 stars

Let me first say that this book's vision is amazing. The author thought of every aspect of his world without aging so in depth that it is amazing just seeing it develop and the problems it goes through. Examples would be like how health insurance and life insurance becomes null and void once you get the cure, marriages end with that much pressure, government issues involving the cure, hospitals are packed, murder becomes less of a big deal when the world is so over populated, and babies are give...more

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Jun 04, 2012 Brett Boerner rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: reviewed

Overall, I'd recommend this book to anyone interested in speculative and/or dystopian fiction. The premise is fairly unique and drew me in right away. What a great cover, by the way!

The basic idea is that humanity finds a way to stop aging. Of course, different people and nations have different ways of dealing with this, none of which are perfect. What do you do when no one is dying of old age?

There are far too many different complications and consequences of this "cure" than a single book could...more

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May 28, 2012 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

"Immortality will kill us all." The cure for aging turns out not to be such a grand idea after all in this eerie, humorous, disturbing, and enjoyable (nonetheless) novel of the world after The Cure. Marriages disintegrate, terrorists attack, weird churches form, and soon boredom becomes the least of a postmortal's worries. Dwindling supplies, overpopulation, cannibal gangs, and "End Specialists" offer bigger fish to fry when it comes to dread. Our guide through this brave new world is postmortal...more

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Apr 28, 2012 David Hebblethwaite rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Reviewed as part of the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist.

A few years hence, an accidental scientific discovery has led to a treatment which will halt the process of ageing; barring disease or accident, immortality may be yours – provided you can afford the fee, of course. Divorce lawyer John Farrell has the ‘cure’ (as it’s known) in 2019, weeks before it is legalised in the USA. We then follow his life at various intervals over the course of the following sixty years, during which Farrell u...more Reviewed as part of the 2012 Arthur C. Clarke Award shortlist.

A few years hence, an accidental scientific discovery has led to a treatment which will halt the process of ageing; barring disease or accident, immortality may be yours – provided you can afford the fee, of course. Divorce lawyer John Farrell has the ‘cure’ (as it’s known) in 2019, weeks before it is legalised in the USA. We then follow his life at various intervals over the course of the following sixty years, during which Farrell ultimately changes career to ‘end specialisation’, facilitating (for a fee) the deaths of those who wish to end their lives, in the manner of their own choosing.

The End Specialist (aka The Postmortal) provides an interesting point of comparison with its fellow Clarke Award nominee The Testament of Jessie Lamb, in that both examine futures with game-changing medical developments, but do so firmly from the vantage-point of one individual. The key difference, I think, is that The Testament shows the outside world from within Jessie Lamb’s frame of reference – which makes for an incomplete examination, but one that nevertheless works as an aesthetic whole; whereas The End Specialist tries to show the outside world from beyond John Farrell’s frame of reference – hence the protagonist includes news reports and link round-ups in the ‘blog entries’ that make up the text of this novel – and, in doing so, reaches beyond itself.

Much of the positive commentary I’ve seen on Drew Magary’s novel – both in reviews and the Not the Clarke Panel at Eastercon – seems to emphasise the extent to which Magary delineates the consequences of the situation he sets up. There are certainly aspects of The End Specialist which ring true, such as the sense of ennui felt by Farrell when he notes that his photo doesn’t change, and wonders if maybe he hasn’t either (‘The time span is invisible. It’s as if I haven’t lived at all,’ p. 84); and I can buy, for example, the idea that some people might be pettily cruel enough to blind or scar immortals out of spite. But much of Magary’s depiction of his wider fictional world (whether within or outside theUS) feels superficial to me, because it is dependent on John Farrell’s interest; and, as a character, Farrell really has only a passing interest in the world beyond his immediate circumstances.

Even when it’s concerned with Farrell’s circumstances, though, The End Specialist falls short. As Dan Hartland notes, Farrell is a fairly anonymous presence; nothing really seems to touch or change him, no matter what he might say in his narration (that’s another way, incidentally, in which the depiction of the world feels flat; no matter how sour life has apparently becomes, the fictional society feels much the same, because the tone of Farrell’s narration doesn’t change). The depiction of the secondary characters is similarly wanting, particularly that of the female characters; it’s true that most of the minor characters, male and female alike, exist to be adjuncts to Farrell, but I gain more sense of his father and adult son as rounded individuals than I do the key women in Farrell’s life. I rolled my eyes particularly at the essentialism of a scene in which Farrell leaves his pregnant partner Sonia rather than get married, because immortality has caused him to realise (as the other men he knows have similarly concluded in their own lives) that he can’t make a lifelong commitment to her – whereas Sonia maintains a desire to fulfil traditional gender roles (and Farrell has no doubts about his ability to commit to his son for however long their lives may be).

On the level of prose, I’m still struggling to see The End Specialist as a worthwhile read. The scene I mentioned earlier, where Farrell is reflecting on his unchanging appearance, stands out to me for its writing; as did one in which an end specialism client describes his wish to become one with the sea. But the rest feels unremarkable, even when the novel takes on the shape of a thriller in its second half – and a thriller can’t do its job if it doesn’t have gripping prose.

Frankly, I’m baffled as to why this book is on the Clarke shortlist. However I look at The End Specialist, I see a novel which is mediocre at best – and sometimes considerably poorer. What I can’t see is any way in which it could be considered one of the six best science fiction novels of the year.(less)

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Apr 23, 2012 Anoolka rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: dystopia, male-protagonist, memoir, sci-fi

On one hand I'd complain that this book was sometimes way too slow. On the other hand it is supposed to follow the life of one guy, who's not particularly proactif. He's full of doubts and so following his life records (as this book is constructed) is not all that exciting at times. There are additional articles, blogs, added that let us see the bigger picture - much appreciated, thought I'd have liked a little more. How does the world deal with immortality? We see what John and his friends and...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Marielle rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. For a long time I've been mulling over a book idea in my head about what happens when the human population finally crashes. Thanks to Drew Magary, I no longer feel that this topic is missing from the shelves. Though it begins as the story of a man and his society as they navigate the possibilities of a newly discovered cure for aging, by the end it's damn near post-apocalyptic and I loved reading every moment. I thought his characters felt realistic, which just enough fantasy to keep you interes...more For a long time I've been mulling over a book idea in my head about what happens when the human population finally crashes. Thanks to Drew Magary, I no longer feel that this topic is missing from the shelves. Though it begins as the story of a man and his society as they navigate the possibilities of a newly discovered cure for aging, by the end it's damn near post-apocalyptic and I loved reading every moment. I thought his characters felt realistic, which just enough fantasy to keep you interested in this world he has created. It's actually fun watching humanity screw itself over again and again, and meaningful to watch the main character struggle between his basic urge to survive and his desire to do more than survive, to live with integrity in a world overcrowded and indignant. I should note this is my first Drew Magary book, so I went in with no expectations, which after reading a few reviews on here, seems to give this book more of a shot out of the gate. This is also my first modern-style epistolary -- that is, each chapter is written as a blog entry, which is fitting, given the book takes place in the near-future. I love how the author throws in mentions of technology that the reader can make inferences about, but that the character mentions as if he's writing to his contemporaries (which, in a blog, he would be). For most of this book, I read aloud to my husband while driving in the car, and I have to say that perhaps my enjoyment of the book is tempered by the joy of getting to read some of the most exciting parts in dramatic voices, and being able to share significant moments in the story with someone else as I went along. We both knew that a book about extended life would have to end with the main character's death, and I felt it was well done. I appreciate that his death was ushered in not by his own hand as much as by outside forces -- but nevertheless, by the politics of a world that he and billions of other postmortals helped create. The book raised probing social questions about what happens when your life is extended and you never grow old. About what happens when lunatics get the cure and give it to their 9-month old infants, who will never develop beyond that point, or what happens when a country is so overcrowded that the government backs companies of "end specialists" to whittle down the population -- and what kinds of religions and extremist groups arise. The book certainly ends with a bleak outlook on humanity, and I can't blame it. But it still feels as though the main character has completed his journey and that he finally understands that death can't be postponed permanently. It comes for everyone. I think the book is saying that, among other things, life is about being ready to accept death when it comes, and that's a book I can get behind. (less)

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Mar 05, 2012 Anna rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: sci-fi

First of all, I have to say the choice of writing the book in the format of John's blog is just brilliant. It's an odd choice, stylistically, but it's incredibly effective here, giving a touch of realism we'd lose if Magary had gone with a more traditional first-person narrative.

A lot of The Postmortal is bleak. This book doesn't think much of mankind (or anything else, really) and is more than willing to push that viewpoint at us. Given that Drew Magary has made a name for himself as a humouris...more First of all, I have to say the choice of writing the book in the format of John's blog is just brilliant. It's an odd choice, stylistically, but it's incredibly effective here, giving a touch of realism we'd lose if Magary had gone with a more traditional first-person narrative.

A lot of The Postmortal is bleak. This book doesn't think much of mankind (or anything else, really) and is more than willing to push that viewpoint at us. Given that Drew Magary has made a name for himself as a humourist, anyone expecting to find that same style and tone in this book will be in for a shock. This is a dark look at immortality and humanity, taking the viewpoint that people will screw up anything given to them. It starts off gently, with reactions to the initial news of The Cure being varied and believable. Certainly I can see fundamentalists being violently opposed to unnaturally extended lives, I can see it being a hot button issue in the news and on the streets, and I can see the powers that be taking extreme caution before allowing something like The Cure to be administered to the public.

Immediately, the idea of eternal youth starts affecting people. People don't feel like they have to mature or grow up now; since they have hundreds of years to live their lives, another few decades or so of partying before they settle down won't matter. Views on marriage change, too: when the vows meant spending 80 years of growing old together, the needs were different from making a promise to spend eternity with the same person.

This was an incredibly thought provoking book. It challenged me on several different subjects, the sort of thing to stay with you long after you put it down. It's not easy reading and a lot of the time it wasn't particularly enjoyable, but it was always engaging.

Unfortunately, the writing is also uneven. It starts well, but somewhere around the halfway point the story starts to drag and doesn't really pick up again until close to the end. Part of this might be because while the format of storytelling was well chosen, the protagonist may not have been. I never warmed up to John, although I'm not sure I was supposed to. He's selfish, apathetic, and occasionally violent, but given the book's opinion of humanity, that's perhaps par for the course. I have no doubt John's temperament was deliberately chosen to highlight the issues in the society he finds himself living in, but it gives the reader one less thing to be engaged with. I didn't care what happened to John any more than he cared about what happened to the people around him.

More significantly, the treatment of the Cure was inconsistent. It allegedly prevents aging, not just in the way a person looks but in their health as well. Things like Alzheimer's were prevented by The Cure, however many years after receiving the Cure, a character has a heart attack, and when they go to the hospital, try to give their apparent age rather than their true age. They're told there's no way they'd be having a heart attack at that age and sent to the part of the hospital for "postmortals," or people who have opted for immortality. In order to be having a heart attack, they must be older than they seem... but, uh, since the Cure was supposed to keep their innards as young as their outside, this just confused the bejeebers me.

Then there's the whole issue of mental age versus physical age. Yeah, it makes sense that given extra time people would delay "growing up" as much as possible. But there's only one character who really seems to feel or act older than her apparent age, and the book spans probably 80 years, with most of the characters having been given the Cure in the early part of that, when they were in their 20s or 30s. I may have noticed this more because I was waiting for it to come up, so when it was only dealt with briefly and in one character, I was disappointed.

In spite of these flaws, it was as previously stated both engaging and thought provoking. If you want something with a bit of depth, something to give you a bit of food for thought rather than just handing you a story, this should do the job nicely.(less)

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Feb 27, 2012 Alison Looney rated it 3 of 5 stars

Another possible dystopia for humanity to worry about: a scientist accidentally discovers the cure for aging, and most everyone chooses to stop the aging process in their mid 20s to early 30s. You can still die from violence, starvation, or disease, but you have youth and vitality on your side from your cure date forward.

I thought the broader implications of a world without aging were more interesting than the protagonist's daily life, but that's just a personal preference. I tend to skim sectio...more Another possible dystopia for humanity to worry about: a scientist accidentally discovers the cure for aging, and most everyone chooses to stop the aging process in their mid 20s to early 30s. You can still die from violence, starvation, or disease, but you have youth and vitality on your side from your cure date forward.

I thought the broader implications of a world without aging were more interesting than the protagonist's daily life, but that's just a personal preference. I tend to skim sections about gun fights with roving gangs of cannibals, in this book or any dystopian lit. (Seriously, why so many roving gangs of cannibals in the near future?) But there's plenty to think about, at varying levels of seriousness. Sports records: obsolete. Retirement: a thing of the past, because you have the potential to live forever, right? Marriage: Now that "forever" could mean just that, people start backing away from the whole idea. Babies: So many. If you have the cure at age 30, you could potentially have babies forever. And if your kids have the cure at age 30, they can have babies forever. Soon you end up with giant families of kids and grandkids and great grandkids, all the same age. (Or with grandchildren "outgrowing" their grandparents.)

So overcrowding quickly becomes an issue. Resources are scarce, living quarters are cramped. The government has to make some tough decisions. What do you do with a prison population that never ages? What does a life sentence mean? What about a violent offender who spends 50 years in prison, but gets out with a cure age of 27?

Or how about the military? If you don't age, can you be sent on endless tours?

The social safety net? Can you collect social security once you reach the actual age of 70, even if your cure age is 22? (No, they decide pretty quickly.)

What about suicide? It goes from illegal to tolerated to encouraged to mandatory in just a few generations.

I liked following how various world governments deal with the cure and its effects. Usually in this type of book, the government eventually dissolves and people are out fending for themselves. While some aspects of society get out of control (see cannibal gangs, above), most places the government continue to exert influence over its citizens. In America, there are tax incentives (passed on to your family) if you commit suicide, while executions remain in the hands of the judicial system. There are plenty of regulations for documenting the voluntary or involuntary end of life proceedings, even in the grimmer years towards the end of the novel. The Chinese and Russian governments use some different tactics, so it's interesting to read how the effects of the cure play out around the world. I almost wish there had been more of it.

Overall, if you're a fan of dystopian near future novels, this one is definitely worth reading. (less)

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Jan 19, 2012 Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: dark, science-fiction

Over the weekend, I discovered The Walking Dead on Netflix. My wife and I watched the entire first season — all six episodes — back-to-back, and are now officially hooked on it. I’m still thinking about it, and considering reading the graphic novel series, but I don’t want to spoil anything about the series. But I found it kind of jarring that I was watching the show while I was also reading The Postmortal, because while The Walking Dead is about a small group of survivors in a world where nearl...more Over the weekend, I discovered The Walking Dead on Netflix. My wife and I watched the entire first season — all six episodes — back-to-back, and are now officially hooked on it. I’m still thinking about it, and considering reading the graphic novel series, but I don’t want to spoil anything about the series. But I found it kind of jarring that I was watching the show while I was also reading The Postmortal, because while The Walking Dead is about a small group of survivors in a world where nearly everyone is dead, The Postmortal is about living in a world where hardly anyone ever dies.

The premise of The Postmortal is that science has finally discovered a cure for aging, and anyone who takes the cure will be locked in at their current age until they die. People who take the cure can still die, contract diseases, have heart attacks and strokes, etc., but so long as they take care of themselves and don’t run afoul of violence, they can live for as long as they wish. It’s a pipe dream, especially for anyone who’s contemplated their own mortality, and of course it sounds like a great idea. But what we don’t often think about when we think about living forever is what the world would be like if no one ever died. Luckily, Drew Magary thought about it. He thought about it a lot.

It’s hard to discuss the novel without giving away a lot of it, but it’s not a spoiler to say the world becomes overcrowded in a hurry. Where that overcrowding takes society I’ll leave for you to discover in the book, but I will say that while the first quarter or so of the book is filled with hope and optimism, the rest of the book takes a much darker look at the reality of that sort of situation. For all the people who populate the novel, it reads a lot like a post-apocalyptic novel of survival than a science-fictional look at living sort-of-forever.

I turn 40 this year, and over the last couple of years, I’ve found myself thinking more about my own mortality. It’s becoming less and less of an abstract idea, and I’m not ashamed to say that the idea of dying terrifies me. But The Postmortal actually made me feel a little more at ease with the idea by presenting the alternative side of living forever. It’s not a pleasant look at the idea, but it feels like a necessary one.(less)

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Dec 02, 2011 Ryan rated it 4 of 5 stars

I've been reading Drew Magary on Deadspin and other sports blogs for a long time, and have become pretty familiar with his writing style and the topics he most likes to write about. If you're like me, put all of that kind of stuff aside before you read the book, because this couldn't be a bigger departure. I mean that as a compliment too, because I thought this was an excellent book, smart, clever, and yet horrifying all at once.

It is the story of mankind stumbling across the cure for aging in t...more

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Nov 07, 2011 Tony rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

THE POSTMORTAL. (2011). ****.
In this first novel from this author, we are carried into the future, year 2090, when a manuscript is found and downloaded from cloud storage. It is a remarkable record written by a man named John Farrell. His record starts in the year 2019 and ends in the year 2079. Officials of the day have edited this long record and present it to the reader. We now have a novel that is reminiscent of novels where manuscripts are found – somewhere – and offered to the reader, com...more THE POSTMORTAL. (2011). ****.
In this first novel from this author, we are carried into the future, year 2090, when a manuscript is found and downloaded from cloud storage. It is a remarkable record written by a man named John Farrell. His record starts in the year 2019 and ends in the year 2079. Officials of the day have edited this long record and present it to the reader. We now have a novel that is reminiscent of novels where manuscripts are found – somewhere – and offered to the reader, combined with elements of “On The Beach,” and Dos Passos’s “USA.” The narrator is, of course, John Farrell. John tells of the development of a new technique utilizing gene therapy to provide eternal life. Life could be cut short by disease or death from accidents or criminal actions, of course, but, barring that, the recipient would live essentially forever. In the beginning, the program of receiving “the cure” was slow to start. The injections needed were administered by black market doctors, and the price was high. When it was ultimately approved by the government, there was a tidal wave of people who lined up to receive it. Unfortunately, problems began to appear. The increase in population put a huge strain on the availability of land, water and food, leading to hoarding and ultimately fighting and killing among different groups. It also led to the realization by many of the cure individuals that eternal life was not all it was marked up to be. The government then set up a division that would end an individual’s life in an approved manner. John Farrell ultimately became a member of that team. His experiences throughout this long period tell of the various events that occurred during his life while the cure was in existence. The novel manages to provide a peek at the potential hazards of long-life when they face the fact that death is no longer a factor in their life. It is inevitable that there is a final apocolypse in this story. We are left at the end with an “On the Beach” finish, but realize that society is still in existence because this record is being rovided to us by someone in the surviving population. Ultimately, this novel is a tour de force in the science fiction genre, but manages to pose some serious questions about society as we know it. Recommended.
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