Immobility

Apr 24, 2013 karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-end

wow.

that should be my whole review. untainted by pictures and whatever nonsense i usually spew. this book is clean and taut and deserves a review untouched by nonsense and gimmicry.

and i will try to give this book what it deserves.

wow.

this is my second book by evenson, and the second to take place in a ruined, barren wasteland. his spare prose lends itself so well to this landscape. but "spare" doesn't mean there isn't anything going on here.

how can a book this short, with its ripped-from-the-t...more

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May 21, 2013 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars

Weirdly of a type with _Cosmos Incorporated_, which I panned a while back. Some sort of spy/killer/thug wakes up in a dystopian future, with no memory and a Slavic-sounding name... Unlike _CI_, this book is short, to the point, and readable. (And not about a Plotkin.) Really it feels like a short story in structure, or maybe a novella -- I am unclear on the structural differences there -- not a novel, is my point. You get a scenario (grim) and a punchy resolution (brutal). It would make a terrif...more

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May 01, 2013 Phil rated it 2 of 5 stars

The only reason I didn't put this book down after the prologue, which only had about two complete sentences in it, was because the plot itself kept me asking more questions. I wanted to know more. I wanted to know what was going on, what had already happened, and what was going to happen.

Unfortunately, the story never really delivered. Finally, at the end, the reader starts to get some answers, starts to get an inkling of what's going on. But there was too much left unexplained. I don't mind fi...more

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Jan 16, 2013 Adam Mahlum rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2013

Easily the best science-fiction book that I have read in years. A great dystopian thriller. The protagonist, Josef Horkai, is brought out of cryogenic storage at the begninng of the book to help the people in "his community." Unfortunately he doesn't know who he is, nor does he recognize any of the people around him. To make matters worse he is a pararapalegic. He quickly discerns that the world outside is in some type of post-apocalyptic haze that kills most human beings within days. It seems t...more

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Nov 14, 2012 Amy Bailey rated it 4 of 5 stars

I'm a little confounded by this book. At first glance it looks like a short read. Great way to make up those numbers to hit my hundred by the end of the year! Woo hoo! But there's a lot more here than meets the eye. The story is full of complex morality. What would you do if you knew the human race had destroyed the world? If you held the key to salvaging the future of humanity, would you deliver it to the hands of those who brought about the dreaded apocalypse in the first place, hoping they wo...more

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May 11, 2012 Tim Niland rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads

Josef Horkai is woken from cryogenic deep-freeze into a life he can scarcely recognize. The world has been irrevocably altered by a cataclysm known as "the kollaps" and the human race has been reduced to scattered groups or "hives" trying to scratch out an existence from a ruined Earth. Horkai is paralyzed from the waist down, but is told by the mysterious group leader Rasmus that he must go on a mission out into the radioactive wasteland in search of a mysterious cylinder that has been taken by...more

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Feb 15, 2012 Andrew rated it 3 of 5 stars

“What’s in these?” asked Horkai, more as a way to slow Mahonri down than out of any real curiosity.

“Records,” said Mahonri. He stopped, turned around. “What we have here is the history of the human race, a record of births and deaths for hundreds and hundreds of years.”

“Why?” asked Horkai.

“What do you mean, why?” Mahonri responded. “Humanity is important. All these things must be preserved so that, when the time comes, humanity shall know what it has been, is, and will be.”

“When the time comes f...more “What’s in these?” asked Horkai, more as a way to slow Mahonri down than out of any real curiosity.

“Records,” said Mahonri. He stopped, turned around. “What we have here is the history of the human race, a record of births and deaths for hundreds and hundreds of years.”

“Why?” asked Horkai.

“What do you mean, why?” Mahonri responded. “Humanity is important. All these things must be preserved so that, when the time comes, humanity shall know what it has been, is, and will be.”

“When the time comes for what?”

“When the time comes for humanity to return.”

***

Josef Horkai isn’t having all that much fun. Brought out from a thirty-year cryogenic slumber and paralyzed from the waist down due to a mysterious illness in his spinal cord, an illness that will kill him unless regularly (and painfully) treated, he emerges into a sparsely populated world with nothing but a mission, a pair of mules, and the constant threat of death looming overhead. Maybe not his death—maybe humanity’s, or maybe his two stalwart and intellectually truncated companions—but death nonetheless.

Horkai is tasked by Rasmus, the enigmatic leader of this last-of-humanity shelter called a “hive”, to go forth into the wasteland carried on the backs of two mules—test-tube human simulacrums named Qatik and Qanik—and retrieve a mysterious canister of seed, which, according to Rasmus, is essential to their survival. The journey will take Horkai and his mules through the toxic remains of the world, and past what little of society still exists in the wake of “the Kollaps”. Despite his paralysis, only Horkai is genetically equipped to withstand the brutal wasteland environment. His two mules are sacrifices so that this paraplegic anti-hero can accomplish his mysterious mission.

What the Kollaps was, what sparked it, and the direct fallout from the event, are not Evenson’s primary focus. Instead he uses the aftermath of this seemingly global catastrophe (likely nuclear, though details remain uncertain through to the very end) to tell a tale of a violent man’s limited purpose in a world where the only necessity is to find a way to kickstart humanity all over again. Horkai’s past is alluded to in snippets of exchanges between him, Rasmus, and the unlucky few he comes into contact with along his journey on the backs of his two sacrifices, but even then, details are never concrete, never entirely trustworthy.

Immobility is a test of brevity. With effective and conventional writing, Evenson offers up an are-they-or-aren’t-they zombie/vampire/Mad Max-style narrative. Immobility doesn’t bring an exceptional use of tone or language to the folds of the post-apocalyptic story. Minimalism is more the game on display. Evenson uses the setting to great effect to show both the essential quality of a blunt instrument in a world gone to shit, and to show that same character’s uselessness in the possible future that might grow from his actions—and to illustrate, as we’ve come to expect, that in such a setting, knowledge will always hold the wild card over brute strength.

Through the objective certainty of his mules and their acceptance of the roles they must play in Horkai’s journey, the predictably opposing sects of science and faith, and a lone wasteland holdout with no name, Evenson offers some quiet philosophizing that is not often seen in this genre—at least, not with any degree of subtlety. Immobility never goes too far astray in this manner, nor does its narrative ever become obstructed by the rather large red herring at the core of the tale—the how and the why of Horkai’s ability to survive without protection in the wasteland’s toxic air.

From beginning to end, Evenson shows impressive restraint, never giving more than we need, never leaving the reader pissed off at what we aren’t told. It stumbles a bit from time to time—specifically with its all-too-revealing-yet-not-at-all dream sequences—but they do not negatively impact the story’s rhythm. In the end, however, that’s a minor quibble—an overused crutch in a lot of science fiction. Regardless, Immobility is a solid, fun, post-apocalyptic tale.(less)

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Jul 11, 2012 Adam rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: black-comedy, heart-of-darkness, horror-disguised-as-literature, literature-disguised-as-science-fic, noir

Noir character edge, apocalyptic tone, Marx Brothers meets Beckett (if they are at all different) dialogue, comic but sinister duos, stark prose, identity and reality in doubt, and probing moral questions are all present and mark Immobility as both a representative and a thoroughly accomplished example of what one our best writers, Brian Evenson, does. This is his take on the post-apocalyptic genre and it is lighter in language and tone then his previous venture (the beautiful and singular Dark...more

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Mar 12, 2012 Cheryl rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: first-reads

Immobility. Yeah, I'm suffering it right now. My feelings are all over the place. I can't even handle what I just read. That ending! I'm done. It's over. I will never be the same again. Brian Evenson, you talented writer, you have thrown me outside with no hazard suit. I'm dead.

Josef Horkai had been in storage, but he's about to get a nasty wake up call. Rasmus and his community of dying humans need Horkai's help in retrieving a mystery package that was stolen from them. The mission is simple. T...more Immobility. Yeah, I'm suffering it right now. My feelings are all over the place. I can't even handle what I just read. That ending! I'm done. It's over. I will never be the same again. Brian Evenson, you talented writer, you have thrown me outside with no hazard suit. I'm dead.

Josef Horkai had been in storage, but he's about to get a nasty wake up call. Rasmus and his community of dying humans need Horkai's help in retrieving a mystery package that was stolen from them. The mission is simple. Trek to the mountain, locate and take the important package, and come back. Easy, right? Oh wait. Horkai is paralyzed from the waist down, so he must be carried on the backs of two men by foot to reach his destination, the distance there and back is almost 100 miles, and the air outside is unbearable and unbreathable for humans. Basically, it's a suicide mission. Oops. Set in a postapocalyptic world, we follow Horkai's story of self discovery, uncovering secrets, what happened after the Kollaps, what the Kollaps even is, and what's so special about this specific package in the mountains.

First of all, postapocalyptic earth? YES, PLEASE. Second, paralyzed legs? Reminds me of a certain character in Avatar, and he was badass, so I went into this not viewing Horkai as handicapped, but as a potentially badass character.

This book is very character based, which is fantastic. The plot is pretty simple and doesn't veer much. It's the characters that are complex and extremely deep. There's only like less than 10 important ones. (Don't quote me on that. Haha.) A small amount of characters means it's easy to get attached to all of them, whether they appear just for a little while or throughout the whole book. Well, I take that back, most of the characters I loved. Some characters, you'll know which ones, I couldn't care less for, especially at the end. Haha. Bring on the bromances! Evenson puts a stress on the relationships between characters, which was great since the trek is pretty much just a journey across a barren wasteland. Evenson makes us question our own values and morals in a way.

Questions going through my head:Is there a new hierarchy if there is the possibility of a post-human race emerging? How do you behave around those who are perceived as "lesser" beings? Can you empathize with someone whose only purpose in life is to help you succeed then die? Better yet, should you? If you can't remember anything, how can you tell friend from foe? Ohhhh. Penny for your thoughts.

Overall, this book was entertaining and, in a weird way, eye opening. There's adventure, tons of emotion on my part as a reader, and loads of thrills, but you also have some religious aspects sprinkled in there. Beware of death and brutality. This book is a super fast, amazingly well written read that will get your heart pumping and make you grateful for not having a world of poisonous air to live in.

This has gotten relatively long, so I'll wrap up with my thoughts. The Q's were so perfect and ultimately my favorite, I don't care if they were "just mules." Horkai needs to fix himself and get his life together. Ugh. Frustrated me at the end. Damn Rasmus and the O's. Rykte was exactly how I would be. Step back. Wait it out. What a terrible world to live in. I would cry myself to sleep every night if I didn't already die. What a sour note to end on. Yay, plot twist!(less)

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Apr 28, 2012 Sara rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: futuristic-fiction, science-fiction

This isn't something I would normally pick up when browsing the stacks, but I was intrigued by a review I read on NPR. The setting of the story is a post-apocalyptic world where nearly all life on the exposed surface of the planet has been destroyed. It is into this world that a man is brought out of statis. He has very little recollection of life before being stored, and cannot remember his name before threatening it out of the technician who roused him. He is also paralyzed from the waist down...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Sooz rated it 4 of 5 stars

What I Know:
1. I was stored for thirty years.
2. I have been woken up to preform a task.
3. Something is wrong with my memory.

He stopped, then with his thumb brushed over the words 'with my memory' until they blurred and became a glowing splotch. Something is wrong.

this is Horkai the night before he leaves on his mission. his quest. god, who doesn't love a story about a good quest? our earliest story-telling endeavours are about a quest of some sort or other.

something is wrong. an understatement...more

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Aug 31, 2012 Cam rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-sci-fi

Fans of 'The Road" by Cormac McCarthy should like this one; it's a relentless look at a dystopian future where possibly post-human groups struggle in the immediate aftermath of a nuclear holocaust in the West that seems to have been global. Almost nothing but cockroaches and underground survivalists have made it to the next generation, but a few remnants struggle to control the remaining knowledge and untainted, preserved human embryos. The "hero" is paralyzed and shell-shocked in some way to su...more

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Dec 06, 2012 Ryan Bradford rated it 5 of 5 stars

A post-apocalyptic Salt Lake City? Yes please.

The story is of a man who wakes up in a poisonous world. His captors have a mission for him: travel 40 miles through charred landscape to retrieve an item. Trouble is, he has no use of his legs and must be carried the whole way.

Evenson's book is a brilliant interpretation and meditation on faith which addresses who we trust to (in this case, literally) carry us through.

The main character's carriers (mules)--twins/clones--are simultaneously hilariou...more

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Apr 17, 2012 Shane rated it 4 of 5 stars

Really enjoyed this one. Picked it up initially because I thought the conceit of having a paraplegic character in a post-apocalyptic setting seemed pretty interesting. I wasn't necessarily expecting it to delve into the idea of identity and what it means to be human.

All of the press I've read points to the twist ending, but honestly, that was the weakest part of the book for me personally. It didn't come as a surprise and I think it was maybe the least thought provoking way to close the story....more

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Jan 04, 2013 Larry rated it 5 of 5 stars

You may just come back alive again reading this novel. Be grateful for that. Be wary of that. You’ll want to put the novel down once in a while to rub at the toxic dust in your eyes. Look around when you do and be thankful for color and plant life and a state of consciousness you can trust. Hopefully, you will have loved ones near at hand. Free-flowing and clean water, food that won’t break your teeth. If you’re young and function under a belief that you are or could be immortal, this one may cu...more

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Oct 24, 2012 Hilcia rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: horror, sci-fi, 2012-read

4.5/5.0
This novel is divided into short chapters that make for a quick paced, great read. Brian Evenson takes the reader through the devastated aftermath of the Kollaps, or collapse, of civilization by way of a physical journey, a sort of road trip. For most of this journey the author keeps the main character in the dark, along with the reader, about truths and real events with little foreshadowing of what's to come until about three quarters of the story when things begin to gel.

The title "immo...more

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Apr 03, 2013 Jacqui rated it 4 of 5 stars

Post-Apocalyptic novel without zombies! Raises questions about whether or not the human race ought to be saved, and the nature and purpose of religion. It was especially interesting to me because the action takes place here where I live. It was fun to envision the places I know well as Evenson describes them after the "Kollaps." I have read that the author is a former Mormon and I see questions raised about this state's predominant religion that are particularly interesting. I would give it five...more

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May 08, 2013 Margaret Carmel rated it 3 of 5 stars

While the story and the world was interesting, I felt like there were sections where it just dragged on too long. Also, the constant questions without answers up until the very end were very exhausting. I guess the "point" of the book was Horkai questioning his identity and trying to pin down what it means to be human, but it recurred far to often. Overall, not a bad book per say just not amazing. Also once I found out that Evenson primarily writes short stories, this book makes a lot more sense...more

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Apr 27, 2012 Mark rated it 2 of 5 stars

It's hard to put a finger on just what didn't work. The writing was fine, but not as playfully wicked as I've come to expect from Evenson. The story was interesting, a mormonized post-apocalypse quest in broken northeast utah couple with amnesiac/unreliable narrative development and a share or ruthless violence. But either the scope was too broad, or the pace too fast, but the book never established an atmosphere and that left the story feeling like a lecture. Or maybe the fact that everything f...more

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Sep 05, 2012 Chris King rated it 2 of 5 stars

I'm wondering if this one went over my head. After the fantastic Last Days, this was a let down. It was very....vague. The circumstances under which the events take place, the characters' identities and motivations--vague. Remember the movie, Jaws? They had a hell of a time getting the shark to work right, so they just cut down its presence in the movie considerably. This contributed a lot to the flick's great success. When you give away too much, it's less compelling. Right? I think Evenson wen...more

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Jun 28, 2012 Megan Henrich rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is a post-apocalyptic (nuclear blast) dystopia, and I think it was really well done. It moves quickly, and I was in the world of the book the entire time. It wasn't too gimmicky, and the writing was concise. I think it is a good thing for a book to cause the reader to ask questions, but the only real problem that I had with the book was that it blatantly asked questions about humanity (dialogue between two characters) in a way that I felt dumbed down the material. Other than that, I en...more

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Apr 10, 2013 Maciek rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: post-apocalyptic, science-fiction, speculative-fiction, dystopia, read-in-2013, reviewed

Last year I read Brian Evenson's Last Days, which was one of the best novels I read that year and earned its place on my favorites shelf. That weird story of Kline, a private investigator who gets involved with a peculiar religious cult and steps through the looking glass impressed me greatly, and made me want to read everything that he has written.

The origin of this book is particularly interesting. Back in 2010 a website called The Hypothetical Library, which created covers and blurbs for book...more Last year I read Brian Evenson's Last Days, which was one of the best novels I read that year and earned its place on my favorites shelf. That weird story of Kline, a private investigator who gets involved with a peculiar religious cult and steps through the looking glass impressed me greatly, and made me want to read everything that he has written.

The origin of this book is particularly interesting. Back in 2010 a website called The Hypothetical Library, which created covers and blurbs for books which do not actually exist, asked Evenson to provide a summary of a book he would be interested in writing but wouldn't actually write. Evenson obviously liked the idea behind the blog, and the for the 5th of April described a bleak work of dystopian speculative fiction, titled Immobility. An editor at Tor Books saw it encouraged Evenson to write an actual book, and with the idea still resonating in his head Evenson needed little other incentive. Thus, even though it was not supposed to exist, Immobility came into being.

I'm happy to report that it's a good one. Immobility opens with Josef Horkai, the main protagonist, woken up after being stored in cryogenic sleep for decades. The earth has been destroyed by an event known only as the Kollaps, implied to be a nuclear holocaust which rendered the planet infertile and uninhabitable, forcing the few survivors to live underground because of prevalent radiation.

Horkai doesn't remember being stored or his life preceeding the Kollaps; awake, he discovers that he is paralyzed from the waist down. Soon he is introduced to Rasmus, the leader of a small community called The Hive, living in the ruins of what once was an university. Two of Rasmus's cronies, Olag and Olaf, give Horkai a forced injection - which Rasmus explains is for his own good, as it will slow down the paralysis which is shutting down his body bit by bit - the result of exposure to the nuclear blast, which did not kill him but would eventually leave him locked in in a completely immobile body, were he not stored.
Rasmus tells Horkai that he was awakened because the Hive needs his help in retrieving an object which can save the community - a stolen cylinder containing precious seed, currently held in a remote fortress. Paradoxically, he is the only man who can fulfill the task and survive the journey - exposure to the nuclear blast made him able to stand prolonged exposure to radiation. Rasmus explains that because he cannot walk he will be carried by two "mules", Quatik and Quanik, whose sole purpose is to carry him so that he may retrieve the cylinder. After bringing it back, he will be stored again until the time a cure for his paralysis has been developed. Having really no better options, Horkai agrees and sets off on the journey.

Evenson's work can be classified as a post-apocalyptic fable, employing the classic hero's quest common to many fairy-tales: a long and dangerous journey where the hero aims to acquire a magical item which then he will use to save his beloved/family/the whole kingdom from an imminent danger. Horkai's immobility extends past his physical body: having virtually no memories, he experiences the world he inhabits literally for the first time, just like the reader. Horkai is not certain of anything - he is not even sure if he's fully human - and is haunted with moral, ethical and existential questions. Horkai is a very unreliable protagonist, but his unreliability results because he has no way to knowing who he is - much less if he can know and trust others. He can't even trust his body, with its constant pains and uselessness, forcing him to depend on others for transport. Even though he is completely aware of how little he knows and tries to understand and learn, he has no basis on which he could judge how credible and true is the information that he receives. Religious metaphors are unavoidable - Evenson is an ex-Mormon, having left from Brigham Young University in Utah after growing tensions with the university officials considering the violent nature of his fiction. He was subsequently excommunicated by the church, a decision which he did not challenge. Immobility is set his novel in a post-apocalyptic Salt Lake City where BYU is clearly recognizable.

Evenson's writing is clear and taut, with his distinctly ironic voice clearly recognizable; it's unpretentious but intelligent, brilliantly using the language to describe the bareness and desolation of the destroyed environment and the struggle to find truth in the darkness. Although I admit to preferring Last Days, Immobility is a novel which packs a surprisingly strong punch which it aims right at the gut and leaves its readers almost breathless as it ends. It's a bleak and dark book which packs quite a lot of impact in its short length and certainly confirmed my desire to read everything than Brian Evenson has written. (less)

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Jun 23, 2012 Stephen Wallant rated it 1 of 5 stars

Well, Immobility, in keeping with my policy of giving ONE STAR or FIVE STARS for everything, I'm afraid I had to make an example. Sorry but that's just how it's goin to be. I never get a medium. If you want a large, get a large, or get a small. They only invented mediums if you can't make up your mind! I say, Stop waffling and make a decision. So I hope Brian Evenson doesn't come and have my legs and spine broke like he did to Guy, but someone had to be made an example. I hope you can understand...more

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Jul 29, 2012 Rob rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: genre-fiction, read-in-2012, sf

(6/10) More than anything else [i]Immobility[/i] is good at conveying the paralysis of its protagonist, Indeed, throughout much of the book the reader is in a fashion, unable to turn their head and learn more about the story or even understand what's going on. The bizarre post-apocalyptic landscape reduces our long-honed skills of reading and comprehension to dumb spectatorship.

This is an interesting experience, but often a frustrating one. The experience of this book in my mind has been reduced...more

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Jul 08, 2012 Mark rated it 3 of 5 stars

The popularity of apocalyptic genre fiction in the early 2010s is the product of many forces. The inevitability of global warming, the psychological scars of the war on terror. I've even got a pet theory that the current popularity of zombie fiction is tied subconsciously to the changing media landscape, as we slowly grasp that confirmation bias and the rise of targeted media has given us a reality where we can no longer communicate meaningfully with the people around us, even though they all se...more

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Jun 25, 2012 Mike rated it 3 of 5 stars

Some books have a distinct message. Some books are just out to have fun. Some books are just out to tell an interesting story. In my experience more often than not novels with a dystopian and frequently post-apocalyptic aspect tend to borrow heavily from that first goal. A Canticle for Leibowitz looks at the inevitability of mankind's self destruction, Earth Abides looks at the removal of social barriers and shift of historical memory over time, Level 7 looks at the notion of mutually assured de...more Some books have a distinct message. Some books are just out to have fun. Some books are just out to tell an interesting story. In my experience more often than not novels with a dystopian and frequently post-apocalyptic aspect tend to borrow heavily from that first goal. A Canticle for Leibowitz looks at the inevitability of mankind's self destruction, Earth Abides looks at the removal of social barriers and shift of historical memory over time, Level 7 looks at the notion of mutually assured destruction, while books like Swan Song and The Stand take the apocalypse to look at classic battle of good versus evil. There are countless others many falling into the realm of cautionary tales. However, post-apocalyptic fiction can just as easily be used to tell pure adventure stories such as Zelazny's Damnation Alley or the Mad Max films. Brian Evenson's Immobility is a strange mix of several of these elements. Set in a post-apocalyptic society couched in the airs of a dystopia yet at the same time a novel of discovery and confusion.

Immobility is a novel with a deceptively simple premise. Josef Horkai is awakened from cryogenic sleep by a man named Rasmus with no memory who or where he is. Rasmus claims to be Horkai's friend and tasks him with a mission to retrieve a mysterious something from another group. Unable to walk Horkai is given two “mules,” human engineered for strength and endurance but who barely resemble humans at all. Immobility focuses less on the ravaged landscape of Horkai's world and more on the barren landscape of his own psyche as he attempts to remember himself and the people around him. Evenson's language is terse and direct. Immobility is not a novel to go into lengthy and florid description of the landscape and the sights and sounds of Horkai's experience is relayed with direct observations of the world and distinct descriptions of only that which immediately surrounds Horkai.

Horkai's discussions with his two mule companions serve the twofold purpose of giving a bit of background on the society that Rasmus has created while at the same time uncovering the fanaticism and zealotry of Rasmus' followers. While Horkai may have very little memory his discussions with the mules are odds with his recollections of what humanity should be like. In many ways it is the jarring contrast between the mules and Horkai's hazy recollections that serve as the impetus behind his slow recovery of some memory.

Immobility seems to question how much of who we are is defined by out pasts. On the one hand Horkai is a blank slate. With no memory of his past to inform his sense of self-identity his instinctual reactions to the world around him become the foundation of defining who he is in the present. One of the first actions of Horkai after his initial thawing is to strangle a man. It is this act that really sets the tone for Horkai's experience. In many ways Horkai is the perfect tool for violence. With no memory of his past and no way to make a connection to the world and people around him combined Horkai's already ingrained penchant for violence make him all the more effective at his work. Despite the seemingly remorselessness to Horkai's violent acts Evenson does an excellent job of engendering sympathy for a man who has so clearly been manipulated into his situation and how lacks the means to truly and completely comprehend the nature of his mission.

Immobility is not an easy read; it is a dark novel that casts human in bright and particularly unforgiving light. It examines what becomes of us when survival of the species as a whole becomes are goal so much so that we seemingly irrevocably change ourselves in its pursuit. A difficult novel that fans of dystopian and post-apocalyptic fiction will likely enjoy.(less)

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Jun 24, 2012 M Griffin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Brian Evenson, one of my favorite short story writers, specializes in brief, enigmatic mysteries with a Kafkaesque flavor. Most of his collections have come out from publishers with more of a literary/experimental focus (Underland, Coffeehouse, Four Walls Eight Windows). It wouldn't seem unreasonable to categorize Evenson as a straight "literary" writer whose work contains speculative or "genre" elements only to accentuate the weird unease in a Kafka/Lynch sense, and not as raw meat for a genre...more Brian Evenson, one of my favorite short story writers, specializes in brief, enigmatic mysteries with a Kafkaesque flavor. Most of his collections have come out from publishers with more of a literary/experimental focus (Underland, Coffeehouse, Four Walls Eight Windows). It wouldn't seem unreasonable to categorize Evenson as a straight "literary" writer whose work contains speculative or "genre" elements only to accentuate the weird unease in a Kafka/Lynch sense, and not as raw meat for a genre readership. Such a conclusion about Evenson's work might seem to be argued-against by the release of Immobility, a post-apocalyptic tale which almost be called an "adventure" (if a quiet one), published by SF/Fantasy powerhouse Tor Books.

The story begins with the awakening from cryogenic stasis of Josef Horkai, a paralyzed amnesiac with unexplained resistance to the environmental toxins and radiation which keep the rest of the few surviving humans hiding underground. He's given a mission by Rasmus, seemingly in charge in this desolate, wrecked post-Kollaps aftermath, and a pair of "mules" named Qanik and Qatik, twins or perhaps clones, carry Horkai on the assignment. On the way, Horkai tries to get information from the mules, whose responses often seem nonsensical, yet sometimes contain information or even wisdom.

Horkai's muddled memory, which leaves him uncertain about such basic facts as whether he's even human, drives him even more strongly than any assigned mission. Immobility isn't just about Horkai's paralysis, but about his inability to choose any direction for himself because he lacks the necessary information to judge his own situation. Plagued by cyclical memories of sleeping and awakening from sleep, Horkai struggles to understand who he is, and how to deal with direction in which he has no say. I take this as a direct and explicit comment about the way some religions keep followers in the dark, use them as fodder for the promulgation of the faith. Evenson's own history as a former member of the Mormon church, and the story taking place in Utah, particularly near the Brigham Young University campus, would seem to support this interpretation.

The story is reminiscent of Cormac Mccarthy's The Road in terms of mood, yet in that story the protagonist was strongly driven toward a certain end. Horkai isn't sure what he's seeking, beyond the most basic sort of self-knowledge. The foundational nihilism of Immobility should come as no surprise, as in his acknowledgements Evenson name-checks Thomas Ligotti, a horror writer noted for his pessimism about humanity. I enjoyed Immobility, found it stimulating and well-written, though not quite as sharply-honed as Evenson's short works. It's worthwhile for those readers who enjoy darker tones and a bit of philosophical challenge, but may be too bleak for some.
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May 20, 2012 Wendy rated it 3 of 5 stars

I would rate this 2 1/2 stars or maybe even 2 3/4 if I could. It is worth a read but I wouldn't put it at the top of my list. The premise is certainly intriguing and is handled well. The writing is decent enough. I still haven't quite figured out why I didn't like it more. Perhaps I wasn't in the mood for ambiguity--especially of the kind this narrative trades in. Perhaps I didn't quite bond with the relatively spare style. I don't know. Try it or not. Your call.

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May 26, 2012 Ashley Crawford rated it 5 of 5 stars

Brian Evenson – Immobility (Tor Books, 2012). It’s not hard to imagine Evenson’s latest as a sequel to McCarthy’s The Road set several decades further into the future. The landscape is certainly as blasted, the noxious dust is almost as pervasive. Evenson isn’t as subtle as McCarthy; it is fairly apparent that this was nuclear Armageddon – the flashing light and the bizarre mutations. This is not Evenson’s first foray into the wasteland – in his 2002 Dark Property a woman carries a dying baby ac...more

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Jun 01, 2012 Tim rated it 4 of 5 stars

A relatively short read but packs in a lot. The Q's (two of the characters) practically steal the show. There are several philosophies Evenson describes regarding how people handle the end of the world, and several tantalizing glimpses into what's happening around the main character (who is from the beginning pretty much in the dark) that makes you want more. And the ending is great. A fun summer read!

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