Postscript

G. 9 Up–West has the worst of both worlds. He was old enough to have gotten a taste of the “Pre” years, having been 12 when the event occurred that turned the sky an uncompromising gray and killed most of the earth’s human inhabitants (as far as he can tell). He is also young and healthy (enough) to expect a long-ish life. Every day is pretty much the same for him since he boarded the ship helmed by the Captain, until one day he catches a feral child on his fishing line and he is human-trafficked by the Captain to the next human they meet, on the sailboat Sidereal. Luckily, Emil has no desire to be a proponent of the trafficking, and West finds himself in a much better situation. Emil offers the opportunity for West to live among multiple people again, even if the residents aren’t welcoming at first. McCarthy (Once & Future) gives a depressingly realistic look at what a postapocalyptic future might hold, but West is a surprisingly upbeat survivor. The sparse cast of characters in this small community at the end of the world run the gamut of 2020s memes and lifestyles. The simple language and absurdist writing style evokes Francesca Lia Block. Though not explicitly stated, the Captain is coded as white, West is Black or mixed race, and Emil is coded Latine. Both West and Emil are ­LGBTQIA+. ­