SOUND WORDS

'Lightfall: This is our apocalypse'

A satire appropriate for these times

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As always, I love to read new authors and books find their way to me in all kinds of ways.

The book we’re discussing today was left on my doorstep, leaning up against a gray slate slab as if it was waiting for a bus to come by.  

"Lightfall: This is Our Apocalypse" by Christian Carvajal was a perfect read for the week that President Jimmy Carter ws laid to rest, California is on fire and the recent winner of the presidentail election threatens to take over Greenland and Panama. 

Written in 2009, this is an exploration of what an apocalypse might actually look like in America with a hefty dose of satire.  It’s almost a time capsule, as it is squarely set in its time period and space in Sugar Roses, Oklahoma,  where the characters range from a paperboy who converses with god, a screenwriter returning home to the bible belt, and a redneck hero to himself who hears voices in his head. 

I really enjoyed Shay, a customer service rep for a christian publishing company forced to counsel worried customers who are seeing signs of the end of the world as they know it.

I’m no biblical scholar so while I am pretty sure the biblical references in the book are correct, I could be wrong. 

A vengeful agent named A.Q.U.S.A begins to write threatening letters, inexplicable power outages, violence begins to build, and the book hurtles headlong toward the end. 

It’s definitely a fun read, but it can be difficult to keep track of all the things happening.  There’s a frenetic energy to Carvajal’s writing,  like he’s writing with a fast approaching deadline and has inhaled his coffee all day.

"Lightfall" was Carvajal’s first published novel, but he’s been writing short stories, plays and nonfiction since high school.  He’s directed and acted locally, as well as being a part of https://olyarts.org/ OlyArts.

He says “I wanted to write a book about politics, too, but then the world got crazier than anything I could write. So during the pandemic I started writing just for fun and escapism, and the result was Astrojuggernaut, a novel I plan to give away later this year. Yes, that's right, it'll be free, but it's the first of a trilogy and I will charge for the full set. The second book is already finished and I'm starting book three this month.  If all goes well, the trilogy, a light-hearted space opera called Rock Stars, will start rolling out this fall.”

I’m looking forward to reading that!   See you all next week, when I return from snowy Vermont.

Amy Lewis focuses her column on the literary world of Thurston County, spotlighting writers, small presses, book artists, poets, and storytellers of all types. Contact her – amy@thejoltnews.com – if you have a literary event, book, or reading.

Comments

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  • wildnature

    I've often wondered myself if what we are entering is the apocalypse the Bible warned about.

    Tuesday, January 14 Report this

  • Boatyarddog

    Assume if it is the "Biblical Apocalypse" I assume we cannot change that which seems to fit the Illusion.

    Why would we really be concerned about what we cannot change.

    Hope possibly?

    Tuesday, January 14 Report this