In the book, the
people of Planet Earth have -- predictably -- trashed the place and fought a
nuclear war. The war is known as the “Three Days,” which though never stated,
represents the amount of time between the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. In
the war’s aftermath, much of the Earth’s population has fled to the Planet Titan,
where they are welcome, but given the treatment received by immigrants
universally. Of the life-forms who remain on Earth, four million are mortals,
and a whole lot are nuclear mutants. It is thought that once Earth restores
itself, the humans on Titan will return to Earth.
The species
who are native to Planet Titan are the Vegan, blue human-like creatures
derogatorily referred to as “Veggies.” They
have no interest in colonizing Earth. However, as a people who have never experienced
nuclear warfare, they are scientifically interested in Earth as a case study. The
Veggies have purchased the majority of the habitable parts of Earth from the
people who fled to Titan – at bargain basement prices. They use their land buys
as tourist resorts, and for archaeological expeditions.
The Vegans also
have no particular interest in the day-to-day administration of post-apocalypse
Earth, so they created a quasi-government of the humans who stayed on Earth to
run the place. The government is called Radpol. It is headquartered in
Port-au-Prince, Haiti a city unaffected by the nuclear war.
The politics
of the Radpol forms the action theater in the book. One faction wants a
peaceful co-existence with the Vegans, the other faction wants to expel them. The
two sides are represented by two demigods who have been summoned to Port-au-Prince,
one is charged with protecting a prominent visiting Vegan official, the other
has been hired to assassinate him. Having a basic understanding of Greek mythology is not required to enjoy this book, though it certainly helps.
Recommendation: Okay, quite clever in spots, though
not the best sci-fi book I have ever read.
love it - must read for me. You sure about the Haiti comment; must residents would think a blast indeed hit it time and time again.
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