Extinction Game

Starred review from October 26, 2015
Jerry Beche thinks he is the last living human on Earth until a handful of people suddenly appear on his doorstep. They are from wrecked parallel Earths, part of a group of apocalypse survivors called Pathfinders. They work for the clandestine Authority, which sends them on missions to extinct worlds looking for technology and other artifacts. But as welcoming as they are, Jerry’s fellow Pathfinders are clearly keeping secrets—including about Jerry himself. And the increasingly divided Authority refuses to explain what it is and why it wants the objects that the Pathfinders throw themselves into world-killing danger to retrieve. Gibson (The Thousand Emperors) turns the genre on its head, taking survivors and throwing them into a variety of other apocalypses, with some unexpected enemies dogging their heels. He excels at depicting real-feeling destruction and the tenacity and weaknesses of survivors, along with the moral wrestling of survivor guilt. This potent, teeth-gritting SF thriller shows death and love only a shadow away from our ordinary lives. Agent: John Jarrold, John Jarrold Literary Agency (U.K.).