This Immortal

4.5 stars
ORIGINALLY POSTED AT Fantasy Literature.

The Earth has been mostly depopulated as humans have discovered more sophisticated and comfortable cultures elsewhere in the universe. Much of its infrastructure was destroyed during ???The Three Days,??? and most of the mainland areas are still ???hot.??? Genetic mutations have caused the birth of creatures previously thought to be only myth. Now Earth is a strange and dangerous place, fit only as a tourist attraction and a vacation spot for the Vegans.

But some people still love Earth, including long-lived Conrad Nomikos, Commissioner for the Arts. Conrad hates the Vegans, so he isn???t happy that he???s been assigned to be the tour guide for Cort Mishtigo, a rich Vegan who may be planning to buy up more of Earth. But even more interesting than Mishtigo???s plans for Earth is the nature of Conrad himself. Who is he?

This Immortal is a gorgeous novel and Conrad Nomikos makes a great hero, similar to Corwin from Zelazny???s later Amber Chronicles. Conrad???s love of Earth and, particularly, for his Greek heritage is full of beauty and passion:

You will pass, but the hills of Greece will remain, will be unchanged, with the smell of goat thigh bones burning, with a mingling of blood and wine, a taste of sweetened almonds, a cold wind by night, and skies as blue-bright as the eyes of a God by day. Touch them, if you dare??? That is why I am refreshed whenever I return, because now that I am a man with many years behind me, I feel this way about the entire Earth. That is why I fought, and why I killed and bombed???

I listened to This Immortal on audio (Brilliance Audio) and fell in love with narrator Victor Bevine whose deeply resonant voice captured perfectly the strength and depth of Conrad, the tenderness of Conrad???s wife Cassandra, the alienness of the Vegan, the gentle deadliness of Hasan the Assassin, and even the zealous geekiness of George, the scientist whose curiosity and ambition makes him willing to experiment on his own friends, pets, and unborn child.

The end of This Immortal wraps up a bit too quickly ??? I wanted to stay longer with Conrad on our devastated planet. I hope everything turns out okay???