Customer Reviews

Total Oblivion, More or Less: A Novel

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Total Oblivion, More or Less is a fantastical voyage down the Mississippi that would make Huck Finn and Tom Sawyer proud. The only difference with this trip is: there's no going home.

"There were tall white birches lining the eastern shore, their bark like an albino's skin. They seemed like trees from a different place - but then I remembered that we were in a different place. And anyway, we'd never be going back to these birches. Few things from the journey would really be remembered. But maybe I would make a point of remembering the birches, because no one else would." -pg 152-153

Cell phones, computers, universities, strip malls, and all modern conveniences are gone. The Mississippi River has become as deep as an ocean housing submarines, whales, and other deep sea aquatic life. The states no longer exist by the names we know and English is not the language spoken by all. On the shoreline roam giraffes, and horse-mounted warriors called Scythians who battle for power with the new leaders called the Empire.

Despite there not being an America anymore, the American spirit is strong with average-citizens-now-turned-refuges taking whatever is available and starting fresh. New professions and businesses emerge in cities that should be familiar, but are unrecognizable due to the plague that ravages society, the shifting environment, and various governments fighting for control.

"I kept thinking, well, maybe all of this trouble will pass over, and electricity will start working again, and the Scythians will retreat to wherever they came from, and the Empire will give back their land, too, and people will be able to use their cars again and drive wherever they want to, and the government will find a cure for the plague, and we'll go back to St. Paul and I'll start my senior year, none the worse for wear."
-pg 3

In this futuristic alternate-world, survival becomes a way of life for 16 year-old Macy. She gets pulled out of her average middle-class Minnesotan upbringing by a group of soldiers, put into a refugee camp, and finally escapes on a riverboat going south. Macy works to keep her family together and maintain normalcy, which she, more or less, succeeds at. We learn about the plague through flash-backs by Macy, and also scattered letters, news reports, and court documents. The reader, just like Macy, needs to stop struggling with the rules of this antic world, where even the timeline doesn't make sense. This lack of coherence is the biggest obstacle to the novel, but luckily it doesn't detract from the story.

Total Oblivion proves that life must move forward, even as society is collapsing. Though it could be perceived as a somber novel, it does delight the reader with ironic humor and unexpected plot twists. Author, Alan Deniro, takes an innovative look at apocalyptical times and the result is ethereal.

Alan DeNiro never writes the expected, so don't expect your ordinary apocalypse when you open this seriously funny-sad apocalyptic novel. There are lots of bangs in here, and lots of whimpers, and lots and lots of hope for something better, which most end-of-the-world tales forget to tell about. Highly recommended.

This is the story of Macy, an ordinary teenage girl in an ordinary American family, in St. Paul, Minnesota. But things are going a bit wrong in her world. Scythians have invaded Minnesota, fighting the Empirial forces... huh? Yes, that is what this book is like, as Macy and her family end up on a strange trip down the Mississippi river. Old cities no longer exist, new ones are there. And the Mississippi appears to have gotten very, very deep.

This is a wonderful book of misplaced history, fantastical events, and a human being (Macy) coming to grips with her life and her family. And really, isn't life like that for all of us, all of the time, anyway? Who knows what amazing thing is coming down the pike for any of us. You just have to deal with it.

I loved this beautifully written little book.

I did a search for Minnesota authors and discovered this book. I bought it on a whim because as a Minnesotan, I'd like to see what people in the area are writing. I've read post-apocalyptic novels in the past, such as The Road, The Stand, and a few others. I expected a bizarre novel and that's what Total Oblivion is. I am on page 93 and I can't get into the novel at all. I'm almost one third through the book and I have no idea what The Empire is, who the Scythians are, where they came from, why they're on horses and pulling wagons. At first the novel was fun, mentioning cities I'm familiar with, but I wish DeNiro would give such important information at the beginning of the novel, not hidden somewhere in the middle. I just can't bring myself to finish this.

The book would have been much better if the author explained at least some of the different Empires/tribes, etc. He throws a LOT of terms around regarding different societies, armies, creatures, and such, but never explains their origins. Maybe there will be a Book II that will go into this area - or better yet, a prequel.

As I was reading, I couldn't decide if the book was written by a 12-year old with a wild imagination (and a total disrepect for parents/siblings in general) who was given a creative writing project for a class, someone having a very bizarre dream, or someone having a bad hallucinatory drug trip. This book goes N.O.W.H.E.R.E. I had hoped, also, for some explanation as to WHO those invaders were and WHY, but then when reallllly WEIRD stuff started happening (like a plague that puts lesions with animals in 3-d pictures on your body - and a dog that eats a newborn baby and then TALKS b/c the baby has taken over the DOG body) ... c'mon! Also, it seemed the invaders had been around for A LOT of years before Minnesotans even knew there could be a threat and everything went to hell in a handbasket pretty fast ... even with cars and buildings growing ivy and moss on them - ahh - those things take YEARS, folks. There was a LOT of Potential Hope and GREAT Ideas within that would have lead in fascinating directions, but the author never followed through on any of those and instead kept slipping off into miscellaneous lala lands. Poo-poo!