Paladin's Odyssey: The Hero Everyone Thought They Knew Paperback – October 13, 2014

As a personal friend of the author, I was a little concerned about whether or not I could provide an objective review of Paladin’s Odyssey. Then it hit me: “You read this book in two days and couldn’t wait to get back to it every time you had to put it down.” Therefore, I could give the book five stars right now and end my review, but I wanted to give prospective readers a bit of an insider look at this novel.Across the past several years I’ve had the privilege of editing much of Mr. Fottler’s writing; however, personal circumstances kept me from reading any of this novel until it was in print. I’m actually glad it worked out that way, as I got to read Bruce’s work as a reader first, rather than a reader/editor.First of all, this book was “right up my alley,” as they say, because I love post-pandemic/apocalypse/EMS novels as long as they don’t take the easy way out and slide downward into the Darwinian survival-of-the-fittest mode in which the “good guys” kill everyone around them who can’t provide supplies, nursing experience, or hulking work muscles. There was much of that in the book, mostly due to former military personnel who decided that adopting demigod status was within their purview. However, those who acted such were not considered heroes, and the novel offers up characters who balanced the dignity of humanity against the depravity very well.The book begins with a regular guy lucky enough to get one of the too-few, vital vaccines against a rampaging flu pandemic. He goes from hiding in his apartment to an appointment as supplies superintendent in a dysfunctional community that is infected with power-hungry narcissism and systemic bigotry. Through circumstances and interpersonal relationships that shape his worldview, he finally moves on to what he believes to be a better way of living in Maine. He carries with him on his dangerous trek to Maine a secret missive, and he is accompanied by a young woman whose life he has saved twice.In a nutshell, this book is about a man who could have, given his circumstances, made decisions that could have taken him down any number of roads—both depraved and redemptive. Paladin turns out to be a man who makes choices to do good rather than evil while living in a state of unbelievable chaos and danger. Doing so puts his life in danger, but he’s a man with a conscience—the type of man who not only has to look at himself in the mirror every morning, but actually cares about what he sees there.If I have anything even remotely negative to say, it is only that I wish the book had been fleshed out more and made longer. I actually felt cheated a bit as some parts of the book went along; for example, the trip to Maine was an opportunity for much more suspense. The way the book was written, as a memoir, made it difficult to do, but first person input from other characters would have been an added plus, especially at such times as when Dr. Kym discovers that 18 bodies that were supposed to be sent to the hospital morgue never arrived, or when Molly endures two long days hiding while waiting for the trip to Maine to begin and fearing that Paladin will leave her behind. Still, the book is a great read, and I figure the other first-person experiences can be written into the screenplay, right?

I was curious and hooked from the first page. The story of Joseph Paladin’s odyssey through a dystopian future reads like a prophetic vision. Told from first person perspective, the narrative is clear and you will be engaged with the narrator as he works and fights for his future…and the future of America.The premise of the book seemed very realistic. A pandemic sweeps the earth. We’ve all heard the warnings, and I could imagine the future playing out very similar to Fottler’s vision.If you like movies like The Book of Eli, then you will love this novel.

I enjoyed this book tremendously. It was realistic and showed the light and dark of our human nature. I hated to come to the end.

I have read many books in the last couple of years, this is one of the best. Looking forward to reading more from Mr Fottler!

Well done!

Originally posted on March 12, 2015.*I won this in a giveaway on LibraryThing. This book is more then just a post apocalyptic tale, as it delves deeper into how we -humans- would deal in situations as the characters went through. So yeah, sure, the story started with a flu and millions of deaths, however that is not what ended their world as they knew it. What did, was their selfishness, their lack of preparation and knowledge of how to live without electricity and food and water, and how they resorted to violence. Walt said it himself near the end that it either brought the best or the worst out of everyone, and although it seemed that the bad outweighed the good he was glad there were still people who had the best brought out of them. Each character was different, but at the same time I do have to agree it was hard to distinguish who was who at times. Smitty, as Walt described him, was a harsh guy who only tolerated people he thought were okay, and yet throughout the book he seemed just like Glenn, who was -near the beginning- Walt's best friend and a guy who seemed genuine and thankful before power got to him and messed with his head. Chung-Hee was a guy who listened well and gave advice from time to time and one who strongly believed in God, yet even so I didn't feel much emotion from him; more so then Smitty and Glenn, yeah, but not enough to make me able to connect with him. Walt himself was alright, I actually really like his character, as he pretty much blocked himself from all the bad in the world and lived in his own little bubble until he came across Joseph Paladin. From then on you see more from him, and it got better. It was well written, though, and the flow was fantastic. I liked the action that was introduced at times too. My favourite part though, I have to say would be whilst Walt and Kathryn are out in the woods trying to get to Maine. They are hungry and dirty and afraid and haven't been clean for days and Walt begins to think what many of us have probably thought from time to time: how is it that in movies the characters in situations like his own find the time to fall in love? Walt himself thinks about the stench and the urgency of the mission and the fear of being caught, and can't seem to find where love falls into place. He says that the stench is so awful that he can't be bothered to think about making love with Kathryn; he barely finds her physically appealing with all the filth and grime and stench on her. I just like that part because it shows neither of them are perfect or unrealistic during their journey, and it feels like you can reach out and they'll be there, because you've connected. So really, I enjoyed this book. I did. The fast pace and many situations in the book definitely pulled me in and kept me interested until the end, and it wasn't overly predictable or unrealistic and I was definitively intrigued while I read. I just would rather the characters be a little more distinct from the other.