Outland Exile by W. Clark Boutwell
The world is getting older. The world is getting younger. The United States is dead and the Democratic Unity killed it. After catastrophic wars and the Meltdown, The Unity rules from its East Coast citadel, leaving the outlands to savages and its strangely altered plants. Providing free health care, full employment, computerless surfing of its…
The world is getting older.
Seventeen-year-old Lieutenant Malila Chiu, is a veteran officer who, despite well-earned fame, finds her career in tatters. Vandalism at a distant “sniffer” station triggers her demotion. For her real and manufactured transgressions and facing denunciation . . . or worse, Malila’s one option is to enter the outlands to repair the station herself. At first, the repairs go well.
Dropping from fatigue, she wakes to find a hideously ancient savage, Jesse Johnstone, has murdered her platoon and now holds a knife at her throat, making her the . . . Outland Exile.
“Outstanding, Exhilarating Outland Exile”
Five Star Review on Amazon By Nina Dunton
I read mostly nonfiction, but this futuristic novel caught my attention for its projection of future social and political constructs. The protagonist, Malila, finds her world upended once, then twice as she struggles to decide which of two worldviews she wants to embrace. It’s well-written and thought-provoking. How do we know if our government is lying to us? What real values are worth fighting for? I find it reminiscent of “Brave New World,” but with fast-moving action and short chapters that pull you along with the narrative. The end didn’t satisfy me, but I understand a sequel is in the works!
About the Author
Born in Chicago and raised outside Philadelphia, Clark has taught and practiced intensive care for newborn infants on four continents and eight countries, as he continues to do. He lives with his bride of 38 years in Alabama. They have two grown children and two grandchildren. He has been an avid solo hiker, backpacker, and climber since he was 11 years old.
“Outland Exile” is his debut novel and the first book of an expected five book series centering on aging, medical care, cybernetics, society and faith in a future America.
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