After the Revolution

A gale of destruction overwhelms the United States in this gripping near-future bildungsroman from Evans (A Bried History of Vice) set not long after “the Second American Civil War.” Manny Sanchez, a young fixer who ferries foreign journalists in and out of the war zone between the Republic of Texas and its Bible-thumping rival, the Heavenly Kingdom, is persuaded to postpone fleeing to Europe to take on a rescue mission into the Heavenly Kingdom. Providing the firepower to back up Manny’s palaver is Roland, an ex-U.S. supersoldier conflicted between his desire to keep out of another war and the chance to recover memories that might be better off lost. Between facing down pious hypocrisy and high-powered firefights, they meet Heavenly Kingdom native Sasha, a 17-year-old runaway whose dreams of romance and righteousness were dashed by a forced marriage and whose growing disillusionment spurs her to their cause. Evans never shies away from showing the ugly results of political unity failing, and he eschews picking easy targets for disapproval, giving equal time to a wide variety of viewpoints and social arrangements. Bullets fly furiously, but the emotional costs of violence are paid for in full. This is smart, pointed military sci-fi. (Apr.)