Radiant Terminus

Radiant Terminus

<div><p>"Irreducible to any single literary genre, the Volodinian cosmos is skillfully crafted, fusing elements of science fiction with magical realism and political commentary."— <I>Music & Literature</I></p><p>The most patently sci-fi work of Antoine Volodine's to be translated into English, <I>Radiant Terminus </I>takes place in a Tarkovskian landscape after the fall of the Second Soviet Union. Most of humanity has been destroyed thanks to a number of nuclear meltdowns, but a few communes remain, including one run by Solovyei, a psychotic father with the ability to invade people's dreams—including those of his daughters—and torment them for thousands of years.</p><p>When a group of damaged individuals seek safety from this nuclear winter in Solovyei's commune, a plot develops to overthrow him, end his reign of mental abuse, and restore humanity.</p><p>Fantastical, unsettling, and occasionally funny, <I>Radiant Terminus </I>is a key entry in Volodine's epic literary project that—with its broad landscape, ambitious vision, and interlocking characters and ideas—calls to mind the best of David Mitchell.</p><p><B>Antoine Volodine </B>(a.k.a. Lutz Bassmann, a.k.a. Manuela Draeger) is the primary pseudonym of a French writer who has published more than forty books, over twenty under this name. Seven of his titles are currently available in English translation, including <I>Minor Angels</I>, <I>Bardo or Not Bardo</I>, and <I>Post-Exoticism in Ten Lessons, Lesson Eleven</I>.</p><p><B>Jeffrey Zuckerman </B>is digital editor of <I>Music & Literature</I>. His writing and translations have appeared in <I>Best European Fiction</I>, <I>3:AM Magazine</I>, the <I>Rumpus</I>, and the <I>Los Angeles Review of Books</I>.</p></div>