Wayne Wightman

Selection Event is an interesting look at the aftermath of a virus that decimates the human race. There are no zombies or monsters, just a highly contagious disease that spares very few humans, and even fewer of the survivors are stable or trustworthy. When our protagonist Martin emerges from a year-long isolation study, he finds everyone he knew long gone, with only his half-starved family pet remaining to connect him to this new world. Predictably, among the few survivors are dangerous, power, drug or religion crazed people intent on controlling or harming Martin as he struggles to rebuild a life worth living. There are moments of very good writing in this story, as well as moments sad and sobering, describing what is lost, what remains, and how trivial our current daily lives compare to this new world without humanity. I found this a compelling read, and only in retrospect, after reading other reviews, did I realize that most, if not all of the major bad guys are religious fanatics. However, I don't think this novel is a statement against religion as much as it is a statement against corrupt power, manipulation and greed. I found the survival scenarios facing the characters to be well thought out and believable, such as the realities of long term fuel and food viability, and the struggle to grow crops and hunt food. I found Martin to be a sympathetic and honorable man who is forced to adapt and evolve to protect the new family and community he struggles to build, and enjoyed the cast of interesting characters he collected on his journey, especially Diaz.… (altro)

The pace for Selection Event by Wayne Wightman is set by a loving dog, Isha, who is waiting in the front window for her owners, who never come home because they have been killed by a virus which kills off the majority of mankind. Isha is saved by survivor Martin, who was participating in a year-long isolation experiment and thus missed the virus and its devastation. Martin emerges into an empty world and spends his time looking for other survivors and trying to build up something of a community. Unfortunately, there are few survivors and many of them are not the sort that normal people would want to join up forces with, with a few notable exceptions including Diaz, a manic-depressive biker, Xeng, a naturopath doctor, and Rusty, a down to earth handyman. I enjoyed these and other characters in the book, and liked how relationships between them all the developed. It was also interesting to watch Martin mature from an aimless drifter to a strong, moral leader. At times the plot seemed a bit far-fetched to me -- the bad guys were *so* bad! -- but this was made up for by the beautiful way the dog Isha's thoughts were conveyed, and for the strong characters that were developed as the story progressed. A good addition to the post-apocalyptic genre. I have already purchased the author's other book.… (altro)