The New World

The collaboration by Adrian (The Great Night) and Horowitz (The Silent History) stylishly blends genres. Following a trip to Paris, Dr. Jane Cotton returns home to New York City to discover that her husband, Jim, has died and Polaris, a cryonics company that claims to be able to preserve a person's consciousness until they can be awakened in the future, has taken Jim's head. Jane resolves to recover her husband's skull and destroy Polaris. Meanwhile, in the future, Jim struggles to complete his incarnation, examination, and debut so that he can join the new world. The book zigzags between perspectives and concepts: the present and the future, death and rebirth. Adrian and Horowitz bind the fantastical with a very believable relationship: Jane's resentment, Jim's guilt, and their shared mourning, ground the science fiction tropes. As the story begins to move in a different direction, working backwards, the narrative becomes more introspective. This second cycle lingers in the details of Jim and Jane's marriage. Graphics, color transitions, fades, and even the way in which the text sweeps compliment and contribute to this engaging digital narrative. (Aug.)