Refugium
Refugium is a brutal, thrilling novel about what it takes to become an apex predator.
In Eric Nicholas’s thrilling novel Refugium, a volcanic eruption casts the future of life on earth in doubt.
The story is set more than 74,000 years ago, after the Toba Event, a massive volcanic eruption, ushers in a state akin to nuclear winter. A small cadre of early humans seek sanctuary in a massive forested area that just protects them from the worst of the environmental hazards. The forest holds its own threats, though, including monstrous creatures vying for dwindling supplies and other groups of early humans. All within it fight to be the apex predator and claim dominion.
Much is made of the major differences between the early human groups, who are fleshed out in terms of their individual perspectives on the forest survival situation. In one of the tribes, people’s actions, thoughts, and culture focus on the present; another tribe boasts more evolved consciousness, forming a tiered society and having nuanced conversations about threats within the forest. Prophecies motivate them to establish a power base. Even the most primitive groups prioritize family connections. All of the tribes are motivated by more than mere survival.
The Shadow Giant, a lone figure of massive size and intense intelligence, also generates intrigue. His physicality scares off most of the animals, and his intelligence gives perspective on the ongoing conflict in the forest. His inner thoughts are his vehicle for being understood, as he is without a means of verbal communication. Meanwhile, violence between the human tribes and the animals explodes, and scenes of gore and brutal desperation hold attention.
The forest is wrought in visceral detail, with notes that it is a “lush cavernous world, awash with silver light filtering down from the high canopy, teem[ing] with swarming life” wherein the “withering bush” reaches out with “naked branches, gnarled skeletal fingers.” The staggering number of insects trapped within the canopy are said to make the air vibrate, and birds and monkeys terrorize the heights, even as unseen small creatures scuttle through the undergrowth. Further, looming over all of these lives is the dire implication that not all will survive. Excitement is generated as the Shadow Giant, the prophecy-toting warriors, and secondary human groups war to be the species that comes out on top.
An explosive, detail-rich novel about the aftermath of a near-extinction-level event, Refugium focuses on warring survivors in a primeval forest.
Reviewed by
John M. Murray
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