He's back. And this time, it's personal.
Ever wonder how the events prophesied in Revelation might manifest themselves in the 21st century? Me neither. But BeauSeigneur has. Nuclear war erupts in Asia. Asteroids obliterate entire countries and poison the ocean. And the locusts make 2019's cicadas look like a basket of kittens. Hundreds of millions of people sicken and die, are incinerated, become homicidal and suicidal berserkers, and otherwise perish in a series of natural and unnatural disasters as BeauSeigneur types, and more will follow unless Christopher Goodwin - cloned in Volume 1 from skin cells found stuck to the Shroud of Turin and now on track to become secretary-general of the UN - can summon his powers and do something. Just at that moment, a crazed gunman enters the General Assembly building, takes aim at the podium, and -
How it all came to pass is finally explained, as the Apocalypse rages, in a monologue/info dump that starts on page 192 and ends on page 215. Or is it explained? My nose for heresy detects something suspicious about this backstory, and I wouldn't bet against its being superceded by an equally formidable chunk of surprise-twist exposition in Volume 3. Wheels within wheels, as Ezekiel would have said.
It's a feast of gloriously wooden dialogue and stone-faced storytelling. Following hard on the nuclear war that has nearly obliterated India and Pakistan,
"Ambassador Christopher Goodwin stared blankly as those around him in the emergency meeting of the Security Council discussed providing relief to the survivors of the asteroid's devastation. It had been less tham two hours since the asteroid had made its pass. The first order of business was to dispatch teams to assess the situation and report back with recommendations. Beyond that, all that could be done was to discuss contingencies for providing relief.
It would not be an easy matter."
On the other hand, just-the-facts narration is what makes the tale of Asteroid 2031 KD's brush with the Western Hemisphere so good. In the emotionless tone of a science documentary, and clearly with some knowledge of how such a thing would actually work, BeauSeigneur details, minute by minute, the asteroid's approach to Earth, its low-altitude path from the Arctic Ocean to the Southern Atlantic, and precisely how it destroys a swath of the planet below. If he'd stick to that sort of thriller writing, I'd give him an extra star.