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The Herald
There were no air raid sirens. No missiles or bombs. No mushroom clouds. No panic in the streets. The end, when it came, was like nothing we ever expected.
First hit was a small Gulf Coast city. Seventy thousand dead, just like that. Then Rome. Flags toppled and nations crumbled, as people began dying by the millions. Soon there would be no one left alive, except for the lucky few who were genetically immune.
One man—pilot Nick Tesla—knew what was happening. He had survived and escaped the first Zone of Death. The army has sent him back in, determined to stop the destruction of humanity.
Until Tesla sees reality—a mad scientist, the father of the unknown type of radiation, who perhaps isn’t so mad at all. When the tables are turned, Tesla decides to push the button and send the world back to the beginning…so civilization can have a fresh start and avoid all the mistakes of the past.
With a new introduction by Jeff Shaara, the author's son, and a New York Times bestselling novelist in his own right.
First hit was a small Gulf Coast city. Seventy thousand dead, just like that. Then Rome. Flags toppled and nations crumbled, as people began dying by the millions. Soon there would be no one left alive, except for the lucky few who were genetically immune.
One man—pilot Nick Tesla—knew what was happening. He had survived and escaped the first Zone of Death. The army has sent him back in, determined to stop the destruction of humanity.
Until Tesla sees reality—a mad scientist, the father of the unknown type of radiation, who perhaps isn’t so mad at all. When the tables are turned, Tesla decides to push the button and send the world back to the beginning…so civilization can have a fresh start and avoid all the mistakes of the past.
With a new introduction by Jeff Shaara, the author's son, and a New York Times bestselling novelist in his own right.
- GenresScience FictionFiction
229 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1981
89 people are currently reading
239 people want to read
About the author
Michael Shaara
118 books989 followersMichael Shaara was an American writer of science fiction, sports fiction, and historical fiction. He was born to Italian immigrant parents (the family name was originally spelled Sciarra, which in Italian is pronounced the same way) in Jersey City, New Jersey, graduated from Rutgers University in 1951, and served as a sergeant in the 82nd Airborne division prior to the Korean War.
Before Shaara began selling science fiction stories to fiction magazines in the 1950s, he was an amateur boxer and police officer. He later taught literature at Florida State University while continuing to write fiction. The stress of this and his smoking caused him to have a heart attack at the early age of 36; from which he fully recovered. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Shaara died of another heart attack in 1988.
Shaara's son, Jeffrey Shaara, is also a popular writer of historical fiction; most notably sequels to his father's best-known novel. His most famous is the prequel to The Killer Angels, Gods and Generals. Jeffrey was the one to finally get Michael's last book, For Love of the Game, published three years after he died. Today there is a Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, established by Jeffrey Shaara, awarded yearly at Gettysburg College.
Before Shaara began selling science fiction stories to fiction magazines in the 1950s, he was an amateur boxer and police officer. He later taught literature at Florida State University while continuing to write fiction. The stress of this and his smoking caused him to have a heart attack at the early age of 36; from which he fully recovered. His novel about the Battle of Gettysburg, The Killer Angels, won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1975. Shaara died of another heart attack in 1988.
Shaara's son, Jeffrey Shaara, is also a popular writer of historical fiction; most notably sequels to his father's best-known novel. His most famous is the prequel to The Killer Angels, Gods and Generals. Jeffrey was the one to finally get Michael's last book, For Love of the Game, published three years after he died. Today there is a Michael Shaara Award for Excellence in Civil War Fiction, established by Jeffrey Shaara, awarded yearly at Gettysburg College.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
November 11, 2021
Quando il giovane Nick Tesla, al comando di un piccolo aereo, chiede alla torre di controllo dell'aeroporto di Jefferson city il permesso di atterrare, non si immagina di sentire come risposta un inquietante silenzio.
Una volta a terra scoprirà a cosa è dovuto, la morte, sottoforma di un morbo sconosciuto, ha colpito, sterminandola in gran parte, tutta la cittadina.
Da cosa è dovuta questa piaga? Ci sono sopravvissuti? E tutto ció puó essere legato alla presenza in città del dottor Shepherd, genetista e premio Nobel?
E come se non bastasse, ai bordi di Jefferson l'esercito comincia ad ammassare le sue truppe.
"L'araldo dello sterminio", pubblicato nel 1981 da Michael Shaara, si offre come un romanzo particolarmente avvincente e dal ritmo serrato sin dalle primissime pagine.
In un crescendo di tensione, ben sviluppata grazie alle felici scelte narrative, il racconto si dipana fluidamente sino al finale decisamente riuscito.
A far da corollario al romanzo, una schiera di personaggi che per quanto non particolarmente dettagliati risultano comunque ben proposti.
Unica nota stonata, ma che non inficia sulla narrazione, è la presenza di alcuni passaggi che paiono un pó inverosimili ma che si inseriscono comunque bene nella trama del racconto.
Un buon romanzo di fantascienza che merita di essere letto.
Una volta a terra scoprirà a cosa è dovuto, la morte, sottoforma di un morbo sconosciuto, ha colpito, sterminandola in gran parte, tutta la cittadina.
Da cosa è dovuta questa piaga? Ci sono sopravvissuti? E tutto ció puó essere legato alla presenza in città del dottor Shepherd, genetista e premio Nobel?
E come se non bastasse, ai bordi di Jefferson l'esercito comincia ad ammassare le sue truppe.
"L'araldo dello sterminio", pubblicato nel 1981 da Michael Shaara, si offre come un romanzo particolarmente avvincente e dal ritmo serrato sin dalle primissime pagine.
In un crescendo di tensione, ben sviluppata grazie alle felici scelte narrative, il racconto si dipana fluidamente sino al finale decisamente riuscito.
A far da corollario al romanzo, una schiera di personaggi che per quanto non particolarmente dettagliati risultano comunque ben proposti.
Unica nota stonata, ma che non inficia sulla narrazione, è la presenza di alcuni passaggi che paiono un pó inverosimili ma che si inseriscono comunque bene nella trama del racconto.
Un buon romanzo di fantascienza che merita di essere letto.
April 8, 2023
Dark and also uplifting at times. It made me reflect on empathy, control, freedom, loneliness. I appreciated the writing style and its descriptive power. Loved the final.
June 22, 2023
timely read
With the world so polarized at this time a device like that envisioned in this prescient novella would be so welcome. People do not like to think of Armageddon but mass extinction of mankind due to overpopulation is inevitable in the near future. Hopefully it will come as peacefully as this fantastic author envisions. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
With the world so polarized at this time a device like that envisioned in this prescient novella would be so welcome. People do not like to think of Armageddon but mass extinction of mankind due to overpopulation is inevitable in the near future. Hopefully it will come as peacefully as this fantastic author envisions. Not with a bang, but with a whimper.
May 9, 2021
Bel libro.
Fantascienza militare.
Ma ben aricolata la storia, trascina sino alla fine
Fantascienza militare.
Ma ben aricolata la storia, trascina sino alla fine
October 25, 2022
Not a very good end-of-the-world story. Genetic purists build machines to emit radiation that can kill 99.9% of all people, and leaves the genetically pure untouched. Interesting concept, but poorly developed in this book. The characters were not likable (most notably the protagonist turned traitor), and the story had little substance — it was kind of like a 200-page short story.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 20, 2025
The great peace
The story makes you wonder about what other great stories could have come from this author. His son has truly done this man proud.
The story makes you wonder about what other great stories could have come from this author. His son has truly done this man proud.
December 28, 2011
”He did not feel it for a long moment. It was very quiet in the car and very gray in the sky and the road was black and calm and empty, and there was a quiet sound from the engine and the patient thump of the wipers, and then he saw a black bird come out of the sky on the left and cross over him, flying to the right in the light rain, disappearing behind the trees. It was the first motion. And then he felt the current.”
Nick Tesla is flying to Jefferson, Georgia in his small plane. When he can't reach anyone at the airport he is concerned. When he lands and can't find any people he gets worried. When he starts to find dead bodies he gets scared.
I have this morbid fascination with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novels. I think it's watching how people pick up the pieces that fascinate me, the choices they make, for the good or the bad and choices are extrememly important in this book.
I was interested in this book purely on the merit of one of Shaara’s other books, ”The Killer Angels” about the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. This book proves how versatile a writer he is, moving from historical to apocalyptic fiction. If you love books about the US Civil War or even if you know nothing about it, I would highly recommend this book. Look for my review on this book soon.
Shaara slowly builds the tension because we only get the story in pieces; we learn as the characters learn what’s going on. I had so many theories apart from what I had read on the dust jacket. And the way he writes to create an atmosphere of cold terror is exquisite.
”At that moment Ring saw a man break from the side of the radio truck and come running back down through the field, running away. But no one else ran. They all stood there like dark wet statues, in dead silence, looking toward the Wall, and for a long moment Ring had no idea, then it began to come, and he broke forward toward the gate. Faces turned toward him. Black faces: a nightmare of wet man with death in their eyes. He felt his skin prickle.”
I did not like the tongue-in-cheek joke about our protagonist’s name. Nikola Tesla was an amazing man with a brilliant but damaged mind. His scientific genius doesn’t translate to Nick’s character. If Nick had been a closet engineer or did science experiments in his basement I would have seen the connection. As it was, I saw no connection and felt the character was sloppily named.
As well, the scope of the book expanded exponentially when Rome and several other cities were brought into the plot. This felt unimportant. Our main focus is not the team trying to stop the “circle of death” from expanding. If it had been, these other cities would hold more importance on an apocalyptic remaking-the-world scale. But our focus is Nick, a man concerned more with Jefferson than Rome and who wouldn’t be? He has problems surrounding him with Ruth and Sheperd, wild animals, the machine that keeps the circle expanding, other survivors, etc. I think it would have been more effective to focus just on Jefferson.
I don’t know that I agree with the title either. ”The Herald” refers to Sheperd but the story is really about Nick and his experiences, his choice. We follow him through the book. Sheperd is a mysterious scientist until near the end of the book. The title fits in the sense that Sheperd’s machine will usher in a new era but I still feel that Nick’s journey is far more interesting. He’s an ordinary man who has to make an extraordinary choice
Nick Tesla is flying to Jefferson, Georgia in his small plane. When he can't reach anyone at the airport he is concerned. When he lands and can't find any people he gets worried. When he starts to find dead bodies he gets scared.
I have this morbid fascination with apocalyptic and post-apocalyptic novels. I think it's watching how people pick up the pieces that fascinate me, the choices they make, for the good or the bad and choices are extrememly important in this book.
I was interested in this book purely on the merit of one of Shaara’s other books, ”The Killer Angels” about the Battle of Gettysburg in the American Civil War. This book proves how versatile a writer he is, moving from historical to apocalyptic fiction. If you love books about the US Civil War or even if you know nothing about it, I would highly recommend this book. Look for my review on this book soon.
Shaara slowly builds the tension because we only get the story in pieces; we learn as the characters learn what’s going on. I had so many theories apart from what I had read on the dust jacket. And the way he writes to create an atmosphere of cold terror is exquisite.
”At that moment Ring saw a man break from the side of the radio truck and come running back down through the field, running away. But no one else ran. They all stood there like dark wet statues, in dead silence, looking toward the Wall, and for a long moment Ring had no idea, then it began to come, and he broke forward toward the gate. Faces turned toward him. Black faces: a nightmare of wet man with death in their eyes. He felt his skin prickle.”
I did not like the tongue-in-cheek joke about our protagonist’s name. Nikola Tesla was an amazing man with a brilliant but damaged mind. His scientific genius doesn’t translate to Nick’s character. If Nick had been a closet engineer or did science experiments in his basement I would have seen the connection. As it was, I saw no connection and felt the character was sloppily named.
As well, the scope of the book expanded exponentially when Rome and several other cities were brought into the plot. This felt unimportant. Our main focus is not the team trying to stop the “circle of death” from expanding. If it had been, these other cities would hold more importance on an apocalyptic remaking-the-world scale. But our focus is Nick, a man concerned more with Jefferson than Rome and who wouldn’t be? He has problems surrounding him with Ruth and Sheperd, wild animals, the machine that keeps the circle expanding, other survivors, etc. I think it would have been more effective to focus just on Jefferson.
I don’t know that I agree with the title either. ”The Herald” refers to Sheperd but the story is really about Nick and his experiences, his choice. We follow him through the book. Sheperd is a mysterious scientist until near the end of the book. The title fits in the sense that Sheperd’s machine will usher in a new era but I still feel that Nick’s journey is far more interesting. He’s an ordinary man who has to make an extraordinary choice
September 16, 2012
Michael Shaara's The Killer Angels is my favorite book. After reading it, I decided to read all three of his others. This is the last one, and another good one. While The Killer Angels remains my favorite, I've enjoyed all three of his others. This novel was more in the science fiction category than his others, which was a bit different for me. I am not a huge science fiction fan. However, this book kept me interested and I thought it actually got better as the story developed. The style seemed a bit choppy and hard to follow at times, but the plot thickened as more and more information was revealed.
Shaara developed interesting characters and a though provoking plot. The idea of a machine that targets a person's genetics in order to eliminate those who are genetically "weaker" is a scary idea. The idea can be the best intentions of some, but the end result is nothing less than the end results of the Holocaust. Do we love ourselves so much that we believe we are really good enough to determine what really makes a person best? Can we really make these types of judgments? What we see as weak, is it really weakness? What is the true essence of a person, and at what point do we lose our humanity? If we seek the eradication of others under the guise of improving humanity, what are we really improving?
Shaara deals with these philosophical questions through the characters and plot in this novel. He draws a comparison between the events of this novel to the events of the Flood account in Genesis. However, in this case, the "flood" is caused by man. I'm not sure what Shaara's religious convictions are, but in the end, love of others appears to win out, even at the cost of self. Perhaps Nick Tesla could in some ways be considered a "Jesus figure" in this story. His inner struggle to determine what is good, evil, and best, is quite telling of our human tendencies toward sin. While Nick comes to the conclusion of good on his own, I think that in reality, his decisions would have been otherwise. Our desire for sin is too great to do good on our own. I was glad Shaara chose the "happy" ending here, though.
This one made me think. I always like that.
Shaara developed interesting characters and a though provoking plot. The idea of a machine that targets a person's genetics in order to eliminate those who are genetically "weaker" is a scary idea. The idea can be the best intentions of some, but the end result is nothing less than the end results of the Holocaust. Do we love ourselves so much that we believe we are really good enough to determine what really makes a person best? Can we really make these types of judgments? What we see as weak, is it really weakness? What is the true essence of a person, and at what point do we lose our humanity? If we seek the eradication of others under the guise of improving humanity, what are we really improving?
Shaara deals with these philosophical questions through the characters and plot in this novel. He draws a comparison between the events of this novel to the events of the Flood account in Genesis. However, in this case, the "flood" is caused by man. I'm not sure what Shaara's religious convictions are, but in the end, love of others appears to win out, even at the cost of self. Perhaps Nick Tesla could in some ways be considered a "Jesus figure" in this story. His inner struggle to determine what is good, evil, and best, is quite telling of our human tendencies toward sin. While Nick comes to the conclusion of good on his own, I think that in reality, his decisions would have been otherwise. Our desire for sin is too great to do good on our own. I was glad Shaara chose the "happy" ending here, though.
This one made me think. I always like that.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 20, 2008
This is a mediocre book (well worth finishing, not worth recommending) by an excellent author, Michael Shaara. He wrote a fictional description of the Battle of Gettysburg which is a classic, a word that is unlikely to be applied to "Herald." The story is much like the plot of the late Michael Crichton's "The Prey," an unlikely biological weapon threatening mankind. "Herald" was not without its pleasures, and thus I finished in and gave it three stars.
December 3, 2011
I can't remember where I found this little book but I grabbed it because I'm planning to read another of his books. This was written in 1981. It was interesting to see how the author approached this subject. Sort of a Walking Dead scenario without the walking dead.
February 29, 2012
Originally titled THE HERALD (copy that I read), I couldn't put it down...very eerie and disturbing as the main character went through the paces - told in the style of writing that made Michael famous.
June 16, 2014
I liked the book. Part post-apocalyptic, part dystopian. Suspenseful and kind of eerie. The main character began as a lost soul who is running around with a hope deficit but he redeems himself. It's a quick read and worth it.
Read
May 24, 2016This is another short novel from the author of my favorite book, “The Killer Angels”. The premise reminded me a little of Stephen King’s “Under the Dome”. It was entertaining with a thought provoking ending.
March 5, 2019
The author previously hooked me with Killer Angels, so I couldn't help but enjoy this book. It was a fun read and
made me think about our future in this world we live in. I recommend the book of you like light science fiction.
made me think about our future in this world we live in. I recommend the book of you like light science fiction.
August 4, 2015
Buffo rileggere libri vecchissimi...questo me lo ricordavo a malapena.
Beh, carino, nulla di piu'...le paure sono sempre le stesse.
Beh, carino, nulla di piu'...le paure sono sempre le stesse.
March 28, 2020
Not too bad. Read it about 2010.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews