So This Is How It Ends (review)

For five very different teenagers, Kali, Gus, Tigre, Diana, and Aman, the end of their worlds comes with a bang that knocks them unconscious for seventy-five years. When they awaken, they each hear a siren call to head for New York, though for some that means thousands of miles of traveling. As they journey, each teen gains insight into this new world in which humans are unable to reproduce, robots created to be helpful have violently rebelled, and the remaining people frantically seek ways to extend their lives. It is only after the five arrive in New York that their destiny becomes clear: they are to be avatars for gods and goddesses in a war to decide who will have dominion over Earth, and the massive destruction was simply a way to clear space for this epic battle. The unveiling of their fates as avatars comes rather too late to be fully explored or explained in this novel; as this is the first in a series, Sutherland's clear intent was to describe this complex new world and introduce the five protagonists, a task successfully achieved. A cliffhanger ending with one teen perhaps gaining an unsurpassable advantage over the others all but guarantees continuing interest in and anticipation for future volumes. Compelling action melds effectively with religious mythology, a well-developed cast, and terrifyingly realistic future world elements, making this novel an easy sell to adventure, fantasy, and sci-fi fans.