The Immortals (Hickman novel)

The Immortals

Cover of the first edition
Author	Tracy Hickman
Country	United States
Language	English
Genre	Science fiction novel
Publisher	Roc
Publication date	May 1, 1996
Media type	Print (Hardback & Paperback)
Pages	368 pp
ISBN	0-451-45402-2

The Immortals is a 1996 science fiction novel by Tracy Hickman, originally published in hardcover by Roc. The novel describes a future America in which a virus similar to AIDS has panicked the U.S. government into setting up internment camps to contain the sufferers. The AIDS-like disease serves as backdrop and plot device to examine human relationships in circumstances of extreme duress.

Plot

When a cure for AIDS turns out to be more virulent than the disease, the U.S. establishes quarantine camps in the desert southwest. Michael Barris, a TV producer, masquerades as one of the infected and travels to the camps in search of his son. He finds horrific conditions, and learns that the so-called quarantine camps are death camps where the infected are gathered, purposefully brutalized, and ultimately cremated alive, their ashes bulldozed into the desert sand. Barris's son escapes the camp before the cycle of immolation, carrying the evidence he needs to expose the governmental mis-information campaign.

Publication history

• 1996, U.S., Roc, ISBN 0-451-45402-2, hardcover
• 1996, U.S., Penguin Group, ISBN 0-614-96777-5, Mass Market paperback
• 1997, U.S., Roc, ISBN 0-451-45404-9, Mass Market paperback
• 2008, U.S., Sovereign Press, ISBN 1-931567-39-5, paperback

Adaptations

In 2006, DragonHearth produced the work as a podcast novel, and made it available as a free download from Podiobooks.com.

Awards and nominations

• Winner 2007 Parsec Award for Speculative Fiction (Novel Form)

External links

• The Immortals at the MLCA Database
• The Immortals on Tracy Hickman's site
• The Immortals on the Podiobooks site