This Immortal by Roger Zelazny
"This Immortal" is a science fiction novel featuring Nomikos, a 234-year-old Greek protagonist who is a mutation resulting from a devastating atomic war on Earth. Despite his minor physical anomalies, Nomikos possesses enhanced strength and an imperfect telepathic ability. The story unfolds in a post-apocalyptic Earth, where most survivors inhabit oceanic islands, while the remnants of humanity have migrated to Vegan planets, where a fascination with Earth’s culture exists. Nomikos previously led a revolutionary group called Radpol in an unsuccessful bid for independence from the Vegan-dominated Taler government.
Fifty years after the failed revolution, Nomikos works as the Commissioner of Earth’s Department of Arts, tasked with preserving cultural artifacts. When Cort Myshtigo, a Vegan aristocrat, arrives to document Earth, he becomes the target of Radpol's assassination attempts. Despite the risks, Nomikos chooses to protect Myshtigo, believing in the potential benefits of his mission. Throughout their journey, they face numerous threats, including mutant creatures and assassins. Ultimately, Myshtigo's mission reveals that the Vegans aim to grant Earth independence, with Nomikos identified as the ideal leader for this transition. The novel concludes with Nomikos taking on the pivotal role of Earth's caretaker, poised to lead its renaissance.
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Subject Terms
This Immortal
First published: 1966 (serial form, “. . . And Call Me Conrad,” The Magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction, October-November, 1965)
Type of work: Novel
Type of plot: Science fiction—post-holocaust
Time of work: About 2,500
Locale: Earth
The Plot
Conrad Nomikos, the Greek protagonist of This Immortal, is a mutation caused by Earth’s atomic war. Although his physical aberrations are minor, Nomikos is 234 years old and shows no signs of aging. His mutation also has granted him great strength and an imperfect telepathic ability.
Nomikos’ Earth is a shattered world. The prewar population centers are cauldrons of radioactivity and mutation, and most of Earth’s four million people live on the oceanic islands, which escaped nuclear targeting. The rest of humanity lives on Vegan planets, and the seat of human government is on the planet Taler. The Vegans helped humanity because they are fascinated by Earth’s self-destructive culture. They also acquired a taste for Coca-Cola and human women.
Earth citizens angered by Vega’s benign domination form a revolutionary group called Radpol. Its goals are to free Earth from Vega and Taler and convince humanity to return home. Nomikos commands Radpol under the name Konstantin Karaghios and leads an unsuccessful war of independence. After Radpol’s defeat, Nomikos stages a boating accident to kill the Karaghios persona.
This Immortal begins fifty years later. Nomikos is now the Commissioner of Earthoffice Department of Arts, Monuments, and Archives under the Taler government. In this role, he directs the preservation and reconstruction of Earth’s cultural remains.
When Vegan aristocrat Cort Myshtigo arrives on Earth to write a travel book, he demands that Nomikos be his guide. Under pressure from Lorel Sands, the Taler government’s Earthdirector and Conrad’s friend, Nomikos agrees.
Believing that Myshtigo’s tour is part of a Vegan plan to take over Earth, a still active Radpol orders his death. Nomikos, despite Radpol’s fears, decides to defend Myshtigo from assassination because he feels honor bound to Sands and because he senses that Myshtigo’s mission will benefit Earth.
While Myshtigo tours Egypt and Greece, Nomikos defends himself and the Vegan against a robot warrior, a forty-foot mutant crocodile, a Radpol assassin, a tribe of cannibalistic mutants, and a mutant boar the size of an elephant. After Myshtigo’s safe return, Nomikos learns the true purpose of the Vegan’s mission. The Vegans wish to grant Earth its independence, but to do so they must overcome the Taler government’s objections. The Vegan solution is to buy Earth from the Taler government, grant Vegan citizenship to all humans off Earth, and then give Earth to an individual of strength and character who will oversee its transition from a Taler protectorship to an independent world.
The Vegan computers determine that Nomikos is that individual. Myshtigo’s mission is to observe Nomikos in action to see if he has the ability to be Earth’s caretaker. Myshtigo affirms that Nomikos possesses the needed skills, and at the end of This Immortal, Nomikos is the owner of Earth and the leader of its renaissance.