A Home Without a Home by Cizar Thamaru

A post-apocalyptic journey to find meaning and community in a blasted world, A Home Without a Home: Home is Never Far from the Heart! by Cizar Thamaru is a blunt portrait of existence in a terribly grim future.

In the 31^st century, a young man left behind by most of humanity embarks on a quest to the eastern world to find the potential remnants of civilization. Gathering a crew of eccentric friends and allies along the way, he winds through desolate lands and encounters desperate souls, eventually attempting to drive across the empty ocean in search of salvation. Overcoming interpersonal disagreements and battling the unforgiving conditions of a ravaged planet, this unique band of wanderers embodies the philosophical aspirations and ancient human instincts to explore, survive, and thrive.

While the big-picture story is creative, the writing quality and story development are in need of an overhaul, from technical accuracy and abundant proofreading errors to plot holes and the need for an abiding suspension of disbelief. The tone of the dialogue and vocabulary choices feel wholly contemporary, rather than from a millennium in the future, and some elements of the premise are difficult to accept, such as a first-generation Cybertruck that runs or NASA still being operational, along with cursorily researched details about astrophysics, the solar system, climate change, and cultural evolution.

If the novel were conceived as a larger-than-life and exaggerated satire, some of these choices would be better positioned, but the novel is aiming at some degree of realism, so it requires fundamental fixes before the story’s enduring themes of survival and triumph can be taken seriously by fans of the genre.