by Ray Wallace

The Burden of Indigo
By Gene O'Neill
Prime Books      

OVERVIEW: A new novel by Gene O'Neill which combines elements of sci-fi, fantasy, and horror.

DETAILS: I remember seeing a news story a few years back in which a judge sentenced a man to wear a sandwich board declaring the crime he had committed—I believe it was shoplifting—on the side of a busy intersection in his home town. The idea was, apparently, to humiliate the man into never committing the crime again. The effectiveness of all forms of punishment is debatable and this one is no exception. One can only imagine that the time the man spent carrying out his sentence was time he'd rather forget. In the end, however, he was able to take the sign off and get on with his life. But what if he had to wear the sign—or something similar—until the day he died? What if from the moment of his sentencing anyone who laid eyes on him would become instantly aware of his criminal nature, or at least aware of that one moment in which he decided to step outside of the laws of society? What sort of life would he lead then? This question is at the heart of Gene O'Neill's new novel The Burden of Indigo. And, of course, the answer is far from a simple one.

The book is set in a future after an unspecified Collapse which has brought about the downfall of most of American civilization. Cities lay in ruin, have been allowed, for the most part, to be reclaimed by nature. The highways and empty land between the cities are inhabited by Freemen, the name given to those who live outside the Shields, the new city-states that have come into existence since the Collapse. Gaeton Nuccion, the story's protagonist, was born in Ocina Shield in Cal West where he was raised by his aunt. One day he commits a terrible crime against a young boy in the Ruins outside Ocino Shield where the Freemen gather to sell and trade goods. Gaeton is found guilty, is permanently dyed indigo from head to toe, the color of a certain kind of sex offender. Then he is exiled from the Shield.

The story follows Gaeton Nuccion on his travels as an old man. He has been in exile for over thirty years. There are journal entries and flashback sequences that show us what Gaeton was like when younger, what life was like in the Shield. One of the major questions the book delves into concerns what is it that drives a man onward after so many years as an outcast, a pariah for the most part. Sure, there is the conditioning that one is forced to undergo when one is found guilty of a crime, but with Gaeton it is more than that. He has reason to hope for he believes his color is fading. And real or imagined it is this prospect that keeps him going, that doesn't allow him to give up. For if his color fades then he can one day truly be a free man again.

Gaeton's adventures are many, his encounters with other Freemen ranging from the ugly to the poignant. Gene O'Neill handles the subject matter here with a deft touch (for example, the assault on the young boy happens "off camera," so to speak) allowing the reader to empathize with a man who has committed such a terrible deed. The book makes one ponder the nature of crime and punishment, the affects of time. After so many years have passed is a person even the same person anymore? If not should he still suffer for the acts committed by his former self? In the end, many of the questions raised in The Burden of Indigo are left to the reader to answer and that's as it should be. This is a novel that will make you think and maybe, just maybe, see the world around you a little differently after you've turned the last page.

BOTTOM LINE: A well written cross-genre novel that takes a look at more than its fair share of interesting moral and societal issues. Recommended.