"The Eternal World"

Christopher Farnsworth is the author of the bestselling Nathaniel Cade series, about a vampire who works for the President of the United States. Called “the best debut vampire novel in many years” and “dazzlingly clever” by critics, the books have been optioned by producer Lucas Foster (Mr. & Mrs. Smith, Man on Fire, Law-Abiding Citizen) and have been translated into nine languages and published in over a dozen countries. His latest book is The Eternal World, about the Fountain of Youth.

Farnsworth applied the Page 69 Test to The Eternal World and reported the following:

I got lucky with this one. Page 69 of The Eternal World is the end of a conversation between Simon, the conquistador who discovered the Fountain of Youth over 500 years ago, and his trusted lieutenant, Max. Today, as far as the world knows, they are corporate executives. But in private, they can drop all pretense and speak openly. They’re arguing, as they often have in their long lives, over Shako, the Native American woman who is the sole survivor of the tribe that the conquistadors slaughtered to gain control of the Fountain. She has her own supply of the Fountain’s youth-restoring water, and she’s been hunting them for centuries in her quest for revenge. She’s also Simon’s former lover.

From Page 69:

“You think I haven’t tried to kill her?”

Max weighed his next words carefully. “I don’t think you’re displeased that she is still breathing.”

“Perhaps I simply find her useful.”

“My friend, she will bury us all if she gets the chance.”

Simon made a dismissive noise. “You have always been too afraid of her.”

Max seemed tired as he shook his head at Simon. “How many times do I have to say this? She is not the woman you knew all those years ago. She has had a long time to become someone else entirely. We all have. You want to remember the girl she was, and you forget everything she’s done since. For your sake, I hope she is as sentimental as you the next time she has your head in her sights. At your age, nostalgia can be fatal.”

“Well,” Simon said, “no one lives forever.”

This short passage sums up much of the conflict in the book. These men have done extraordinary things and committed terrible crimes. They have lived for centuries and seen history unfold as eyewitnesses. And now that they are running out of the Fountain’s water, and Shako is closer than ever to killing them, they are facing the prospect of true death.

And yet, Simon still cannot think of himself as truly mortal. He still has more he wants to do. He can’t bring himself to believe his long, unnatural life will ever end.

Max knows better. The past catches up to everyone eventually. And they both have so much of it, ready to devour them if they ever stop running.

Learn more about the book and author at Christopher Farnsworth's website.

The Page 69 Test: Blood Oath.

--Marshal Zeringue