Read more
Seventeen-year-old Ghonna "Gyle" is an outcast unsure of their identity, trying to get by in a post-apocalyptic society where traditional values reign. To raise themself out of the Lower Ranks, Ghonna participates in the annual Imperial Events (a cross between the Olympics, X-games, and Roman Gladiator Combat).
With each stage, the stakes increase, the competition is fiercer, and the possibility of death becomes likely.
However, Ghonna uses their ingenuity and guile to methodically progress through the Events, and a "once-viewed pariah of humanity" wins over the masses, evolving into a messiah for a secret reform movement.
About the author
Anthony J. Viola is a Professor of English at Marshall University where he teaches literature and creative writing. He received his Ph.D. in Creative Writing at Ohio University and has taught at the University of Kentucky. His short fiction publications have appeared in Pleiades: A Journal of New Writing, Gulf Coast, The Connecticut Review, and Aethlon: Journal of Sports Literature. One story was listed in "100 Other Distinguished Stories," Best American Short Stories 2007 and another story received a Pushcart Prize nomination.
