The Two-Headed Lady at the End of the World blends romance with ribald adventure and humor in a novel that promises to attract a wide range of readers to its unusual escapades and odd characters. Think conjoined twins who exhibit unusual traits beyond their physical connection, who present an intriguing skill set and connection from the novel's opening lines. Their connection was not forged at birth, but was created by a government snafu involving a particle collider project hidden underneath the family farm. The Morgan twins are on the path to adulthood, facing romantic attractions complicated both by their physical connection and their separate outlooks on life and men.
Mark Miller also injects end-of-the-world drama into this story, which comes with unexpected differences. One example is two men ensconced underground in a survival bunker for 30 years who discover attraction for one another and reasons for not seeking a return to civilization. This is paired with a newly sentient CPU who, lonely for love, seeks a romantic connection with a fax machine at the Pentagon. Singularity never looked like this before. Nor has love.
As events evolve, these disparate characters assume the flavor of Dr. Strangelove mixed with a heady rush of hormones that returns a high-octane romance on steroids. Expect the unexpected, because that's one delightful strength of The Two-Headed Lady at the End of the World. It ultimately examines the end of worlds, the beginnings of new worlds, and the promise and rush of romance under extraordinary conditions.
A heady injection of social inspection with references to cis-gendered white male privilege, American patriotism gone awry, and a shockingly definitive conclusion ices the cake of both fun and serious social and political analysis.
Libraries and readers looking for a mix of romance, sci-fi, and relationship-evolving characters (and machines) will find The Two-Headed Lady at the End of the World's creative blend of humor and conundrums to be involving, unique, and satisfyingly unexpected.
I doubt many books have defied categorization as much as Mark Miller's The Two-Headed Lady at the End of the World. Nor do I think many novels could so challenge a reviewer to explain the content without giving away spoilers. And not a lot of books befuddle a reviewer to summarize the story without sounding like a rambling, confused idiot. Miller accomplishes all three of these things. And he does so in a delightful and wild ride. I loved it. You'll want to read the tale for yourself, because Miller creates this unique atmosphere in a story of love, adventure, intrigue, science fiction, romance, twists and turns, and, well, you get the picture.
Miranda and Amanda sit at the heart of the epic journey. They are conjoined twins, though they lived life until high school as mere twins, until an unexplainable accident thrust their bodies together, while keeping their heads and minds separated. They moved out of their small-town Texas community but a series of strange events and forced decisions lead them to return for their 30th high school class reunion. Also, in part, they go back home because of unresolved love interests from high school, which means we meet Pierce and Jack, who play vital roles in the narrative.
Yet this seemingly simple love story comes with a 1980s legacy, villains threatening to blow up the earth, or at least part of Texas, and a rogue computer, who also seeks love. In other words, along with the romance, the novel serves as an action-packed thriller. Soldiers/government employees, Joe and Buck, become central to the action, after living an underground life for decades, thinking their job is still to protect the United States from the Soviet Union during the Cold War. What on earth will happen at the end? Will all these characters find the love of their lives? Will the earth explode from a Cold War remnant-nuclear catastrophe? Who is a secret agent, who seeks to protect humanity, and why are Amanda and Miranda at the heart of this chaos? This summary doesn't even mention the sinister black Yugos or the [robotic] arm at the heart of the plot.
This novel is hilarious. Miller spins farcical dialogue yet makes the conversations sound perfectly plausible, given the circumstances. As a reader, you will cheer for the couples to find one another, even as you wonder if they all die at the end. The conversations between computers, fax machines, and the arm alone make reading this novel worthwhile for the laughs.
Miller crafts a distinctive world, and with it brings humor, action, adventure, romance, and positive LGBTQIA+ representation. Woven into the mind-blowing experience, Miller provides an intellectual commentary on the state of the contemporary world and humanity's future. But I don't want to let this serious aspect detract from the circus atmosphere of Miller's universe. I am still giggling about the plot surprises and the genuine but amusing characters. You will too. And then you can try to figure out how to write your own review of what you just experienced, knowing the difficulty of the task but wanting to do it so others can experience the fun you just had with Mark Miller's The Two-Headed Lady at the End of the World.
--Damian Serbu, Windy City Reviews
