At the end of their time...
Nightfall of the Wendigo is a novel written by Alexander Shaw and is the twelfth story in The New Century Multiverse.
Manhattan, late May 1884, in a dimension named Century. Within the mist-shrouded overgrown brick jungle of New York City, a woman who holds the key to other worlds is being held captive. The amassed forces of the Reunified States Army stand poised to assault the island at sundown. A small team of heroes have ten hours to reach those shores, and make their way to the southernmost tip. They must somehow avoid being seen by an indescribably dangerous being named Seth, who holds control of the hundreds of infectious, feral former-humans in the palm of his enormous, clawed hand.
But the island holds secrets beyond all expectation, key to the survival of the species. In the time they have left, what can be saved?
Forms a trilogy with Let Them Go and Castle Of The Moon.
Nightfall of the Wendigo provides examples of:
- Attack on the Heart: Butler kills Sheriff McNulty's corrupt deputy by shooting him in the heart with his own gun.
- Beard of Sorrow: James grows one in the citadel, morose over what he did to Abigail in Uncivil Outlaw.
- Boom, Headshot!: Butler kills Sheriff McNulty and Cleaver this way, shooting one in the forehead and the other in the temple.
- Creatures by Many Other Names: In this story, it is revealed that what are known as "Wendigo" in America and "Barghest" in England are known as "Hommes Sauvages" in France.
- Deadly Gas: With the help of the Elain, the RSA has developed mustard gas decades before it was created in real life and plans on using it to wipe out the Wendigo living on Manhattan.
- Dies Wide Open: Sana's friend Dagan dies this way after being shot in the chest.
- Drowning My Sorrows: Frank is reintroduced unkempt and drinking heavily, still mourning Annie's death.
- Epigraph: The story starts with a quote taken from Princess Mononoke.
"To see with eyes unclouded by hate."//
- Erotic Dream: While at the citadel, James has several such dreams involving Yagana, though do to her magical nature, there's a chance they might be real to some degree.
- Evil-Detecting Dog: James notices Rafe apprehensive about something in the shadows of the citadel, and wonders if he is capable of detecting Yagana lurking behind her magic.
- Fat, Sweaty Southerner in a White Suit: Rothwell Cleaver, a rancher in Widowdell who is trying to strongarm bar owner Marianna in Chapter 2.
- Fingore: Butler stops one of Cleaver's men from bringing his rifle to bear by shooting him in the hand, blowing off his fingers and causing the man to swing his gun around and smash it into Cleaver's face, shattering some of his teeth.
- Flashback: Chapter 4 involves a flashback to what happened to Rebecca in the immediate aftermath of Let Them Go, and then covering some of her time spent Walking the Earth between Let Them Go and SteamHeart.
- High-Class Glass: Sheriff McNulty wears a monocle to appear more fancy.
- Mission Briefing:
- Most of Chapter 1 is Katherine giving one to Rebecca, laying out what the goals and stakes of the story are.
- Then in Chapter 5, the team is given a further one after arriving on the outskirts of New York, where they go over various scenarios before beginning their mission.
- Moe Greene Special: Butler dispatches Ivan and Marlon, two of Carver's goons this way, shooting one in the left eye and the other in the right.
- Pistol-Whipping: While fighting with some men in the prologue, Sana gets hit with the butt of one of their rifles.
- Race Against the Clock: After entering Manhattan, the team has 10 hours to find and extract Greta and Krieger before the RSA forces begin their bombing of the island.
- Shout-Out:
- The prologue is titled "Never Rush Out on the Meadow", a quote taken from Bambi.
- In Chapter 2, Marianna is reading Don Quixote.
- After one of Cleaver's men calls Butler old:
Marianna: How old are you again, Major?
Butler: I'm thirty-seven.//
- "Threads of sour saliva had dribbled from his mouth and now attached themselves to the floor like glittering guy-ropes holding this wretched Gulliver down.
- During his time in the citadel, James listens to music albums left behind by Krieger and Greta, including What's Going On, Hunky Dory, Blonde on Blonde, Electric Ladyland, Let It Be, Tumbleweed Connection, Brdge Over Troubled Water, and Ten (Pearl Jam Album).
- Crowe references Rapunzel in relation to James' Beard of Sorrow.
- Part Two of the story is fittingly titles "Escape from New York."
- Chapter 6 is titled "The Lost World (1912)".
- Tasty Gold: Cleaver tests the gold coin Butler gives him this way.
- Telepathy: It's revealed that Wendigo possess a type of telepathy that lets them communicate silently with each other.
- The Tooth Hurts: One of Cleaver's men accidentally slams his gun into Cleaver's face, shattering some of his teeth, after Butler shoots off the man's fingers.
- Two Shots from Behind the Bar: Marianna keeps a Remington shotgun concealed under the bar of her saloon.
- Walking the Earth: After the events of Let Them Go, Rebecca spends some time wandering Europe and North America, getting involved in various adventures.
- We Have Reserves: Colonel Harris prefers tactics that endanger his soldiers more, referring to it as "you can't make an omelet without breaking some eggs."
- Zombie Infectee: It is directly stated that the biggest cause of outbreaks of the Wendigo virus came from people hiding the fact they had been bitten.
