Orlando "Ory" Zhang

Orlando Zhang (referred to as Ory for a majority of the novel) is Max’s husband and one of the few shadowed left at the beginning of the novel. At first, his goal is to find Max after she leaves home, though he assumes that she headed toward their old apartment in Washington D.C. Over time, he joins Imauel’s group in their mission to father as many books as possible, including that of Ory’s deceased brother, Paul. This allows him to use his leadership and survival skills to get nearly 3,000 books to New Orleans and help Gajarajan realize the importance of memories to those who experienced them.

For the first half of the novel, Ory is desperate to find Max and still deeply in love with her. During his time in D.C. However, Ory realizes that he does not want to see...