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Showing posts with label post-apocalyptic. Show all posts
Showing posts with label post-apocalyptic. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 26, 2015

Three (Legends of the Duskwalker) by Jay Posey

Cities are basically forts in this post-apocalyptic world.  People don’t like to travel outside city walls and absolutely nobody does so after the sun goes down.  There is a man named Three who seems to be one of the few who can manage to survive in the wide open dangers between the cities.

Having grown up during the Cold War, I have a special appreciation for post-apocalyptic tales.  The genre is a veritable goldmine of possibilities for new and intriguing stories.  Three by Jay Posey is an excellent example of what I mean.  This is a good melding of that genre with science fiction that brings us world that is both familiar and completely alien.

Our main protagonist is this man named Three. I want to be careful not to describe this character too much because, I believe at least half of what is fascinating about him is the slow exposition of him and his story.  It’s his journey through this story that foundation the whole book is built on.  Three does have two companions throughout the majority of this story and they serve as more than props or plot devices.  These are two become two well defined and individuals that travel alongside Three but, have their own journey to complete.  The reader gets to learn, along with Three, what lures them outside the safety of the city walls and where they expect to be at journey’s end.

The overall plot of the book is simple: getting from point A to point B through a hostile environment.  Since before The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, these types of tales have captured the imaginations of anybody willing to hear, read or see them.  This book takes advantage of that setting while not relying on that sole aspect.  This is a well-paced story with action and strife happening in places that make sense and give the reader enough respite to allow the readers to catch their breaths.

Three by Jay Posey is an action filled drama set in a world filled with ruin.  It is as entertaining as it is thought provoking.  It is also very violent and delves into some mature subject matter to the point that I would give it a PG13 rating.

Thursday, August 20, 2015

Burn by Julianna Baggott

Warning!  This is the third and final book in the Pure trilogy.  You can read my review of Pure HERE.  I promise not to spoil Burn, but there may be Pure or Fuse spoilers below.

This trilogy ends in the same way it began:  in a nuclear explosion.  (Not literally; I don't do big spoilers like that.)  Figuratively, that is.  There's build up build up build up and then BAM everything you thought you knew, everything you thought you'd find out, is blown to bits and you're left wanting to go find Julianna Baggott and demand an explanation.  (Don't worry; I didn't actually go stalk an author.)

So there's a lot of stuff going on all at once in Burn and you find out about it from quite a few points of view, so be prepared to pay attention.  This is not a beach read.  You're going to want to pay attention to everything in this book because it's fantastic the way all the pieces come together at the end.

Partridge is inside the Dome, living with Iralene.  He's the new ruler of the Dome, now that his father is dead.  He's supposed to be getting married to Iralene, but he's really in love with Lyda, the soon-to-be-mother of his child.  I do love this about Partridge though:  he's not completely hardhearted like his father and he hates the idea of hurting Iralene.  This causes him some grief at one point, but I won't give anything away.  So things are pretty hard for Partridge right now because his heart is with the resistance movement, with Pressia and Bradwell and El Capitan and Helmud, but he has to play a part for the time being.

Pressia and Bradwell and El Capitan and Helmud are outside.  They've got the serum that is supposed to cure all the fused people and they're back from Ireland.  But there's major disagreement between the four of them that threatens to ruin any and all plans they have for taking down the Dome and it's current regime.

Lyda is inside the Dome and is not coping with that too well.  I cannot say anything more than that for fear of spoilers.  But you'll agree, right, that we all want her and Partridge to end up together?

Speaking of characters we'd love to see end up together:  how about Pressia and ... ?  You could just as easily put either Bradwell or El Capitan in that blank.  Decisions are made in this book!  I just can't promise you'll like them.

The ending:  WOWSA.  Not the ending I expected at all.  Just WOW.  When I read the entire Divergent trilogy and got to that ending, I was half angry and half ok.  With this one I'm just shell-shocked.  Like this trilogy took me on a journey and left me stranded with PTSD.  I really want to re-read the trilogy straight through and see if I feel any different.  I just want... need... more.  There's so much character development and world building!  Such a well-written trilogy.

One last thing:  I've read rumors of a movie series.  I'm not sure how I feel about that.  Anyone out there have an opinion?  I think the books are FREAKING AWESOME but the movies might make it almost too real, if that makes sense.  Like, it might be too much for me to actually see Pressia, with her hand and her face, or Bradwell with his birds, in real life on the silver screen.

Marie

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