Hardcover, 387 pages
English language
Published Oct. 4, 2022 by HarperCollins Publishers.
The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes, a land of howling wind and infernal sand.
In this barren home, siblings Conner, Rob, Palmer and Violet daily carve out a future. They live in the shadow of their father and oldest sister, Vic, two of the greatest sand divers ever to comb the desert's depths. But these branches of their family tree are long gone, disappeared into the wastes beyond, leaving the younger siblings scratching in the dust, hopeful for a better life.
On the other side of No Man's Land, Anya was born beside the abundant mines knowing her prospects would be to marry, have a family, and work in ore, in service to the Empire of the East. But when an atomic bomb delivered by a stranger destroys most of her town--murdering all her friends and community--she follows her father to …
The old world is buried. A new one has been forged atop the shifting dunes, a land of howling wind and infernal sand.
In this barren home, siblings Conner, Rob, Palmer and Violet daily carve out a future. They live in the shadow of their father and oldest sister, Vic, two of the greatest sand divers ever to comb the desert's depths. But these branches of their family tree are long gone, disappeared into the wastes beyond, leaving the younger siblings scratching in the dust, hopeful for a better life.
On the other side of No Man's Land, Anya was born beside the abundant mines knowing her prospects would be to marry, have a family, and work in ore, in service to the Empire of the East. But when an atomic bomb delivered by a stranger destroys most of her town--murdering all her friends and community--she follows her father to a strange land of dunes to bring vengeance to their enemies.
Loved it. I listened to the last 6 hours of the audiobook while driving to Humboldt County and back for a camping and fishing trip. It made the journey fly by!
I really hope there are more stories from this world one day.
Howey's worlds are a bit over the top in their malevolence, but this makes his compelling characters even easier to root for.
Perhaps if they were set on an alien planet these extreme scenarios wouldn't stretch my suspension of disbelief to it's limits. But then we'd loose the familiarity of the places berried under the sand.
It was interesting to explore life on the dunes in a sci-fi setting, taking a different approach from Frank Herbert's Fremen.
