Rebel Heart

 

It took me a few days to read Blood Red Road, and I thought that the same reading time would apply to it's sequel, Rebel Heart.  Not the case.  I read this thing in a day.  It was a couldn't put it down, didn't look at page numbers, totally in the Dustlands with everyone, situation.  Here's my warning that there may be spoilers ahead...but I'll try my best to be as vague as I possibly can.

 

There's a price on Saba's head.

They call her the Angel of Death. She defeated a tyrant, but victory has come at a cost. Haunted by the ghosts of her past, she needs Jack. His moonlit eyes, his reckless courage, his wild heart. But Jack has left, and a ruthless new enemy searches for Saba across the Dustlands...

 

While not as action laden as Blood Red Road, Moira Young's second Dustland book features plenty of character development.  Rebel Heart has a lot in common with Lauren DeStefano's Fever in the sense that just because you defeated/escaped the big bad of the first book doesn't mean that all of your problems will fade away and your happily ever after will appear out of nowhere.

 

For a start Lugh and Saba's once close relationship has completely fractured by the events of Blood Red Road.  It's frustrating because throughout the book there's no communication between any of the characters.  If only Lugh would tell Saba of his experiences of being held hostage by the Tonton.  If only Jack could tell Saba his plan.  But then if these secrets were divulged, Rebel Heart would be rather boring... 

 

Lugh's not the only one with problems.  Saba's own guilt has been manifesting over all the girls that died during her stint as a cage fighter and also over her part in Epona's death.  It's a tough choice to take your strong narrator and show her weaknesses, but it pays off by making Saba appear human.  The only grating part is when Saba tries to go off on her own again, only to be chased down by the rest of the gang.  You'd think that by now she'd realise that her friends and family aren't going to let her go that easily.

 

Then there's the developments between Saba and DeMalo.  I sort of knew that Young was going in this direction ever since DeMalo's first appearance in Blood Red Road, so it wasn't a big shock.  I'm not one for love triangles, but people do silly things when they feel that they've been betrayed.  At least Saba realises that she may have made a mistake, and the portrayal of that is at least an adult, and real, representation of what life sometimes throws at you.  Though I am interested as to who the heart stone was directed at in the last scene, and to have DeMalo's ambiguity of character cleared up.  Just what does he want?

 

Rebel Heart isn't as thrilling as Blood Red Road, but that's not to it's detriment.  If anything I have a clearer idea about who these characters really are.  I do wonder what direction Young will take the plot and her characters in for the third book.  It's a shame I've got to wait until January 2014 at least until I find out.  Bah.

Blood Red Road

In the Dustlands, you fight or you die.

There are no laws in Saba's world.  When her twin brother is stolen, she pursues his captors through a wild, wasted land.  She must become a warrior to survive.  On this dangerous road she can trust no one.  Not even the handsome thief who saves her life - and steals her heart.

 

Prior to reading Blood Read Road, I had heard lots of good things about Moira Young's Dustland series.  From what I could garner from goodreads The Dustlands was a better executed version of Lauren DeStefano's The Chemical Garden Trilogy.  Now that I've finally read both Blood Red Road and Rebel Heart (and Wither and Fever) I just can't see the parallels between the two series. Yes, they both feature twins, one of whose job it is to locate the other, but that's where the similarities end.

 

Where the Chemical Garden trilogy is set in a recognisable futuristic America, where all the states are still intact, the Dustlands could be set almost anywhere, on a different planet even.  I sort of wish that there hadn't been the few dystopian elements to root in our world (like the sky scrapers) and that Young had made this into an all out, foot stomping, cut throat, futuristic western. 

 

Saba's quest to find Lugh is a brutal journey that goes in directions that are unexpected and thrilling.  From the moment Lugh gets taken I wasn't expecting anything but peril for these characters.  And this isn't the type of danger where everyone magically lives at the end.  No, this was a world where tragedy happens and it sticks.

  

I thought the dialect would be grating, but after a while I didn't notice.  However, I am fed up with love interest having a lopsided smile, and then there's the whole heart stone maguffin...But even I have to admit that it did set up some interesting dynamics for the next book.  Plus Saba's a hard headed as a stubborn mule.  She doesn't want to accept that she could be falling in love, so maybe Young did some reverse psychology on me in that I was actually rooting for Saba and Jack by Blood Red Roads end.

 

What stood out for me was the relationship between sisters Saba and Emmi.  Young's duo are a reflection that not all sisters get on, and not just on a superficial 'they'll grow out of it' level either.  The disdain that Saba shows towards Emmi in contrast to her unconditional love for Lugh made Saba a real person with complex feelings that aren't always considered to be the right ones.

And don't even get me started on what should have stayed on Saturn...

I could go on all day about the different things I loved about Moira Young's novel (I haven't even mentioned Nero and The Free Hawks) but I'll stop here and leave some surprises.  Blood Red Road is an extraordinary start to what hopefully will be a thrilling and unique series.  I just can't believe I waited so long to start reading it! 



Top Ten Series I'd Like To Start But Haven't Yet

Top Ten Tuesday Time, as always hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.  It is a great topic this week as it is all about series that I would like to start but haven't just yet.  Funnily enough, I've made a bit of progress through my way through my SILTSBHY list this year, but there are still plenty of others that I haven't got round to starting yet.

1. The James Bond books by Ian Fleming

Bought most of these for my BF.  Waiting for him to read them all so I can steal them.

2. Nadia Stafford by Kelley Armstrong

 Armstong's two books about a hit woman were released before I found her Otherworld Series.  I really want to see what her non-paranormal fiction is like, yet I can never seem to remember to order them from the library.  The third book is out later this year, so maybe it's time I checked them out...

3.  The Dustlands - Moira Young

Blood Red Road caught my eye one lazy afternoon in the Norfolk and Norwich Millennium Library.  From what I gathered The Dustlands series is dystopian and is supposed to have similarities to the Chemical Garden Trilogy by Lauren DeStefano.

4.  The Night Watch - Sergei Lukyanenko

Have you noticed that my book list on the right never changes?  I'm determined to make a dent in that list this year, as I've wanted to read The Night Watch for two years now!  I heard good things about the series from a friend, and I mean Russian Vampires?  Yes please!

 

5. The Collector - Chris F. Holm

Love the cover, premise sounds good, just got to make a start on this Urban Fantasy Noir!
 

6. Codex Alera - Jim Butcher

 I haven't read many books in the epic fantasy genre, but I'm think Butcher's series may be a good way to start.

7. Sherlock Holmes - Arthur Conan Doyle

This is terrible.  I should have read all of these by now.  By the end of the year I am determined to have at least started reading some Sherlock stories.
 

8. Miss Marple - Agatha Christie

I've grown up in a house that adores Agatha Christie mysteries, both in book and T.V form, but I've never attempted to read any.  I'd like to try and attempt making my way through all of them at some point.

 

9.  Darkness Rising - Kelley Armstrong

 I've been waiting for all three books of Armstrong's latest YA series to come out so I could read them in one go.  With The Rising coming out in April, it's go time...

 

10. Alex Versus - Benedict Jacka

 

Jacka's Alex Verus series is marketed as a cross between Rivers of London and The Dresden Files.  This is technically a cheat as I finally started the series last week...but I like to break rules every now and again.

That's my list for this week!  What series are on yours?