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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
This book gets under your skin, until you can feel the vibrations of the dive suit and the grit of the sand in your teeth.
Magnificent language and heartbreaking storytelling, on par with books like the Night Circus.
Magnificent language and heartbreaking storytelling, on par with books like the Night Circus.
adventurous
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Really enjoyed the way it rolled through the different characters as the waxed and waned in importance. The Sand world was well realised, though maybe some parts felt like they could have been fleshed out more, but I guess that kept the pace up.
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Captivating, albeit non-believable. I live in Arizona, and the way that the society lives in only sand with such scarce water just wasn't sustainable. Desert climes are tough to write about, they are never as harsh as writers make them seem.
Solid dystopian science fiction. Several thought-out concepts. Definitely some Mad Max vibes.
Love the Wool omnibus. Didn't know what to expect from this, but it's not a continuation of that story. It's set in another post-apocalyptic world (or perhaps the same one from Wool, but in a different region).
The midwest is now a desert. The story is centered on a futuristic Colorado, in which a lot of sand has covered up everything from our modern society. People scrape by on the surface. Sand divers have special suits to move through the sand, much like scuba divers through water, but these suits allow them to flow the sand around them as they dive, scavenging the buried world for anything that can be useful.
The story follows four siblings. The two eldest are divers. One, Palmer, is hired to find "Danvar", a mythical city lost beneath the sands. The eldest, Vic, has moved to a different city to escape her past (their mother runs a brothel). The third eldest, Connor, is left fending for the youngest. Years ago, their dad went east, across the waste, never to return. Connor, not allowed to dive (for reasons not explained), fed up with the hard life in the sand, plans to follow.
Events unfold, and we learn what happens to the people who go east (and why none have ever returned).
I'm a little confused about the "Lords" in the walled city of Springston. The story never takes us into the city, we just hear about the lords and their sandscrapers. Is this a remnant of our world, surviving above the sand? Is this something else? Why are they lords? Do they have some access to wealth and amenities in their city that the residents of Shantytown don't? Seems like the city is plunked in the middle of the sand, so it's not like they are growing crops or raising farm animals inside, so I can't figure out who they are and what part they play in this society.
Other than that, I thought the world building was well done. The plot was interesting, with POVs from 3 of the four siblings, plus later, their mother.
The midwest is now a desert. The story is centered on a futuristic Colorado, in which a lot of sand has covered up everything from our modern society. People scrape by on the surface. Sand divers have special suits to move through the sand, much like scuba divers through water, but these suits allow them to flow the sand around them as they dive, scavenging the buried world for anything that can be useful.
The story follows four siblings. The two eldest are divers. One, Palmer, is hired to find "Danvar", a mythical city lost beneath the sands. The eldest, Vic, has moved to a different city to escape her past (their mother runs a brothel). The third eldest, Connor, is left fending for the youngest. Years ago, their dad went east, across the waste, never to return. Connor, not allowed to dive (for reasons not explained), fed up with the hard life in the sand, plans to follow.
Events unfold, and we learn what happens to the people who go east (and why none have ever returned).
I'm a little confused about the "Lords" in the walled city of Springston. The story never takes us into the city, we just hear about the lords and their sandscrapers. Is this a remnant of our world, surviving above the sand? Is this something else? Why are they lords? Do they have some access to wealth and amenities in their city that the residents of Shantytown don't? Seems like the city is plunked in the middle of the sand, so it's not like they are growing crops or raising farm animals inside, so I can't figure out who they are and what part they play in this society.
Other than that, I thought the world building was well done. The plot was interesting, with POVs from 3 of the four siblings, plus later, their mother.
Edit 16 Jan 2023:
Friend's been hassling me about this rating, so downgrading it to three.
3.5, but tending towards 4 more than 3, hence the scoring on the high end.
When it grips you, it really does. You are enchanted, you want to know more, and all the sudden you are knee deep in Sand, so to speak. But every now and again it just utterly, utterly loosens its grip and kicks you away.
Friend's been hassling me about this rating, so downgrading it to three.
3.5, but tending towards 4 more than 3, hence the scoring on the high end.
When it grips you, it really does. You are enchanted, you want to know more, and all the sudden you are knee deep in Sand, so to speak. But every now and again it just utterly, utterly loosens its grip and kicks you away.