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A review by bookph1le
The Dead Lands by Benjamin Percy
4.0
Brutal and good. More complete review to come.
Complete review:
For a long time, I was on a YA kick. I read pretty much every dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel I could get my hands on, and I started noticing a trend after a while. Some of the initial offerings were good, and I really enjoyed them, but then the genre seemed to descend into a pit of derivative teen angst and general sameness that I found excruciatingly boring. I was aware that adult dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels existed, and I've read and enjoyed many of them, but availability was more of an issue. I also found a profound difference between YA and adult novels in the genre. While the YA novels could be brutal and bleak, most often there was ultimately a triumph on the part of the main characters, whereas adults novels of the genre tended to be more pessimistic, sometimes to the extent of being downright nihilistic. This novel, I'm happy to say, falls somewhere between the two. This review will be as spoiler-free as possible, because I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the stunning, stark beauty of this novel.
The novel gets off to a strong start, with an odd birth. I was a little confused because the description made this sound like a straight post-apocalyptic novel, and the beginning chapter made things sound supernatural. As I progressed with the book, more supernatural elements cropped up, though they're given something of a scientific spin. Despite its fantasy-like elements, I didn't think this book crossed over into pure fantasy. I don't know if I'd call the supernatural aspects plausible, but the book does offer up some interesting questions to which we have no real answers at this point. Given the changes to Earth in the novel, the mind does tend to start speculating about what might happen. Percy uses a fairly light hand with these elements as well, so they don't end up overwhelming the ultimate thrust of the story.
When it comes to setting, this book is superb. Each setting is distinct, but there are also distinct similarities between them, with the possible exception of the very first setting in the book, about which we don't hear much. Lewis and Clark's trek across this new America is harrowing, and though the landscape never varies far from being some version of brutal, it does change in profound and interesting ways. I can't think of a single setting in this novel that didn't fascinate me. Though what remains of St. Louis is the setting in which most of the book takes place, Percy does an excellent job of painting his other settings as well, even when no more than a page or two of the action happens in them. I had a very vivid picture in my head, enough to convince me that I'd never want to live in Percy's version of what remains of the U.S.
Make no mistake, this book is not a happy one. Various forms of brutality take place throughout the course of the novel, from humans brutalizing other humans in a variety of ways to nature brutalizing humans. None of it felt gratuitous, though there were scenes that made my toes curl, in particular one between Ella and Slade. Percy draws a lot of beautiful parallels. Man brutalizes nature, and now nature brutalizes man in return. But what's surprising about this, considering the myriad of unconscionable ways in which man brutalizes man? It's as if the land is reflecting the behavior of humanity and throwing it back at them. Yet the book never fully loses its sense of hope, and there are lovely moments in the novel. Omitting this element from books does them a severe detriment, I think, because without hope what's the point? At various times in this book characters do feel hopeless, but the spark never entirely dies, and they often recover from their hopelessness and find new purpose.
The characters are very well drawn, and I cared a great deal about them. All are very flawed in a variety of ways. Some characters, like Slade and the mayor are downright villainous, but not in a mustache-twirling way. Percy provides plausible and eminently believable reasons for their behavior. Even the "good" guys, like Clark and Lewis aren't without major flaws, and it makes them three dimensional. I alternated between liking and despising some of them, but I always cared about them, and that's crucial for any well-done book.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Percy's haunting, lyrical writing style. The way he arranges sentences is beautiful, even as it's starkly brutal. There's no flowery prose to be found in this book, yet it was some of the prettiest writing I've read in a while. Percy is adept with language.
So why four stars instead of five? Though I didn't hate the supernatural elements, as I said, they were a bit of a minus for me. This is a strong book, and I very much enjoyed it, but sometimes the supernatural bits added a little more superhero feel to the novel than I really wanted. Still, I thought the ending was left open enough to allow the possibility of a sequel, and if that does happen, I would be very interested in reading it.
Complete review:
For a long time, I was on a YA kick. I read pretty much every dystopian or post-apocalyptic novel I could get my hands on, and I started noticing a trend after a while. Some of the initial offerings were good, and I really enjoyed them, but then the genre seemed to descend into a pit of derivative teen angst and general sameness that I found excruciatingly boring. I was aware that adult dystopian/post-apocalyptic novels existed, and I've read and enjoyed many of them, but availability was more of an issue. I also found a profound difference between YA and adult novels in the genre. While the YA novels could be brutal and bleak, most often there was ultimately a triumph on the part of the main characters, whereas adults novels of the genre tended to be more pessimistic, sometimes to the extent of being downright nihilistic. This novel, I'm happy to say, falls somewhere between the two. This review will be as spoiler-free as possible, because I wouldn't want anyone to miss out on the stunning, stark beauty of this novel.
The novel gets off to a strong start, with an odd birth. I was a little confused because the description made this sound like a straight post-apocalyptic novel, and the beginning chapter made things sound supernatural. As I progressed with the book, more supernatural elements cropped up, though they're given something of a scientific spin. Despite its fantasy-like elements, I didn't think this book crossed over into pure fantasy. I don't know if I'd call the supernatural aspects plausible, but the book does offer up some interesting questions to which we have no real answers at this point. Given the changes to Earth in the novel, the mind does tend to start speculating about what might happen. Percy uses a fairly light hand with these elements as well, so they don't end up overwhelming the ultimate thrust of the story.
When it comes to setting, this book is superb. Each setting is distinct, but there are also distinct similarities between them, with the possible exception of the very first setting in the book, about which we don't hear much. Lewis and Clark's trek across this new America is harrowing, and though the landscape never varies far from being some version of brutal, it does change in profound and interesting ways. I can't think of a single setting in this novel that didn't fascinate me. Though what remains of St. Louis is the setting in which most of the book takes place, Percy does an excellent job of painting his other settings as well, even when no more than a page or two of the action happens in them. I had a very vivid picture in my head, enough to convince me that I'd never want to live in Percy's version of what remains of the U.S.
Make no mistake, this book is not a happy one. Various forms of brutality take place throughout the course of the novel, from humans brutalizing other humans in a variety of ways to nature brutalizing humans. None of it felt gratuitous, though there were scenes that made my toes curl, in particular one between Ella and Slade. Percy draws a lot of beautiful parallels. Man brutalizes nature, and now nature brutalizes man in return. But what's surprising about this, considering the myriad of unconscionable ways in which man brutalizes man? It's as if the land is reflecting the behavior of humanity and throwing it back at them. Yet the book never fully loses its sense of hope, and there are lovely moments in the novel. Omitting this element from books does them a severe detriment, I think, because without hope what's the point? At various times in this book characters do feel hopeless, but the spark never entirely dies, and they often recover from their hopelessness and find new purpose.
The characters are very well drawn, and I cared a great deal about them. All are very flawed in a variety of ways. Some characters, like Slade and the mayor are downright villainous, but not in a mustache-twirling way. Percy provides plausible and eminently believable reasons for their behavior. Even the "good" guys, like Clark and Lewis aren't without major flaws, and it makes them three dimensional. I alternated between liking and despising some of them, but I always cared about them, and that's crucial for any well-done book.
I'd be remiss if I didn't mention Percy's haunting, lyrical writing style. The way he arranges sentences is beautiful, even as it's starkly brutal. There's no flowery prose to be found in this book, yet it was some of the prettiest writing I've read in a while. Percy is adept with language.
So why four stars instead of five? Though I didn't hate the supernatural elements, as I said, they were a bit of a minus for me. This is a strong book, and I very much enjoyed it, but sometimes the supernatural bits added a little more superhero feel to the novel than I really wanted. Still, I thought the ending was left open enough to allow the possibility of a sequel, and if that does happen, I would be very interested in reading it.