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A review by adubrow
Dust City by Robert Paul Weston
5.0
(Originally posted @ CSI:Librarian.)
This book is absolutely magic, full of dark fairy tales and really fascinating characters that put the grim in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The skill with which Weston writes was exhilarating and I had a very hard time putting this book down. I refuse to give this awesome plot away, but here are some of the many reasons why I had to give Dust City 5 stars.
The real power of this story comes from Henry being so likeable and relatable. Yes his problems are out there in a lot of ways, but he’s also dealing with trying to find a way to be defined not only by his father’s actions but by his own. As someone who seems to continually pick up books where the main character frustrates me to no end, Henry Whelp was just the cure for my reading blues. He was such a sweet, troubled wolf and a terrific character to follow along from start to finish.
The world was also fantastic, and while it had some elements common to fairy tale modernizations, I felt there was a lot of originality at work. I like the idea of the fairies being gone, for example, and that all they’ve left is a ruined world where people are forced to manufacture their own fairydust that doesn’t work out nearly as well as the real thing. Weston’s vision is darker than most and easier to get immersed in.
I really liked a lot of less modernized fairy tales were added to the mix such as Hans My Hedgehog and The Girl Without Hands. I had a blast trying to figure out who certain minor characters were in cases where it wasn’t obvious. I was pleased to see Snow White as a cop, Jack as a teenage con artist and Rumplestiltskin as a mobster. I also loved that there were so many animal characters as well and all of them living in the same sort of way humans did but with some discrimination since not everyone in Dust City approves of talking animals.
So for those in need of a change from the typical dystopian trilogy but wanting something with a lot of umph to it or anyone who has enjoyed Bill Willingham’s Fables, I heartily suggest taking a look at this book. I have a feeling it’s become lost in the shuffle and really ought to be more appreciated. I found it delightfully refreshing to read about a teenage wolf. Not a werewolf, not a shape shifter and not a wolf who can become a boy if he wants to, but an actual wolf, and not just a wolf but the son of the Big Bad Wolf. It doesn’t get much better than that.
This book is absolutely magic, full of dark fairy tales and really fascinating characters that put the grim in Grimm’s Fairy Tales. The skill with which Weston writes was exhilarating and I had a very hard time putting this book down. I refuse to give this awesome plot away, but here are some of the many reasons why I had to give Dust City 5 stars.
The real power of this story comes from Henry being so likeable and relatable. Yes his problems are out there in a lot of ways, but he’s also dealing with trying to find a way to be defined not only by his father’s actions but by his own. As someone who seems to continually pick up books where the main character frustrates me to no end, Henry Whelp was just the cure for my reading blues. He was such a sweet, troubled wolf and a terrific character to follow along from start to finish.
The world was also fantastic, and while it had some elements common to fairy tale modernizations, I felt there was a lot of originality at work. I like the idea of the fairies being gone, for example, and that all they’ve left is a ruined world where people are forced to manufacture their own fairydust that doesn’t work out nearly as well as the real thing. Weston’s vision is darker than most and easier to get immersed in.
I really liked a lot of less modernized fairy tales were added to the mix such as Hans My Hedgehog and The Girl Without Hands. I had a blast trying to figure out who certain minor characters were in cases where it wasn’t obvious. I was pleased to see Snow White as a cop, Jack as a teenage con artist and Rumplestiltskin as a mobster. I also loved that there were so many animal characters as well and all of them living in the same sort of way humans did but with some discrimination since not everyone in Dust City approves of talking animals.
So for those in need of a change from the typical dystopian trilogy but wanting something with a lot of umph to it or anyone who has enjoyed Bill Willingham’s Fables, I heartily suggest taking a look at this book. I have a feeling it’s become lost in the shuffle and really ought to be more appreciated. I found it delightfully refreshing to read about a teenage wolf. Not a werewolf, not a shape shifter and not a wolf who can become a boy if he wants to, but an actual wolf, and not just a wolf but the son of the Big Bad Wolf. It doesn’t get much better than that.