![]() ![]() In the second half of the novel, things begin to ramp up, and they ramp up fast. Along with an enjoyable supporting cast, the story and its twists run smoothly, with enough hooks to keep me invested and reading on. Delta’s world shifts astronomically, and she doesn’t find much time to rest as she tries to navigate her new circumstances. In terms of the story, in typical Bowman fashion, the stakes are set high and early on. There’s the familiar aspect of seeing Bowman take on new challenges in her writing and world building through new settings and circumstances for her characters to navigate, but with the added benefit of a what I’d almost describe as a nostalgic homecoming. The Wastes of Dustborn harken back to the western setting of Vengeance Road, while some of the overarching plots and themes feel like a return to some of the better aspects of Taken. With Dustborn, we are introduced to the post-apocalyptic Wastes, and while it’s yet another genre departure, it feels for the first time like a return to something we’ve seen before from Erin Bowman, but by no means do I say that in a negative way. And that’s just for her YA releases - 2020 saw Bowman’s first foray into middle grade fantasy with The Girl and the Witch’s Garden. Her debut Taken trilogy was set against a dystopian backdrop, her incredible Vengeance Roadand Retribution Rails set in the wild west, before taking a dip into sci-fi horror with her Contagion duology. I think it’s pretty well known by now, nine books in, that Erin Bowman doesn’t like to hang around in one genre for too long. ![]() ![]() What Delta doesn’t count on is what waits at the Verdant: a long-forgotten secret that will shake the foundation of her entire world. If Delta can trust Asher, she just might decode the map and trade evidence of the Verdant to the General for her family. So when raiders sent by a man known as the General attack her village, Delta suspects he is searching for her.ĭelta sets out to rescue her family but quickly learns that in the Wastes no one can be trusted - perhaps not even her childhood friend, Asher, who has been missing for nearly a decade. In a wasteland plagued by dust squalls, geomagnetic storms, and solar flares, many would kill for it - even if no one can read it. Things are no different with Dustborn.ĭelta of Dead River has always been told to hide her back, where a map is branded on her skin to a rumoured paradise called the Verdant. It’s become somewhat of a recurring theme for me to pick up a new Erin Bowman book with little knowledge of what it’s going to be about but a fairly good assumption that I’m going to have a good time. ![]()
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