PUBLISHER: Doubleday Canada
PUBLICATION DATE: May 13, 2014
FORMAT: Hardcover
LENGTH: 448 pages
LENGTH: 448 pages
GENRE: Young Adult, Science Fiction/Dystopia
ISBN: 9780385679244The much-anticipated, thrilling conclusion to Moira Young's Dust Lands trilogy.
When the star reader, Auriel Tai, challenged Saba to seize her destiny and defeat DeMalo and the Tonton, Saba was confident in her purpose. Then she met DeMalo and he confounded all expectations with his seductive vision of a healed earth, a New Eden. DeMalo and Saba had an intense and passionate encounter - physical, emotional and psychic - that changed her life, and now he wants Saba to join him, in life and work, to create and build a healthy, stable, sustainable world...for the chosen few.
Jack's choice is clear: to fight DeMalo and try to stop his dangerous New Eden project. Still uncertain, her connection with DeMalo a secret, Saba commits herself to the fight. Joined by her brother Lugh, anxious for the land in New Eden, Saba leads an inexperienced guerilla band against the powerfully charismatic DeMalo, in command of his settlers and the Tonton militia.
What chance do they have? Saba must act. And be willing to pay the price.
This was a satisfying and memorable conclusion to the Dust Lands trilogy!
It’s been a while since I was immersed in this series. I listened to the first book, Blood Red Road, back in December 2012 and the next one, Rebel Heart, in January 2013.
This installment starts off with the Free Hawks - Saba, Lugh, Ash, Creed, and Tommo – heading east. Saba’s keeping a secret from the rest of the crew. She’s leading the group by the marks that Jack has left on the trees. They don’t realize that Jack didn’t really die at Resurrection. Their plan is to blow up the bridge that spans the Eastern Defile, linking New Eden to the Raze. They will do anything to make it tougher on DeMalo’s people to travel. When Saba sees two carts crossing the bridge, she realizes that the second cart contains slaves. She turns back to put out the lit fuse, but it is too late. She puts the entire group in danger, as they wait for her, but she cannot stop what has already been set in motion. The blast goes off, and everyone scatters. Saba tells them she will meet them at the rendezvous point, but DeMalo finds her. He offers her a deal: He will provide an escort to ensure that the Free Hawks have safe passage over the Waste, but they will be killed if any of them ever return to New Eden. In exchange, DeMalo wants Saba to marry him. She has until the blood moon to make her decision, which is only seven nights away.
The rest of the book is divided into sections, with a countdown from Night Seven down to Night Two, ending with After and New Eden.
I had listened to the first two audiobooks, so this was the first time reading the book in print. I did struggle with it, because the issues that I had are not apparent if you are listening. First of all, there are no quotation marks to identify when someone is speaking. I found that very frustrating. Also, Young’s style of dialect takes some getting used to. Here is an excerpt:
If my library would have had this in audio format, I would have preferred that. Unfortunately, they did not. I stuck it out and, once I got about halfway into the book, I got used to the writing. Aside from those issues, I really enjoyed the book! Saba has come such a long way from how she was in Blood Red Road, which actually is my least favourite of the three books. She has matured, and she is faced with some really hard decisions in Raging Star. A few secrets were revealed, more than one betrayal, and there are some heartbreaking tragedies. I was sad by how some things turned out, but the ending seems fitting and it wouldn’t have turned out that way if anything else had been done differently. So, as sad as some parts were, I was content with how things ended.
It’s been a while since I was immersed in this series. I listened to the first book, Blood Red Road, back in December 2012 and the next one, Rebel Heart, in January 2013.
This installment starts off with the Free Hawks - Saba, Lugh, Ash, Creed, and Tommo – heading east. Saba’s keeping a secret from the rest of the crew. She’s leading the group by the marks that Jack has left on the trees. They don’t realize that Jack didn’t really die at Resurrection. Their plan is to blow up the bridge that spans the Eastern Defile, linking New Eden to the Raze. They will do anything to make it tougher on DeMalo’s people to travel. When Saba sees two carts crossing the bridge, she realizes that the second cart contains slaves. She turns back to put out the lit fuse, but it is too late. She puts the entire group in danger, as they wait for her, but she cannot stop what has already been set in motion. The blast goes off, and everyone scatters. Saba tells them she will meet them at the rendezvous point, but DeMalo finds her. He offers her a deal: He will provide an escort to ensure that the Free Hawks have safe passage over the Waste, but they will be killed if any of them ever return to New Eden. In exchange, DeMalo wants Saba to marry him. She has until the blood moon to make her decision, which is only seven nights away.
The rest of the book is divided into sections, with a countdown from Night Seven down to Night Two, ending with After and New Eden.
I had listened to the first two audiobooks, so this was the first time reading the book in print. I did struggle with it, because the issues that I had are not apparent if you are listening. First of all, there are no quotation marks to identify when someone is speaking. I found that very frustrating. Also, Young’s style of dialect takes some getting used to. Here is an excerpt:
“Me an Tracker forge ahead, closin in on Lugh. He's bin holdin fast as leader fer some time. I noticed he wouldn't yield to Tommo a little while back. I s'pose he's makin some kinda point. What that might be, I ain't got time to consider.”
If my library would have had this in audio format, I would have preferred that. Unfortunately, they did not. I stuck it out and, once I got about halfway into the book, I got used to the writing. Aside from those issues, I really enjoyed the book! Saba has come such a long way from how she was in Blood Red Road, which actually is my least favourite of the three books. She has matured, and she is faced with some really hard decisions in Raging Star. A few secrets were revealed, more than one betrayal, and there are some heartbreaking tragedies. I was sad by how some things turned out, but the ending seems fitting and it wouldn’t have turned out that way if anything else had been done differently. So, as sad as some parts were, I was content with how things ended.
MY RATING:
This book qualifies as:
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Congratulations on finishing Raging Star for the Big Book Summer Challenge - wow, it looks like this one hit a LOT of different challenges for you!
ReplyDeleteI read Blood Red Road, way back when it first came out, but never got to books 2 & 3. I think they are both on my TBR shelves, though, so I should get back to this series - thanks for the reminder!
Sue
2017 Big Book Summer Challenge