Genre:
Dystopian/Post-Apocalyptic/Adventure/Young
Adult
Description:
“It is
the year 2058. The Sino-American War has decimated several
generations of men, and the Sterility Epidemic has made 90% of the
surviving males sterile.
Electricity
does not function in five western states. Colorado, New Mexico, Utah,
Wyoming, and Montana are territories once again. Collectively, they
are known as the Juniper. It is the most dangerous place on Earth.
On a
desperate post-apocalyptic cattle drive to save their family ranch,
Cavatica Weller and her two gun slinging sisters stumble across a
rare boy. Sharlotte wants to send him away, Wren wants to sell him…
and Cavatica falls in love with him.
Little do
they know that an inhuman army is searching for the boy and will stop
at nothing to find him.”
Author:
“Aaron
Michael Ritchey was born with Colorado thunderstorms in his soul.
He's sought shelter as a world traveler, an endurance athlete, a
story addict, and even gave serious thought to becoming a Roman
Catholic priest. After too brief a time in Paris, he moved back to
the American West and lives semi-comfortably with three forces of
nature: a little, blonde hurricane, an artistic tornado, and a
beautiful, beautiful blizzard.”
Mr.
Ritchey’s Long Live the
Suicide King
was a nominee in BigAl’s Books and Pals 2015 Readers’ Choice
Awards under the YA category. For more information about Aaron
Michael Ritchey please visit his website.
Appraisal:
I
generally don’t read dystopian stories, but the premise of this one
grabbed my attention. The characters are all well-developed, quite
unique, and interesting. This is going to be an epic coming-of-age
saga contrasting two disparate worlds existing side by side. Aaron
Michael Ritchey has done an outstanding job setting up his world and
has kept it as realistic as fantasy can get while still pushing the
limits of reality with the elements he employed.
The story
is told through Cavatica Weller’s eyes. She is the youngest of
three living sisters who has been pulled out of school, The Sally
Browne Burke Academy for the Moral and Literate in Cleveland, Ohio,
to assist in a cattle drive to save the family ranch in the Juniper.
Each sister has her own strengths. Cavatica is strong-willed,
opinionated, naïve, and ruled by her emotions. A persevering theme
throughout the story is the New Morality Movement. There were several
times I wanted to slap the s**t out of Cavatica. Her views are so
extremely colored by this New Morality that she can’t see straight.
I found it frustrating and kept having to remind myself of her young
age. I hope she will eventually find a balance that will serve her
better in coming sequels. The mysterious young man they rescue from a
raid adds a complicated element to the storyline, especially when the
oldest and youngest sisters set their sights on him.
The
character-driven plot is fast-moving with several surprising twists
thrown into the mix, which continually causes adaptions to be made to
the Weller sisters plans. I have found myself invested in this
family’s quest to get their cattle to a fair market with their
family, friends, and employees intact. The surprise at the end left
my jaw on the floor. Mr. Ritchey has woven a tangled web and I am not
sure what to expect next. I do know that I will be anxiously awaiting
the next addition of this story.
FYI:
Dandelion
Iron is the first book in The
Juniper Wars series.
Format/Typo
Issues:
I read and
reviewed from an advanced readers copy, so can’t really comment on
editing.
Rating:
***** Five stars
Reviewed
by: ?wazithinkin
Print
Length: 278 pages
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