The world has had enough and finally reaped its revenge. At least that’s the feeling you get when you start BURN DOWN THE SKY from James Jaros. The readers are never told fully what happened to cause this existence people are now living. We are only given small snippets in the chapter headings, but it’s clear that climate change had the final say, and it won.
It’s only later on we are told of a virus that killed billions. In an unnamed year well after those events, we find a small community living in the wastelands, and a team of marauders are headed straight to this encampment with a prisoner: a leader of the community who was out on his own.
The marauders are there to take any supplies they need, but more importantly, any young girls who they will use for trade with a group called the Church of God. From this point on, the novel takes the idea of the post-apocalyptic men’s adventure tale and turns it on its head, with the simple idea that it focuses on female leads — namely, the mother-and-daughter combination bent on bringing back their own.
The story follows the trails of the marauders as they bring their captives to this compound of darkness, while also showing Jessie, the mother, and Bliss, her daughter, as they head into battle, so to speak. It’s an interesting focus on female heroes in what is usually a male-dominated type of fiction.
Jaros really captures the feel for a post-apocalyptic world, and his characters are not two-dimensional stereotypes or caricatures. The final sequences bristle with action, but readers will be glued throughout the entire thing. With some truly stand-out moments, BURN DOWN THE SKY never falters.
Of course, an epilogue could easily lead into a sequel of sorts. Let’s wait and see what happens. —Bruce Grossman
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Just finished the book. It was amazing