Summary
For most, being a scavenger isn’t a choice. They are forced to risk their lives against giant crab-beasts while enduring the harsh desert environment. Not to mention, having to pay unreasonable scavenging fees that leave them more indebted than when they started. This is where Harvard finds himself trapped.
He’s never been physically adept, and his anxious nature only worsens his tremors, making the rest of the Ivies consider him a burden to the team. Harvard’s reckless decisions lead him to the very monsters he’s supposed to fear, and the fate of their species will fall on his hands.
Title: Empress of Dust
Author: Alex Kingsley
Series: The Bastion Cycle #1
Pages: 393
Publication date: October 15, 2024
Disclaimer: This book is a participant in the Indie Ink Awards 2024 and I read it as a judge. My personal rating does not reflect its score for the contest.
He waited for the hatchlings to begin biting at him, but they did not.
“Maybe they’re not hungry,” he mused aloud.
“They do not want you,” Skrack said, and Harvard almost felt offended.
“They see you as an ally,” the Empress corrected.
“Your meat disgusts them.”
“They have grown to see you as one of their own.”
“You are not worthy of their consumption.”
Harvard gave the two crabs a puzzled look. “I’m getting mixed messages here.”
Review
It was hard putting this book down. I found the world-building interesting, with a dystopian society that makes me want to see more of the city of Bastion. The dialogue was fun, and the interactions between characters, for the most part, believable.
The protagonist is kind to a fault, in a world where such behaviour is dissuaded. Although annoying at times, I found him quite endearing.
There are flashback chapters spread throughout for most of the Ivies (the scavenging team), which I believe helped develop the characters. This might not be appreciated by some for interrupting the present narrative, but I enjoyed seeing the diverse cast’s POVs and learning about what makes them tick.
There’s a romance subplot thrown in which I found unnecessary, and that’s coming from someone who usually loves those. I just felt the characters had no chemistry whatsoever and their interactions didn’t feel romantic. In the same vein, I’m bothered by the blurb on Goodreads listing “sapphic” as a tag since the only romance [minor spoilers ahead, skip to next paragraph to avoid them] is between a trans character FTM and a nonbinary one, and neither of them identifies as such.
The pacing was a bit off at the end, with the (mostly) improvised heist and unforeshadowed reveals. It was also filled with typos, though I’m not sure if they made it to the final version, like the Latina-coded character repeatedly being referred to as “Colombia”, instead of Columbia…
Despite these, I had fun with this queernormative world and the grumpy (or shall I say… crabby?) giant crab.
CW: classism, confinement, murder, injury, drug use, gore.
About Indie Ink Awards:
Books by marginalized authors, self-published books, and books by small presses often get overlooked. The Indie Ink Awards is a unique event that brings together the writing community to celebrate books that have made an impact on us. This is our way of highlighting the future we want to see in books–by uplifting those that shine.
All awards are segmented into two categories: Best-In and the Writing The Future We Need awards. The “Best In” awards should exemplify the chosen category. We are looking for exceptional inclusion and diversity in works nominated for “Writing the Future We Need” awards.
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