Sci Fi Review: The Harvest (The Heartland Trilogy, #3) by Chuck Wendig

The Harvest by Chuck Wendig

Description:
Blood will water the corn...
It’s been a year since the Saranyu flotilla fell from the sky, and life in the Heartland has changed. Gone are the Obligations and the Harvest Home festivals. In their place is a spate of dead towns, the former inhabitants forced into mechanical bodies to serve the Empyrean—and crush the Heartland.
When Cael awakens from a Blightborn sleep, miles away from the world he remembers, he sets out across the Heartland to gather his friends for one last mission. As the mechanicals, a war flotilla, and a pack of feral Empyrean girls begin to close in on the Heartland, there isn’t much time to make their next move. But if they can uncover a secret weapon in time, Cael and his friends might just find themselves with the power to save the world—or destroy it—resting in their hands.

My Review:
The Harvest is the third book in The Heartlands Trilogy. Cael and his friends and family are scattered all over the Heartlands, and over the course of the book, their paths slowly re-converge as everyone makes their separate way to the new city that rose from the ashes of book two. The ultimate goal is stopping the terrible Initiative and gaining freedom for the Heartland, but there are other dangers the friends face, new ones, old ones, and hidden ones.

So first off, I love the world building, the tension, and the villains. This book is multi-dimensional, not just a single bad guy or good guy. Each character has a unique voice and purpose. I still have favorites among the team, but I think Gwennie and Cael, individually, are the ones I most enjoyed in this book. Gwennie because she’s everyone’s love interest, and Cael because he’s central to the story. Both of them because they are likeable, but not perfect. I wanted them to succeed, to live, and to end up together. So, of course, any time the story shifted to one of their perspectives, I was excited about it.

That being said, I didn’t feel a connection with all of the characters, not enough to hope for them or mourn them. The girls on the flotilla, well, they got no sympathy from me. Wanda, while growing significantly in this story and having taken an interesting life path, is still rather clingy and manipulative. I mostly enjoyed the way she physically changes, but I still couldn’t bring myself to really root for her. Mer is barely mentioned. Just a blip on a screen here or there. I guess she was only really important in book two.

Lots of folks like to know whether a book will be a happily ever after or not. I don’t want to spoil that. I will say that this one ends similarly in overall approach to the Harry Potter series. The plots and characters are vastly different from each other, but the feel was very, very similar. Goes out with a bang and then, several years later, a murmur. An ok ending with everything answered, but going from let’s do this to it’s done and now it’s up to my kids to carry the torch.

All that said, I really enjoyed this book and loved the series as a whole. The story is epic in scope, if not in length. Not too daunting for folks who don’t want to spend all their time reading, but a real page turner and enough meat for those who do. The sci fi elements are really well done, so folks who dig plausible sci fi will really like that about this trilogy. The realism of the relationships and their outcomes will be refreshing to those who are tired of the same old formula; they’ll keep you guessing to the end. And, finally, the world itself is fantastic, and the corner of it in which the characters love, live and perish is incredibly detailed without overboard description.

I receive the review copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.


View all my reviews

Intrigued? Check out all three books on Amazon.

Sci Fi Review: Blightborn (The Heartland Trilogy Book 2) by Chuck Wendig

Blightborn (The Heartland Trilogy Book 2)
by Chuck Wendig

Book two of The Heartland Trilogy does not disappoint. The main characters from book one have been scattered by events beyond their control, and we are treated to many more perspectives as well as insight into the Empyrean itself. Myths and rumors only hinted at in book one become all too real, and new enemies and allies emerge.

Again, I love the characters, but I am especially impressed by the individual struggles that each one faces and how those struggles build in to the story as a whole. Lane’s in particular was a surprise, but I thought it was well handled. I felt really bad for him, not for his choices, but for the outcome of his first experience. I don’t know how all that will turn out, but I’m rooting for him. And, of the new characters, I found Balastair to be most interesting. He’s likeable, but I can totally get why Gwennie doesn’t trust him. Oh, and Eben. Yikes, what a creepy guy. I’d go on, but I don’t want to spoil anything.

As for the world building, it really takes off in this book, particularly with a good portion of the story taking place on one of the flotillas. The science that keeps the flotillas afloat, the span of the world beneath them, hints of other groups of people like the Heartlanders who have been enslaved by the Empyrean, and the depravity of the Empyrean itself. It’s fantastic. I love how each element unfolds and meshes with what has already been revealed. Oh, and don’t get me started on legends coming to life. I love it when rumors and legends turn out to be more than what they seem. I’ll leave it to you to discover which ones turn up.

I guess the only thing that bugged me was the ongoing wishy washiness of the characters who are trying to decide whom to love: obligated mates, former loves/enemies, or totally new love interests. It didn’t bug me much, but I didn’t always feel it, and I left the book with more questions than I had when I entered it. Good thing there’s another book.

So, for book two, yes, I love it, too. It has a lot more shock value and strife, and a lot more sexual content, though nothing all that explicit. I’d recommend this to folks who love science fiction and dystopia.

I received the review copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

Sci Fi Review: Under the Empyrean Sky (The Heartland Trilogy Book 1) by Chuck Wendig

Under the Empyrean Sky (The Heartland Trilogy Book 1)
by Chuck Wendig

This is the first of three books in The Heartland Trilogy. It begins with Cael, the leader of a small group of teens who earn money by scavenging, racing against a rival team. His vessel is a boat, but not a water craft, a hover craft. The sea is an endless field of corn. Right there, I was intrigued, and then things get really interesting: love threatened by state-mandated matches, hints at former greatness next to evidence of hard times, and privileged overlords with an utter disregard for human decency.

One of the things I love about this story is wading through the hints to try to figure out when and where the story is taking place. Future? Past in an alternate universe? Country? There’s enough evidence to figure out the where, but then it becomes a question of the when. It’s never stated outright, but I don’t think it needs to be. Where would the fun be in that?

Another thing I love is the complexity of the characters. They are richly detailed, but their character and motivations are revealed in their actions, and occasionally through their narration, as the perspective of the story at times shifts to different people. Hints are sufficiently subtle that no one is an open book, making for realistic interactions that bring everyone in the story to life. Now, there do seem to be a few archetypical characters, but having read the second book, I realize that I was wrong about some of them. I love being surprised.

And on that note, I thought this was YA at first, really through most of the first book, but again, having read the second and started the third, I must say this is a bit more complex and adult than a typical YA offering. Just all around solid world building, angst, struggles, revolution, and complex characters, even amongst those pegged as villains.

I also thought this was just about the right length. It’s as long as it needs to be, and the level of complexity is engaging, without being confusing.

Alright, so overall, I’d say I love this book. I would strongly recommend this to folks who love a meaty dystopian or sci fi offering. The science and the level of dysfunction are satisfyingly realistic, with familiar themes delivered in a new way.

I received the review copy of this book from NetGalley in return for an honest review.

 

Reading soon: Under the Empyrean Sky (The Heartland Trilogy #1) by Chuck Wendig

Under the Empyrean Sky (The Heartland Trilogy Book 1) by Chuck Wendig

Description:
Fear the Corn.

Corn is king in the Heartland, and Cael McAvoy has had enough of it. It's the only crop the Empyrean government allows the people of the Heartland to grow—and the genetically modified strain is so aggressive that it takes everything the Heartlanders have just to control it. As captain of the Big Sky Scavengers, Cael and his crew sail their rickety ship over the corn day after day, scavenging for valuables. But Cael's tired of surviving life on the ground while the Empyrean elite drift by above in their extravagant sky flotillas. He's sick of the mayor's son besting Cael's crew in the scavenging game. And he's worried about losing Gwennie—his first mate and the love of his life—forever when their government-chosen spouses are revealed. But most of all, Cael is angry—angry that their lot in life will never get better and that his father doesn't seem upset about any of it. When Cael and his crew discover a secret, illegal garden, he knows it’s time to make his own luck...even if it means bringing down the wrath of the Empyrean elite and changing life in the Heartland forever.

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I'm excited to have been approved for this book on NetGalley, though it's already released. This looks right up my alley.

Hey, why not pick up a copy and read along with me? I plan to start as soon as I finish up Siobhan Davis' new book Destiny Rising (True Calling Book 3). 

And check out those covers. Wow!