The Dead Lands

Starred review from February 9, 2015
A postapocalyptic America mired in political intrigues serves as the backdrop for this visionary thriller from Percy (Red Moon). Years after a super-flu and nuclear Armageddon have decimated civilization, the remnants of U.S. citizenry cower inside the Sanctuary, a foundering stronghold on the outskirts of St. Louis, the tyrannical leaders of which rule by fearmongering and intimidation. When a visiting emissary from Oregon proves that life flourishes elsewhere, bookish Lewis Meriwether and rugged Wilhemina Clark flee with an entourage of fugitives. They embark on a northwestern trek through the wilderness known as the Dead Lands, mirroring the historical exploration of America’s Louisiana Purchase. Percy throws a number of frightening obstacles in his adventurers’ way, including giant spiders, enormous predatory bats, and human slavers, but the greatest challenges his characters face are their own doubts about the future and their place in the society they are fleeing to. With its fluid integration of reflections on American values and freedoms into a near-future scenario whose dramas resonate with the contemporary zeitgeist, this novel is a reminder that the best speculative fiction speaks to the concerns and issues of its time. Agent: Katherine Fausset, Curtis Brown.

Starred review from June 29, 2015
For this new adventure yarn, Percy
reimagines the 1804 Lewis and Clark expedition as a postapocalyptic journey from a futuristic and despotic city called the Sanctuary to a freer, moister Oregon. The novel’s dangerous journey is led by friends-from-childhood Meriwether
Lewis and the much tougher Wilhelmina “Mina” Clark. Their Sacajawea-like guide is Gawea, a clairvoyant from outside the Sanctuary who is captured by those who rule the city. Along the way, they encounter albino bats, white bears, and militant women. These travails alternate with chapters about a young thief named Simon and his friend Ella, a museum attendant, who have been left behind to deal with the vicious mayor, Thomas, and Sheriff Slade, his sadistic minion. The youthful softness of reader Graham’s voice is surprisingly effective as counterpoint to the often violent nature of the material. It’s also particularly fitting when it comes to the bumbling Lewis, the bookish Ella, and, with just a small adjustment from Graham, the streetwise Simon. When needed, Graham is capable of adding strength and determination for Mina, sneering indifference and waspish anger for Thomas, and a betrayer’s guilt for Gawea, who has a secret reason for aiding Lewis and Clark. The voice Graham saves for Slade almost makes the hair rise up on the back of your neck. It’s a croak that’s guttural, raspy, and ripe with evil. A Grand Central hardcover.