Driftwood

Starred review from April 27, 2020
Brennan (the Memoirs of Lady Trent series) plays with the concept of secondary-world fantasy with this fresh, immersive introduction to the land of Driftwood, a patchwork world where other fantasy worlds come to die. As each otherworld is pulled toward the Crush, the churning center of Driftwood where their last vestiges mix and crumble before vanishing forever, its inhabitants must adapt to life in Driftwood or disappear along with their homes. The novel’s form mirrors the cobbled-together nature of its world, composed primarily of self-contained episodes unified only by the shadowy figure of Last, the sole survivor of a world that Driftwood consumed long ago. Many who pass through Driftwood seek Last’s aid, desperate to preserve their cultures and stop the inevitable and believing he knows the secrets to surviving the Crush. Brennan skillfully builds a multiplicity of worlds, painting each unique and fully developed culture with bold, minimalist strokes and, though readers don’t get to spend much time with any single character, rendering each member of the sprawling cast with impressive nuance and subtlety. Exploring found family, adaptation, and hope in the face of apocalypse, Brennan imbues this high-concept fantasy with a strong emotional core. Fantasy fans will be thrilled.

Starred review from June 15, 2020
A diverse cast of characters from disparate worlds, each facing their own rapidly approaching mortality, come together to memorialize a missing man--rumored to be immortal--in this new fantasy title from veteran author Brennan. When a world is about to meet its end, it collides with the Edge of Driftwood: a ring-shaped amalgamation of nations bordered by unnavigable mists and marked by an all-consuming eye called the Crush. New additions push preexisting lands further into the Ring, then into the Shreds, where they break into infinitesimally small pieces before being lost forever. The various people-groups caught in this unending cycle cling to one man for hope: Last, the only surviving member of a long-forgotten race. Now, Last has seemingly disappeared, and his devotees have come together to tell stories about their encounters with him in the hope that this sharing will bring answers to the question of his fate. Through these stories, a portrait of Last as a tragic figure, accidental deity, and distant friend emerges. The patchwork quilt of his acquaintances' tales mirrors the very nature of Driftwood itself, slowly peeling back the veil to reveal the living--and departed--people who make up this strange and riveting new cosmos. Readers will close the cover aching to read more about Last and his world. An exciting delve into a conglomerate land filled with magic and mystery.

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Starred review from July 1, 2020
When a world ends, whatever is left arrives at the Edge, emerging from the Mist that surrounds Driftwood. As the world shrinks, slowly dying, it becomes part of the Shreds, where scraps and pieces of different worlds combine, and where the citizens are just Drifters, inhabitants of this combined place. Eventually, everything ends up in the center, called the Crush, doomed to disappear?except for the guide called Last, a person who has lived far longer than anything else has. When he, too, disappears, people gather to memorialize him or criticize him or insist he isn't dead, but whichever it is, by gathering to tell stories about Last, they form an emotional picture of who he was. Brennan's series of vignettes is complex and riveting, populated by distinct worlds, each with its own rules. One has only a devastating sandstorm; in another, memories can be shared or given away; in yet another, magnetic stones enable flight. Last holds them all together with a mystery: was he a god, a man trying to help, or a man trying to survive off others? Driftwood is epic in scale and yet rooted in satisfying detail, full of possibility and wonder.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2020, American Library Association.)