Photo credits: CHEZBEATE - Pixabay Edited by Vaishali Title: A Touch of Death Series: The Outlands Pentalogy #1 Author: Rebecca Crunden Genre/Themes: Adult Dystopian Fantasy, Sci-fi, Romance, Publisher: Self Published Year of Publication: 2017. Format: Paperback copy kindly provided by the author Review...
A thousand years forward, a Kingdom of deference and compliance is encouraged while freedom, temerity and knowledge of the historical past is an expressly outlawed sacrilege. With an impregnable intolerance to disobedience, the new Kingdom is an oppressive regime dressed as a present-day utopia. One with an organisational structure that preys on tyranny and savage punishments to await both small and sizable infractions to the law. Not even the rich are resistant to the heartless hand of the law. Catherine Taenia and Nathanial Anteros are both children to families of high society in the flush privilege of Cutta. To Nate, notorious opposer to the Crown, a life under legislation has always been a humid, unlivable nightmare, and to sheltered Kitty, you can’t be broken by safety. So when the least favoured Anteros brother appears over two years later after being saved from the gallows by the skin of his teeth, he brings the type of lawbreaking trouble to their lives that Kitty has long since detested him for. Only, it might be the beginning of the end this time when a miscarriage of science becomes a drip to their veins. It’s a positively painstaking touch of death. When the man she loves, the law-abiding opposite to his wild brother, is taken by arrest, Kitty is forced on the run with the brother she hates; their destination the banned wilds of the Outlands, home to their enemy and a banned land untouched by Kingdom dwellers. Hunted by enforcers, a price on her head, running with a known dissenter, plagued by a bizarre abnormality and exposed to uncharted curiosities and disturbing verity, Kitty is as misplaced as she’s ever been. She’s now having to place her store of faith in a rebel she condemns. Far away from a city rich with convenience and welfare, out of touch with the certainty of a planned life, not even their family names can save them now. Kitty and Nate are renegades. Wow. What a book. One that eclipses the expectant as much it monopolised the entirely of this reading excursion for me. This dystopian survivalist adventure is a gut punch to a believable repressive society of endorsed censorship. I inadvertently took a long leave from the dystopian scenery because I naturally gravitated to other genres as one does when the curious bug propels you to test the deep blue of the written world. I owe a debt of gratitude to Rebecca Crunden for a not-so-gentle reminder to switch lanes back to an old friend from time to time. A Touch of Death is a well-built and weighted opening volume to the Outlands Pentalogy. A brilliantly coasting story that reads authentically, with prose as plain as its blatant grounding gravity. If my memory works well enough, there are a few tells to an impactful dystopian: an extreme conceptualised state of poverty and neglect where suffering humans are shackled by some social or political force, one that pushes to an extremity that merits a retaliatory extreme. There’s a need to restore humanity or humane rationale. This is where the reformists are built from normal people wanting progressive revisement, not for hero-worship esteem but for necessity - we call them the mavericks… Then there’s a conspicuously tainted setting that relativises that privation and deficiency. And lastly, characters who are skinned enough to court tenuous hope within setting, and whittled by the condition of the earth, bring forth the humanity to take us through the pain of winning something bigger for themselves. A Touch of Death frames the importance of these dystopic elements. Working in tandem, they adjacently betray a plausible story in passing. But as always, It’s the characters who make me visceral with faith and care. Every feature motivates the onerous struggle of a malfunctioning civilisation and the obstacles in place. I willed, wished and coveted the best for these dejected characters. I was with them, for them and followed them every resonant moment of the way. This story doesn’t camouflage the impact of authorised abuse and persecution, and it’s a reality we really get to see most prominently through the wonderful, wounded, resistant Nate. Bad boy to the Crown and just about everyone else, he’s a champion to me. A true dreamer made to wilt from drought of a free life. His heart as aflame as his hair, he’s alert enough to pay attention to what’s deeply insufferable about the world. Having been a firsthand recipient of the Crown’s discipline, he’s aware, knowing, daunted and sees the Outlands as the free lands. It’s through characters like Kitty and Nate, Thom, Evander, Zoe and Tove that we taste the hope and the burn and the cinder; as they challenge the King’s power and risk the aftermath. Now, Nate is a changed man. After losing so much, his faith is as brittle as his direction and only his soul-bonded connection to his brother keeps him whole and alive. He might be more attuned to the life of a criminal, but he’s perhaps more emotionally astray than Kitty. A brilliant character to front this story with her, he just might be my favourite! It takes Kitty longer to lose her hate for Nate and filter through bigotry of the law. You’ll be roped into the heartache, the tumult and the depressive unrest. A Touch of Death is a misadventure of the spirit as much as it twists and treads the surviving undertow. What’s to be loved about these characters is their definition and durability, it attests to the complications they’re presented with. Fitted to this dystopian, Nate and Kitty’s resistant partnership to fragile friends to post-friend uncertainty develops at pace steady to the temperament and temperature of the survival conflict. The strong and very human characterisation is needed in lieu of a world without humanity. I have big plans for their budding romance and I’m praying to the book gods that their haunted souls twine deeper! Kitty might have nested in the privilege of Anais, but it’s her character-defined ability to assimilate to frightening change that surprised me. She’s tougher than you might think. There is a long way to go before the silhouetted future catches sight for Nate and Kitty, and the for the forthcoming entirely, but I’m itching all over to see how they’ll stray from the struggle (and knuckle-fisting thin air as i hope they’ll be ok!). My heart wrenched from pillar to post as they made friends only to suffer the fates of the law. While this is only the gradually-paced first of a five-parter, it’s clear by means of an abstract backstory and abridged details that there’s more to peel back before I’m sure we’ll be face to face with some bigger secrets. So exciting! Most stories enable the ability to easily predict future conditions and plot possibilities, and this is the first time in a while that I’m near vacant with guesses… Interesting world-building carefully pulls the blinds to a developed and declined post-war kingdom. While a reader might want streamlined specifics, and though I wouldn’t have denied more transparency, I didn’t mind being in the dark because there’s an interestingly cautious world imagined in A Touch of Death. Almost old-world with arranged partnerships, extreme punishment and a micromanaged society. It has the retrofuturism of science fiction and the retrograde of a dystopian post-apocalypse with tradition, transportation and the other parts of practical life that’s modern, futuristic and anachronistic. Being members of nobility might plead concession but it’s not a free life as Kitty learns we’re never as safe as we believe we are. Now’s she’s open to a life of bereavement, disease and detriment, swaying under the strain of survival and paying for mistakes she didn’t make. Ignorance might cushion a pipe dream but it consents to scores of sin. Outrunning the risk of capture, the Kingdom looks soulless, privilege looks hollow and her heart bleeds bare as she wonders how choice could be more than just a liberty. This is a world where anyone can become an enemy to king and kingdom by chance and misstep, where nobody is encouraged to have a mind outside of law. To disturb lawful propaganda is a death sentence and to live prostrate through restriction is fostered. It made me think about the potential for regression after any natural/made disaster. The disease thread gripped and the idea that only the rapid decline of mortality can come from an unsparing precept, through small mischief to outright radicalism made for reflective reading. It’s a severe setting that initiates a deep need to see the characters survive and stand tall by any means. Rebecca Crunden envisions a dystopic habitat where the rich live uncaring and the starved sit apart in an organised regime of oppression, one where real freedom is as marginal as the mass population. While every written element of this fashioned fantasy world heightens the despotic setting, it’s the measure of these characters, whose lives are made visceral with urgency and uncertainty that is so strong. It’s the fraught, taut fatalism and the hope of love and friendship that stirs the sober and the reflective insight that sees to state and condition. A Touch of Death is an atmospheric post-apocalyptic fantasy that underscores a stern illustration of a present dystopian. A world that marks a dehumanising system and spotlights heartworn characters weathering obstacles through a censored culture of written and applied propaganda. With genre divisions of science fiction and romance, it’s worthwhile and creative. A dramatic map of brutalisation and recession mirrors a dystopic downstream where superheroes don’t exist and real people are famished for free will. This book is an on-the-edge-of-suspense debut of deep intrigue and Crunden writes characteristic to a draconion scenery. I gave this book 4 stars - A big thank you to Rebecca for sending over a copy for review! C O N T E N T W A R N I N G: General warnings and descriptions for abuse, violence, blood and torture. Mentions severe punishments as execution, authorised rape, beatings and whippings. Also mentions drugs and exhibits instances of smoking and drinking. Describes some specifics of declining health and emaciating bodies. There are also attitudes inclined to death and mildly describes a suicide attempt. --------------------------------------- M Y R A T I N G S Y S T E M: ★ - 1 star: I did not like the book ★★ - 2 stars: The book was okay ★★★ - 3 stars: It was a good, solid read ★★★★ - 4 stars: A great book ★★★★★ - 5: A phenomenal read --------------------------------------- __________________________________________________________ R E L A T E D P O S T S: ● Book Review: 'A History of Madness by Rebecca Crunden' ● Book Review: A Promise of Return by Rebecca Crunden ● Book Review: A Dance Of Lies by Rebecca Crunden ● Book Review: A Time of Prophecy by Rebecca Crunden __________________________________________________________ E X T R A T H O U G H T S: CONTAINS SPOILERS! 1) While Thom is supposedly dead, I have a strong feeling that he’s alive. From the way he’s described, he’s too intelligent and all-knowing to kill off. I’m certain that he’s a chamelion with many secrets. He’s one of the more abstract pieces of this story and it seems obvious to me that there’s so much to him than just the man Kitty knows. I also have a sneaky feeling that he maybe knew about the experimentation that happened during the war… 2) Theory time: Not a big theory here, but I do think Nate might be the King’s son. It would explain how he has the luck of the fortunate every time he’s in trouble. 3) Though Nate still believes Thom is alive, I found it a bit odd that he pursued Kitty without guilt. I don’t mind because I’m desperate to see them together, and while I’m fine with the way their unhasty relationship develops, Kitty is still his brother’s lady… 4) I’m not really keen on the front cover, I’ve got to say. It represents the story well but I don’t think it does the book justice. 5) I think the book could use a map to help get a better picture of the placement and settlement of each country as Kitty and Nate travel. Aside from that, I think a glossary would work really well here too because the terminology isn’t explained right away and to be honest, I’m still uncertain about some the events that happened and some of the words used. (After talking to the author, I found out a map of Cutta can be found on her author website, here!) S O M E F A V O U R I T E Q U O T E S: He held her gaze intently. 'Nothing has ever been mine, Kitty. Nothing but Tommy. My life, my body, my future - all of that was out of my control from birth. And I raged. God's wrath did I rage. I mean, look at me now. Whatever this is, the Council's had a hand in it.' His face twisted with ugly bitterness. "But there are things not even Crown and Council can steal and control. Not my mind, not my heart, not my soul.'…He continued, voice barely more than a whisper, 'My mind is my own. My soul is Tommy's and darling, whether you ever care or not, my heart is yours." 'And Nate - Nate's always loved extremes. He feels thing to the bone. He loves few enough because when he loves it's consuming, violent, unending. I think he hates his feelings as much as he needs them to carry on. It's impossible to feel so strongly about things without them being the death of you.' ‘My fear pushes me forwards; it does not hold me back. My fear of what’s behind, of what has been done to me.’ 'Catherine thought about the stories her nanny had told her as a child. Stories of how the moon had fallen in love with the sun but could never touch her, for she burned far too bright and her brightness could never be shared. The only time the moon could be with the sun were those rare moments when they eclipsed each other in the sky, kissing for a brief moment before separating again for an age. The story had made her so sad as a child, for she could not imagine never being able to touch the one she loved. Now she knew only too well how it felt.' 'You were what they wanted you to be,' said Nate. 'Just as Tommy was. Now you are free and they know your name. It's frightening. It frightened me, once. Takes a few years not to care.' 'I'm not doing anything. I'm running away.' Nate raised an eyebrow in disbelief. 'Kitty, how many people do you think would have run away? How many people do you think would have stayed and hoped for the best? So few people have the courage to leave.' 'It's a wonder how everyone just does what you want,' said Catherine, although she was insanely relieved to hear that Cecily was aiding them. "Trust me, darling, hardly anyone does what I want,' he said. Catherine raised an eyebrow. "Is that so?' "True enough, but I would hate it if you did as I said " She couldn't help the smirk that twitched her lips. "Why is that?' He said, smile wicked, "Fighting with you is one of the greatest parts of my life." Catherine laughed and leaned back against the cushions. 'I just want all of this to be over with. I want to be able to touch people again, I want to be able to brush against someone without having burns coat my body. I want you to be healthy and whole. It breaks my heart every time I look at you " Nate leaned back beside her. "I am utterly irresistible on a good day, aren't I? "We talk every day." "About our infection. About food and shelter. About anything but us. I know you're beautiful and strong and pack quite a solid punch; I don't know you're favourite colour or if you've ever been to a festival and fallen over because you drank too much or who your first kiss was, although I've gathered it was Tommy. Things you should know about the person you're attached to. I could give you a hundred reasons why I love you already. I want a thousand more.' 'She had never really given much thought to whether Nate liked milk or dark chocolate, or if he preferred grey skies to clear, or what his favourite book or reel was, or of he was allergic to berries or nuts or fish the way some people seemed cursed to be. She knew every detail of Thom 's life and had learned a great deal of it after they'd moved in together. She'd been with Nate for months and knew him distantly, abstractly, the way she knew horses and flowers and the stars in the sky; familiar things that held comfort and continuity, but we're not known in the way of actually knowing.' 'Where Thom had always been dominant and playful, Nate kissed her like she was the only think keeping him alive. which, she realised with a sudden jolt of fear, she was.' 'Catherine's father has once called Nate 'wildfire'. He hadn't meant it as a compliment and at the time she hadn't seen it as one. Yet there was something about his words which rang true. Nate had always been wild and dangerous, burning everything in his path and living with a passion that would only consume him in the end. Thom, on the other hand, was patient, powerful; a polar opposite with ice in his veins and armour made of money and manipulations.' "Those are dangerous words,' said Nate, his eye alight with mischief and admiration. "I like you like this." "Contemplative?' "Rebellious. I always knew you were a fighter. Seeing it...I like it. Don't ever let them tell you what to think." Catherine frowned. "I never knew there was anything to know " "Therein lies the problem." 'It was then she realised that she was stronger than him. Nate had withered away before her eyes. Since she was twelve years old, Catherine had always seen Nate as hulking, impossible to hold back or hinder. He had always been larger than life - obnoxiously so. Something to fight that would always fight back. She had relied so heavily on that assumption.' 'My love for Thom was the product of years of affection, loyalty and togetherness. A love grown from care and tending. I lived him as anyone would love someone so good, so handsome, so pure and kind. There's a lot to be said about consistency. But I never felt anything truly extreme for Thom until his death.' 'How are you feeling?' said Evander. 'I thought I heard you getting sick.' Nate waved his hand. 'Im fine. It's only a touch of death.' 'I still remember what you were wearing. You looked so beautiful. I've been with a few in my life, darling, and I've even liked a couple of them, but that night...I could barely talk to Tommy, i was so distracted by you. You just started yelling at me and all I could do was smile because I thought anger sounded all right coming from you. Most people tell at me. I'm used to it. I've never liked it before.' 'I though you were mocking me.' Nate grinned. 'Perhaps a little. Mostly I just wanted to see how much passion and fury one person could hold within them. You seemed filled with both. More than anything, I noticed how I was the only one who could ignite it. I think I liked that far too much. Still do.' 'She didn't know where he had been the last two years but the change was obvious. Gone was the Nate she had grown up with. Gone, too, was the skeleton he had come back from prison as. This new Nate seemed as reckless and criminal as the last, but there was something different. The anger which once seemed to make him burn was gone. in its place seemed a strange hollowness. A lack of purpose and certainty.’ 'In all her memory, Nate had never been scared of - or reasonable about - anything. The first to jump headlong into any ill-advised situation, Nate never showed any fear. In that moment, on the other side of the room, fear came off him like smoke from a cigarette.' He reached out and touched her shoulder so lightly she barely felt it. A calming sensation passed slowly through her as he squeezed her arm, and she felt better than she had in days. Her body seemed to refresh, heal and refuel, as if she were made of solar panels and he was made of sunlight. It was the most peculiar feeling. 'it's weird,' he said. 'I feel like I'm in a reel of some kind.' 'I feel cursed.' 'You're a terrible liar.' 'Unlike you.' 'You know how well I lie, do you?' 'I've known you since we were both little things, darling, he replied. 'Only an idiot wouldn't know how well you spin tales on that tongue.' '...Why does humankind do anything?' His lip curled in disgust. 'Because we can. Morality doesn't hold a candle to curiosity.' 'Do you know what it is to be able to tell a group of people how angry, how scared, how disgusted you are at everything and have them not only listen and understand, but give you words of comfort and wisdom and condolence? For the first time in my life, I felt amongst my own kind. It's a very intoxicating feeling.' 'We were - are - unhappy. We should be able to say that we're unhappy and not fear the repurcussions.' 'When she finally fell asleep, she dreamed of a bright green field with endless hills where the wind was like the last grasp of warmth before an oncoming thunderstorm. Walking towards her was a tall, broad-shouldered figure with hair like fire, and dark eyes once storm grey now reddened to maroon; inhuman, mutated, lovely eyes. He was smiling broadly, whole and strong once more, and Kitty felt a surge of relief. If she was only ever to have one kind of dream, she wanted it to be of him.' (p303) I love interacting with fellow readers, reviewers, bloggers and writers. Hearing about reader opinion is the fuel to my reader appetite, so get in touch and comment below! SHARE ON FACEBOOK L E A V E A C O M M E N T A N D L E T' S T A L K A B O U T |
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