I have a new review in Reckoning, a magazine focusing on writing about environmental justice: I’m discussing B. Pladek’s debut novel DRY LAND.

This is a thinky, reflective novel, with plenty of interiority and an avoidance of common fantasy plot beats. You won’t necessarily know where the plot will go, and it’s not the “hero’s journey” omnipresent in present-day Anglo-American storytelling. For all his magic, Rand isn’t a hero and the plot isn’t an extended training montage. It is someth...