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A Girl Called Badger
When strange seizures threaten the life of the girl he loves, a young man leaves a protective enclave of ancient machinery and searches the ruins of civilization for a cure.
Three centuries after a global pandemic and nuclear war, the mountains and plains of Colorado flourish with wildlife. The survivors avoid the blasted zones of "ghost-sickness," hunt mule deer in the pine forests, and cultivate new strains of crops. Scattered tribes fight short, brutal wars and trade slaves for rifles made by a rising power in the south.
High in the Rocky Mountains, a collection of people thrive in the still-functioning remains of a research facility. With each passing generation, the true nature of the founding ancestors has become fantastical myth to most villagers, who spend their time hunting outside the valley or farming corn and hemp. Carefully selected priests serve as caretakers of the ancient machinery, doctors, and librarians of the past.
One of the hunters, a tough and resourceful teenage girl nicknamed Badger, falls unconscious with momentary, uncontrollable shaking. Wilson, a bookish apprentice priest, searches the library and the old databases for a cause to the mysterious illness. Together, he and Badger crawl through abandoned tunnels deep within the mountain. What they discover about the past forces them to choose between love for each other and the strict rules of the village.
Three centuries after a global pandemic and nuclear war, the mountains and plains of Colorado flourish with wildlife. The survivors avoid the blasted zones of "ghost-sickness," hunt mule deer in the pine forests, and cultivate new strains of crops. Scattered tribes fight short, brutal wars and trade slaves for rifles made by a rising power in the south.
High in the Rocky Mountains, a collection of people thrive in the still-functioning remains of a research facility. With each passing generation, the true nature of the founding ancestors has become fantastical myth to most villagers, who spend their time hunting outside the valley or farming corn and hemp. Carefully selected priests serve as caretakers of the ancient machinery, doctors, and librarians of the past.
One of the hunters, a tough and resourceful teenage girl nicknamed Badger, falls unconscious with momentary, uncontrollable shaking. Wilson, a bookish apprentice priest, searches the library and the old databases for a cause to the mysterious illness. Together, he and Badger crawl through abandoned tunnels deep within the mountain. What they discover about the past forces them to choose between love for each other and the strict rules of the village.
- GenresScience Fiction
366 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 4, 2012
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117 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
June 8, 2013
Life after the apocalypse is hard and much has been lost. The knowledge left is a mishmash of colloquialisms and high tech instructions, while some basics, like the definition of priest, have been lost. Survivors have clumped into isolated tribes and groups, fighting for resources.
Teenaged apprentice priest, Wilson, has a crush on a girl nicknamed Badger who socializes with almost no one, having been brought into the group living in Station at the age of eight. Now, at sixteen, Badger starts having seizures that could ultimately kill her. Wilson decides he must cure her, even if the journey kills him.
My opinion: As an SF this is excellent. If you're looking for the romantic thread or deep character, not so much.
The good: The worldbuilding is excellent. Like a nesting doll just when you think you've figured out the whole, nope, there's more! The situation captivated me, kept me reading, and compelled me to buy the next book. The plot is fast and action-packed. The disintegration of society is realistic and interesting. Wilson becomes an interesting character.
The not-so-good for me: Several things.
The "love story" between Wilson and Badger was so abrupt I had to go back to see if I missed the buildup. There was none. One minute he has a crush on a person who's barely spoken to him, the next she walks up, kisses him, they have off-screen sex apparently, then they're in Love and willing to die for each other. Not believable. Slowly over the course of the story they became friends and then it was believable.
Many of the adults often spoke like current day teenagers, which I found annoying, along with Badger's tendency to giggle. We don't really get to know Badger.
There were about a dozen typos that could easily have been caught with spellcheck or grammar check.
The ending was a bit too deux ex machina for me. But also intriguing and made me want to know more.
Overall: It was a good SF story. The world alone had me wanting to keep reading.
Teenaged apprentice priest, Wilson, has a crush on a girl nicknamed Badger who socializes with almost no one, having been brought into the group living in Station at the age of eight. Now, at sixteen, Badger starts having seizures that could ultimately kill her. Wilson decides he must cure her, even if the journey kills him.
My opinion: As an SF this is excellent. If you're looking for the romantic thread or deep character, not so much.
The good: The worldbuilding is excellent. Like a nesting doll just when you think you've figured out the whole, nope, there's more! The situation captivated me, kept me reading, and compelled me to buy the next book. The plot is fast and action-packed. The disintegration of society is realistic and interesting. Wilson becomes an interesting character.
The not-so-good for me: Several things.
The "love story" between Wilson and Badger was so abrupt I had to go back to see if I missed the buildup. There was none. One minute he has a crush on a person who's barely spoken to him, the next she walks up, kisses him, they have off-screen sex apparently, then they're in Love and willing to die for each other. Not believable. Slowly over the course of the story they became friends and then it was believable.
Many of the adults often spoke like current day teenagers, which I found annoying, along with Badger's tendency to giggle. We don't really get to know Badger.
There were about a dozen typos that could easily have been caught with spellcheck or grammar check.
The ending was a bit too deux ex machina for me. But also intriguing and made me want to know more.
Overall: It was a good SF story. The world alone had me wanting to keep reading.
March 9, 2014
The writing needs some work. Parts of the book flow really well, but then it just starts stuttering and skipping. Perhaps a tighter plot would have worked. I made it half-way and realized that I just didn't care what happened next.
July 18, 2014
A likeable story
I've always liked reading stories about future generations living in a world of lost tech. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young people going into the wider world and learning there is so much more than they thought they knew.
I've always liked reading stories about future generations living in a world of lost tech. I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys young people going into the wider world and learning there is so much more than they thought they knew.
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December 7, 2013True
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews