The Arid Lands

by Kate Kelly

The Tyrhennians struggle to survive in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean. Inez knows no other world than this endless cycle of heat and brine, but listens to the stories of a distant land of great cities and endless seas.

She never believed them, until the day her brother is injured by a strange craft crossing the desolate plains. So she discovers that the stories are true. But as she tries to find her brother in a strange city she realises that she is not the only person from the salt plains here. Others from the Arid Lands have infiltrated the city - and they have a plan.

Genres: Dystopia

244 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 19, 2023

About the author

Kate Kelly was born in Scotland but grew up in Devon. She studied Geology at Dundee University and then Oceanography as a post grad at Southampton. She now works as a Marine Scientist. Her interest in these subjects has inspired many of the themes in her writing.

Kate has written all her life and has had a number of science fiction short stories published. Her debut novel Red Rock is published by Curious Fox.

As well as writing Kate is a keen hill walker and is fascinated by history and archaeology.

She lives in Dorset with her husband, two daughters and assorted pets.

Reviews

[Linda Raedisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

Arid Lands is the second novel in the self-Published Science Fiction Competition that I've enjoyed enough to read in its entirety. No, I'm not a judge; I'm a competitor, and I'm having a lot of fun checking out the competition. When I saw there were "Tyrrhenians" in Kate Kelly's book, I knew I had to read it: I've got Tyrrhenians, too, and our independently created fictional ethnic groups have more than a few things in common. I'm not wild about books in which the hero spends most of their time struggling to survive in impossibly harsh conditions, but I was intrigued by the idea of a people subsisting "in the dried out basin of an ancient ocean." I AM a fan of the There's-a-whole-other-world-out-there kind of journey, and Arid Lands delivers this. In fact, I was immediately struck by similarities to H.M. Hoover's "Children of Morrow," one of the first science fiction books I ever read and one that is still near and dear to my heart. Inez' desperate search for her little brother Rocco brought back happy memories of Tia and Rabbet's journey in Children of Morrow. To be clear, Inez is not a child. Her age is not actually stated, but I would put her around sixteen: sixteen and never been in love before. It's her very teenagery imperfections that endeared her to me: her cluelessness on her arrival in "the city"; her determination to keep going towards her goal when a more mature, more sensible character might have given up; her flighty feelings; the ease with which her attention can be diverted by a sweet bun and a glass of lemonade! In fact, YA readers will probably enjoy the book more than oldy oldsters like me. We hear a lot about how Inez feels about a certain young man, but I wasn't told enough about that young man to understand why. For the YA reader, it might be enough to know that he's a hot mess, a good kisser, and he makes Inez' heart go flip-flop. (I was holding out for the other man in her life, Bruno, but . . . spoilers!) I really would have liked a map in this book. I would have liked an afterword, too. The author has a background in oceanography--I think?--and I would have liked to hear more about her inspiration and research, and how her original premise is not so far flung; there was at one time a real life plot to drain the Mediterranean. I also would have liked a deeper experience of the Tyrrhenian culture and how they diverged from the people in "the city" over the 600 years that precedes the action. But that's oldy oldster me. You young folks will enjoy Inez' adventure through a not-so-strange world and the labyrinth of her own feelings.

[Andrew May · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the third novel I've read by Kate Kelly, and I found it just as intriguing and exciting as the first two. Like Red Rock and The Sleepers, it combines an original and well thought-out scenario with an intricate, fast-moving plot that never quite goes in the direction you expect it to. This story is set further in the future than its predecessors, at a time when the global community has become a lot more fragmented, parts of it maintaining a 1950s-ish level of technology and social structure while others have descended to a pre-mediaeval subsistence culture. This may or may not be a credible scenario, but there's no time to worry about things like that when our protagonist has just a few days to find out what's going on and save the world!

I particularly enjoyed the book for a reason that has nothing to do with prose fiction. One of my guilty pleasures is a particular sub-genre of "casual" (i.e. you can't get killed) adventure game that typically features a female protagonist thrust into a totally unfamiliar environment, often hot on the heels of a missing father/grandfather/uncle/fiancé/sibling/offspring or such like. Well, that's pretty much how The Arid Lands works. It even has NPCs who won't help us or give us information until we do something for them, a couple of locked rooms we have to escape from, a posh walled house we have to covertly break into, and even a pile of garbage we have to hunt through in search of something useful! So if you're a fan of such games (or if you like this kind of storyline in general) you'll probably enjoy The Arid Lands just as much as I did.

[Richard · Rating 4 out of 5]

DISCLAIMER - I received a free copy of this book to review for the 2024/25 Self-Published Science Fiction Competition (SPSFC).

If you are looking for an interesting, well-written, quick read, dystopian Sci Fi book, The Arid Lands might be worth considering. I read it in a day after get swept up in the storyline. Kate M Kelly has created a very relatable protagonist in Inez. She and her people, the Tyrhennians, are survivors who barely manage hang on in an arid waste land.

Inez has been raising her younger brother, Rocco, alone since her mother died. The story begins with Rocco running away into the forbidden zone after Inez and he had a spat. Suddenly Rocco is taken by people with all sorts of machinery and technology that Inez has never seen. Thus begins the adventure with Inez following after in an attempt to rescue her brother but finding a world beyond her wildest imagination.

Things I loved about the book include; Kelly’s unique cause of the dystopian landscape, Inez’s naiveté but good heartedness, many secrets and secret organizations, and a rapidly evolving storyline. The downfalls are the unbelievable science, too much focus on Inez’s love life, and how one dimensional many of the other characters are.

Overall an enjoyable quick read but with a few too many flaws.

[Nick Snape · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Arid Lands by Kate Kelly is one of those books you read and suddenly realise you are at the end having had a great time. Inez, the first person POV main character, is so well written and inconsistently consistent as any teenager I have met to the point that I began ticking off the traits in nieces and friends’ children. Both feisty and stubborn, inexperienced but world wise. But above all else, someone who takes you by the scruff of the neck and takes you on a wild ride through her transformation from a native of the Arid Lands to would be … and, that would be telling. However, as a reader you are fully aware that there may be a little suspension of disbelief in parts of Inez’s story around the city and the abilities of the people she encounters. If you can do that, then the well-written prose surfs its way through a fast-paced and fascinating story that’ll have you cheering Inez on.

[Stephen Winter · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’ve always loved dystopian novels (especially cli-fi), and this one did not disappoint. It has a fantastic Dune-meets-Mad Max vibe, wrapped in a Romantifi arc. There’s also an incredible world-building twist I absolutely loved.

Content Warning: There’s a scene involving an intense, unwanted sexual advance. It isn’t graphic, but it is intense.

Excellent job, Kate!