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Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close
More monsters. More violence. More twists.
Stealing the biggest boat in the colony is a difficult task. It's easier with friends. Hetch finds herself with a cabal of helpers she didn't ask for, but desperately needs. Getting to Landing Site One now seems tantalisingly within reach. But who exactly is getting on the boat?
More twists and turns await Hetch as she tries to force her childhood fantasy into a shattering reality. The consequences of her actions in the first book are compounded by a new set of players who have their own agenda.
Who will survive?
Stealing the biggest boat in the colony is a difficult task. It's easier with friends. Hetch finds herself with a cabal of helpers she didn't ask for, but desperately needs. Getting to Landing Site One now seems tantalisingly within reach. But who exactly is getting on the boat?
More twists and turns await Hetch as she tries to force her childhood fantasy into a shattering reality. The consequences of her actions in the first book are compounded by a new set of players who have their own agenda.
Who will survive?
192 pages, Paperback
Published November 11, 2025
1 person want to read
About the author
D. Harrigon
9 books2 followersWorking mainly as an actor and director Dave Dawkins has also published half a dozen short stories over the years under the nom de plume D. Harrigon. He has lived in Australia, UK, China and America, travelling the world at every opportunity.
His acting work has engaged with everything from Shakespearean companies, through circus performers, to opera.
The pandemic sent him from London back to Australia, where he currently resides, walking the many trails of the Tasmanian wilderness in his spare time.
His acting work has engaged with everything from Shakespearean companies, through circus performers, to opera.
The pandemic sent him from London back to Australia, where he currently resides, walking the many trails of the Tasmanian wilderness in his spare time.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
July 8, 2025
Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close, by D. Harrigon, picks up two months on from the events of Desolation: The Overdue Library.
Hetch is, so far, managing to avoid being recognised as the infiltrator of Muha-Maho Palace, while working with Veva, Pearson, and other allies to skim salvaged materials and supplies to fit out a technologically-advanced boat (“Bilbo”) for their planned expedition to Landing Site One – the true location of which Hetch discovered in the previous instalment.
Of course, plenty of obstacles come up: a particularly vicious crab takes Pearson’s steam engine out of action; Hetch has to deal with being pulled in for a regional identity parade, as well as the hostility of Aqualina, the contender she reluctantly took down in a fight at the palace; and a trio of false friends steal a cutter containing metal and flour Hetch and co. desperately need for their mission.
Then Captain Galetea, unaware of Bilbo’s true purpose, makes an offer the gang can’t refuse: she’ll supply everything they need to complete the boat in record time, in return for them pursuing the rebel Daughters of the Iron Drum, who have not only taken our heroes’ goods, but a precious man from the huts at Muha-Maho.
We meet Daughters Nzinga, Organa, and Inari as they sneakily join a salvage mission, commandeer the loaded cutter – and end up in mortal danger when the man they’ve kidnapped fights back in ways that are surprising to say the least.
Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close is a more than worthy follow-up to Desolation: The Overdue Library. Now we have a grounding in the fundamentals of Hetch’s world, the author makes the most of the opportunity to add colour and texture, yet keeps the plot moving and the threats coming at the fast pace he set in the first instalment.
The key way Harrigon builds upon book one is by introducing additional characters and storylines, giving the plot a more sophisticated feel and heightening the sense of action and excitement.
Nzinga’s narrative particularly exemplifies this. Through her, we get insights into the ideology and aims of the Daughters of the Iron Drum; scenes of extreme peril that deliver on the interlude at the end of The Overdue Library; and an antagonist for both Hetch’s crew and the denizens of the Palace – albeit one the reader can sympathise with, having knowledge of her inner conflicts and where she ends up.
We also get to know some of the characters we’ve already met a bit better. It was interesting to find out more about Hetch’s backstory and see where she lives. As I’d hoped, engineers Veva and Pearson (aka Vee and Pea) are in the series for the long haul. A handful of others reappear to help or hinder Hetch, and are entertaining either way. And, as the blurb and my summary indicate, we get to meet some more of the planet’s grotesque, inhospitable creatures.
Something that’s really stood out to me so far in this series is the way the colonists have clung on to Earth culture for so long, as part of their centuries-long conviction that they’re only on this sub-optimal planet until they can assemble the means to get back “home”. While this particularly comes through in their attachment to Earthly books and films (and apparent refusal/failure to create any entertainment media of their own), I think their custom of choosing names for themselves based on their geographical ancestry is an inspired touch.
This all puts me in mind of histories/stories of (terrestrial) migration: how first and subsequent generations of migrants stay connected (or otherwise) to their country of origin, and how they perceive themselves in terms of nationality and belonging. Clearly, in this case, the majority of the colonists dislike the planet so much/are so invested in the ‘we’re going back to Earth as soon as we can’ narrative that they don’t consider themselves to be “of” the planet. At the same time, if they got to Earth having missed 300+ years of human affairs and cultural developments, would they feel like they belonged there either? Could the reality be a letdown after three centuries of hype?
As in the previous book, Harrigon has largely managed to avoid the common “men writing women” mistakes – usually, when characters are described in terms of beauty, it’s pertinent to the plot, or it’s through the eyes of another character who’s rather taken by them. However, one apprentice engineer is described as ‘surprisingly attractive’, and I couldn’t work out what was so surprising!
Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close is an exciting and multifaceted addition to a continuing series.
Hetch is, so far, managing to avoid being recognised as the infiltrator of Muha-Maho Palace, while working with Veva, Pearson, and other allies to skim salvaged materials and supplies to fit out a technologically-advanced boat (“Bilbo”) for their planned expedition to Landing Site One – the true location of which Hetch discovered in the previous instalment.
Of course, plenty of obstacles come up: a particularly vicious crab takes Pearson’s steam engine out of action; Hetch has to deal with being pulled in for a regional identity parade, as well as the hostility of Aqualina, the contender she reluctantly took down in a fight at the palace; and a trio of false friends steal a cutter containing metal and flour Hetch and co. desperately need for their mission.
Then Captain Galetea, unaware of Bilbo’s true purpose, makes an offer the gang can’t refuse: she’ll supply everything they need to complete the boat in record time, in return for them pursuing the rebel Daughters of the Iron Drum, who have not only taken our heroes’ goods, but a precious man from the huts at Muha-Maho.
We meet Daughters Nzinga, Organa, and Inari as they sneakily join a salvage mission, commandeer the loaded cutter – and end up in mortal danger when the man they’ve kidnapped fights back in ways that are surprising to say the least.
Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close is a more than worthy follow-up to Desolation: The Overdue Library. Now we have a grounding in the fundamentals of Hetch’s world, the author makes the most of the opportunity to add colour and texture, yet keeps the plot moving and the threats coming at the fast pace he set in the first instalment.
The key way Harrigon builds upon book one is by introducing additional characters and storylines, giving the plot a more sophisticated feel and heightening the sense of action and excitement.
Nzinga’s narrative particularly exemplifies this. Through her, we get insights into the ideology and aims of the Daughters of the Iron Drum; scenes of extreme peril that deliver on the interlude at the end of The Overdue Library; and an antagonist for both Hetch’s crew and the denizens of the Palace – albeit one the reader can sympathise with, having knowledge of her inner conflicts and where she ends up.
We also get to know some of the characters we’ve already met a bit better. It was interesting to find out more about Hetch’s backstory and see where she lives. As I’d hoped, engineers Veva and Pearson (aka Vee and Pea) are in the series for the long haul. A handful of others reappear to help or hinder Hetch, and are entertaining either way. And, as the blurb and my summary indicate, we get to meet some more of the planet’s grotesque, inhospitable creatures.
Something that’s really stood out to me so far in this series is the way the colonists have clung on to Earth culture for so long, as part of their centuries-long conviction that they’re only on this sub-optimal planet until they can assemble the means to get back “home”. While this particularly comes through in their attachment to Earthly books and films (and apparent refusal/failure to create any entertainment media of their own), I think their custom of choosing names for themselves based on their geographical ancestry is an inspired touch.
This all puts me in mind of histories/stories of (terrestrial) migration: how first and subsequent generations of migrants stay connected (or otherwise) to their country of origin, and how they perceive themselves in terms of nationality and belonging. Clearly, in this case, the majority of the colonists dislike the planet so much/are so invested in the ‘we’re going back to Earth as soon as we can’ narrative that they don’t consider themselves to be “of” the planet. At the same time, if they got to Earth having missed 300+ years of human affairs and cultural developments, would they feel like they belonged there either? Could the reality be a letdown after three centuries of hype?
As in the previous book, Harrigon has largely managed to avoid the common “men writing women” mistakes – usually, when characters are described in terms of beauty, it’s pertinent to the plot, or it’s through the eyes of another character who’s rather taken by them. However, one apprentice engineer is described as ‘surprisingly attractive’, and I couldn’t work out what was so surprising!
Desolation: Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close is an exciting and multifaceted addition to a continuing series.
August 25, 2025
Better than the first? Or are we just more invested, now?
Maybe both.
This book does something I love. We, the readers, know more about what's going on than the people in the story because we've seen all the angles, had all the revelations. So we get to laugh and scream at the characters because we know what's coming. Rather than waiting to make the big reveal at the end of the story, the first book makes all the big reveals. That only helps to raise the level of tension in the story even more.
Unexpectedly, this book takes a step away from the main heroine, and introduces Nzinga. She is a deliberately destructive force who gets what's coming to her. But wonderfully, by that time we are completely sympathetic to her. I'm now terrified of what's going to happen to her as much as Hetch.
But there's no need to panic. We get plenty of Hetch and a healthy dose of the returning characters in the first book, some of whom came as a hilarious surprise. Hetch has to deal with what she stirred up in with her foray into the library and the fallout from that. The writer makes some genuinely funny in-jokes and we can see how all of this is going to tumble disastrously along in the next book. Hetch gets what she wants, but nothing goes her way. The final bit following the Captain is epically brilliant, because we know who's lying, why certain characters are reacting that way and what's really happening. The fact that the captain doesn't puts this work on another level. It's truly brilliant.
There's another interlude with the big bad at the end, but this is actually funny because we get to see how pathetic he really is. We see him in pain and suffering because of the wonderfully oblivious tornado that is Hetch.
The writing is as sharp as ever, but accessible, with nice juicy titbits of world building delivered simply, without us having to try and work everything out from context. There are insights and revelations, but above all, it's just fun.
I received an ARC of this book from the author.
Maybe both.
This book does something I love. We, the readers, know more about what's going on than the people in the story because we've seen all the angles, had all the revelations. So we get to laugh and scream at the characters because we know what's coming. Rather than waiting to make the big reveal at the end of the story, the first book makes all the big reveals. That only helps to raise the level of tension in the story even more.
Unexpectedly, this book takes a step away from the main heroine, and introduces Nzinga. She is a deliberately destructive force who gets what's coming to her. But wonderfully, by that time we are completely sympathetic to her. I'm now terrified of what's going to happen to her as much as Hetch.
But there's no need to panic. We get plenty of Hetch and a healthy dose of the returning characters in the first book, some of whom came as a hilarious surprise. Hetch has to deal with what she stirred up in with her foray into the library and the fallout from that. The writer makes some genuinely funny in-jokes and we can see how all of this is going to tumble disastrously along in the next book. Hetch gets what she wants, but nothing goes her way. The final bit following the Captain is epically brilliant, because we know who's lying, why certain characters are reacting that way and what's really happening. The fact that the captain doesn't puts this work on another level. It's truly brilliant.
There's another interlude with the big bad at the end, but this is actually funny because we get to see how pathetic he really is. We see him in pain and suffering because of the wonderfully oblivious tornado that is Hetch.
The writing is as sharp as ever, but accessible, with nice juicy titbits of world building delivered simply, without us having to try and work everything out from context. There are insights and revelations, but above all, it's just fun.
I received an ARC of this book from the author.
October 27, 2025
The second novella of the ‘Desolation’ series, ‘Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close,’ deepens and expands every aspect of the first outing, ‘The Overdue Library.’ Characters we became acquainted with in TOL play a more central role, lending greater depth and context to what we’ve already seen of them. Chillingly, the lead antagonist, already a truly despicable character, descends to even more heinous depths. Rarely have I encountered I villain I so deeply hated and wanted to see get their comeuppance. Despite this, Harrigon has created a truly believable villain whose motivations and actions are not at all overwrought or melodramatic. Indeed, I daresay most of us have met individuals who would take the same actions given the terrible opportunity.
Thankfully, there are many characters to love, even as flawed as they are. From the headstrong Galatea who needs nothing more than to take a breath and laugh, to Veva who could probably stand to take life a bit more seriously, and everyone in between – they are human, relatable, and increasingly familiar as archetypes, characters and indeed, people.
Meanwhile, the worldbuilding too is given more depth, as we explore new territories and the everyday dangers of living on Desolation. The history given continues to intrigue, tantalising the reader with further layers, yet not overwhelming with too much exposition at once.
Ultimately, much like the previous novella, KYIFC leaves the reader with the pleasurable ache to learn more as this instalment comes to a close. Again, I can’t wait for the next one!
Thankfully, there are many characters to love, even as flawed as they are. From the headstrong Galatea who needs nothing more than to take a breath and laugh, to Veva who could probably stand to take life a bit more seriously, and everyone in between – they are human, relatable, and increasingly familiar as archetypes, characters and indeed, people.
Meanwhile, the worldbuilding too is given more depth, as we explore new territories and the everyday dangers of living on Desolation. The history given continues to intrigue, tantalising the reader with further layers, yet not overwhelming with too much exposition at once.
Ultimately, much like the previous novella, KYIFC leaves the reader with the pleasurable ache to learn more as this instalment comes to a close. Again, I can’t wait for the next one!
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews