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Desolation: The Hollow Drum
Not yet published
Expected 1 Oct 26This explosive, penultimate instalment will see victory, pain and death.
After the disasters that shattered the group, Hetch and her nemesis Aqualina, along with a defector, must negotiate the explosive situation brewing with The Daughters of the Iron Drum. Hetch is so close to reaching Landing Site One. The only obstacles that lie in her way are a mountain full of fanatics, and thousands of their terrifying Children. And a hostile jungle. Also, Captain Galetea wants a word.
Fanatics, bugs, betrayal, bugs, blood, and more bugs!
After the disasters that shattered the group, Hetch and her nemesis Aqualina, along with a defector, must negotiate the explosive situation brewing with The Daughters of the Iron Drum. Hetch is so close to reaching Landing Site One. The only obstacles that lie in her way are a mountain full of fanatics, and thousands of their terrifying Children. And a hostile jungle. Also, Captain Galetea wants a word.
Fanatics, bugs, betrayal, bugs, blood, and more bugs!
- GenresScience FictionSteampunk
ebook
Expected publication October 1, 2026
About the author
D. Harrigon
10 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 - 2 of 2 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for a fair review.
I will also be buying a physical copy when the Kickstarter comes out as I love, love, love this series.
This book picks up right after the last one, without the time jumps between the other books. This is great, as we're right into the meat of the story here and boy is it meaty!
We have a weird gang around Hetch our heroine. Her nemesis-come-friend the giant, muscular Aqualina, and Dannica Graff, who we met in the previous book as Savannah. Together they must infiltrate the Daughters of the Iron Drum, a gang of misguided fanatics. This involves one of the most skin-crawling passages ever committed to the page as they creep in through a nest of giant ants (alien bug things, but let's face it, they're ants and meticulously well researched at that). They strap bits of shell to themselves that give off the appropriate pheromones and literally crawl through the nest. I think these Children, as the daughters call them, will play a major part in the last book and I'm really looking forward to that.
Meanwhile, everyone else from the boat joins up with some disillusioned daughters to infiltrate the lair through the front door. The two groups meet up in a hilarious fashion that's amazingly both explosive (literally) and heartwarming. I came as close to crying while reading a book as I ever have at the sheer delight of the whole gang getting back together.
The action is brilliantly paced without being overly violent. There are excellent discussions about the necessity of violence, the difference between social conditioning and outright brainwashing, breaking free of cultism, mental health, and whether or not Marcus really is the biggest tool in the universe.
Amazing writing, big ideas presented on a personal and immediate scale, fantastic worldbuilding - if this planet doesn't exist it certainly should - and a wonderful heroine going through her personal story and finally reaching her goal only to find it's not what she imagined. I can't wait to see how it all pans out in the final book.
I will also be buying a physical copy when the Kickstarter comes out as I love, love, love this series.
This book picks up right after the last one, without the time jumps between the other books. This is great, as we're right into the meat of the story here and boy is it meaty!
We have a weird gang around Hetch our heroine. Her nemesis-come-friend the giant, muscular Aqualina, and Dannica Graff, who we met in the previous book as Savannah. Together they must infiltrate the Daughters of the Iron Drum, a gang of misguided fanatics. This involves one of the most skin-crawling passages ever committed to the page as they creep in through a nest of giant ants (alien bug things, but let's face it, they're ants and meticulously well researched at that). They strap bits of shell to themselves that give off the appropriate pheromones and literally crawl through the nest. I think these Children, as the daughters call them, will play a major part in the last book and I'm really looking forward to that.
Meanwhile, everyone else from the boat joins up with some disillusioned daughters to infiltrate the lair through the front door. The two groups meet up in a hilarious fashion that's amazingly both explosive (literally) and heartwarming. I came as close to crying while reading a book as I ever have at the sheer delight of the whole gang getting back together.
The action is brilliantly paced without being overly violent. There are excellent discussions about the necessity of violence, the difference between social conditioning and outright brainwashing, breaking free of cultism, mental health, and whether or not Marcus really is the biggest tool in the universe.
Amazing writing, big ideas presented on a personal and immediate scale, fantastic worldbuilding - if this planet doesn't exist it certainly should - and a wonderful heroine going through her personal story and finally reaching her goal only to find it's not what she imagined. I can't wait to see how it all pans out in the final book.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Harrigon takes the action to a pulse-pounding new level in the fourth volume of the Desolation novella series, 'The Hollow Drum.' As the momentum builds and the intensity exceeds the slower burn of previous volumes, Harrigon nevertheless does not sacrifice any of the world-building that made the former three novellas so compelling. In fact, it is through the personal experiences of the characters and the intricacies of their interactions with the world that the adrenaline-pumping action sequences become meaningful. Harrigon takes the reader seamlessly from visceral, sensory experience through to cinematic movement and back again.
Masterful character development in the earlier volumes continues to pay strong dividends in 'The Hollow Drum,' as characters familiar to the reader meet and interact in new and unexpected ways. There is a distinct pleasure in both the scenarios where as a reader, we feel we have the edge in our knowledge of what is going on, and also those in which we take the journey of discovery right alongside the characters.
With a faster pace and an ever-expanding cast of characters, there's a lot going on in 'The Hollow Drum,' and my only difficulty with the story was that it was occasionally challenging to keep up with the complex action in a literally labyrinthine environment - I felt like I really would have benefited from a map! But this didn't stop 'The Hollow Drum' from being compulsive reading that I finished in record time.
Seeing the plot threads come together and characters gravitating toward a melting pot of a climax is intensely exciting and satisfying, and I eagerly await an explosive conclusion!
Masterful character development in the earlier volumes continues to pay strong dividends in 'The Hollow Drum,' as characters familiar to the reader meet and interact in new and unexpected ways. There is a distinct pleasure in both the scenarios where as a reader, we feel we have the edge in our knowledge of what is going on, and also those in which we take the journey of discovery right alongside the characters.
With a faster pace and an ever-expanding cast of characters, there's a lot going on in 'The Hollow Drum,' and my only difficulty with the story was that it was occasionally challenging to keep up with the complex action in a literally labyrinthine environment - I felt like I really would have benefited from a map! But this didn't stop 'The Hollow Drum' from being compulsive reading that I finished in record time.
Seeing the plot threads come together and characters gravitating toward a melting pot of a climax is intensely exciting and satisfying, and I eagerly await an explosive conclusion!
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews