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Ward
Up The River? Or Down In The Dirt? Summary Execution has become the preferred fate in a place where even angels fear to tread. Those unwise who elected for prison or are deemed unworthy of a quick death are condemned to The Ward, the former capital-city-converted-city-prison of Sacramento, California.
Among the Grim Reapers coming in the forms of smiling rib cages and riding out the eleventh-hour, cannibal-afflicted Vikings, a Roman-inspired death cult, and a paranoid Mafia Syndicate, wage an ever cascading campaign of annihilation against one another.
It is in this war-ravaged tomb, where the Angel of Death and Tango Primary Five are destined to meet. With darker forces at play seeking to destroy any last hope of salvation, Tango Primary Five and the Angel of Death are left with no Unite The Ward... or choose a side. Prepare to enter a dystopian world where mental illness waits in the darkness to have a real conversation with you.
Fans of Hugh Howey and Cormac McCarthy will find themselves at home with Ward.
Among the Grim Reapers coming in the forms of smiling rib cages and riding out the eleventh-hour, cannibal-afflicted Vikings, a Roman-inspired death cult, and a paranoid Mafia Syndicate, wage an ever cascading campaign of annihilation against one another.
It is in this war-ravaged tomb, where the Angel of Death and Tango Primary Five are destined to meet. With darker forces at play seeking to destroy any last hope of salvation, Tango Primary Five and the Angel of Death are left with no Unite The Ward... or choose a side. Prepare to enter a dystopian world where mental illness waits in the darkness to have a real conversation with you.
Fans of Hugh Howey and Cormac McCarthy will find themselves at home with Ward.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 1, 2018
29 people are currently reading
44 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews
February 22, 2019
DNF at 40%.
I really wanted to like this book, as the synopsis sounded really good. But the writing is extremely hard to follow and most of that is NOT due to eARC edit necessities. I had a really hard time getting into the story because of the fact that the writing makes it nearly impossible to figure out what exactly was going on most of the time. Sentences are choppy or run-on, with barely any cohesion to solidify an overarching theme or thought. At 40%, I doubt it improves enough for me to spend anymore time reading something I can barely comprehend. It was just really difficult to read and follow along.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers at BooksGoSocial for this eARC.
I really wanted to like this book, as the synopsis sounded really good. But the writing is extremely hard to follow and most of that is NOT due to eARC edit necessities. I had a really hard time getting into the story because of the fact that the writing makes it nearly impossible to figure out what exactly was going on most of the time. Sentences are choppy or run-on, with barely any cohesion to solidify an overarching theme or thought. At 40%, I doubt it improves enough for me to spend anymore time reading something I can barely comprehend. It was just really difficult to read and follow along.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publishers at BooksGoSocial for this eARC.
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September 23, 2024If you are a fan of apocalyptic dystopian settings, and love a lot of action, I think you would get a kick out of Ward. It's an opaque read and doesn't give much context for why anything's happening, which I found both compelling and frustrating at times. Everything moves in a kind of haze, which does give it a certain unique quality and creates its strangely desolate atmosphere. I felt that there's a lot of potential here, but the writing itself lacks polish.
August 11, 2018
Far from just another dystopia, Kyle Waller’s Ward creates an immersive universe of inviting darkness. The action packed pages will easily grip your attention.
To begin with, this story has no heroes, in the classical sense, only villains. After the main character is faced with the following proposal: Up the river? Or down in the dirt? He ends up in the prison-city of what once was Sacramento California. The Ward is a place of no redemption, only survival. On one hand, the condemned must face nature, as ash keeps snowing over the land. But on the other hand, far more dangerous are the people who inhabit these parts. As the inhabitants are divided into several groups competing for some very limited resources, the power-plays that emerge are the main threat. Well, Kyle Waller throws his main character in the midst of this ongoing war, thus allowing the reader to jump straight into the action.
However, beyond all the action and thrill of Ward, there is a more serious issue underlining the entire narrative, mental illness. While at certain points its presence becomes blatantly obvious, at other times, it is much more subtle. It is this subtleness that I found more impressive. In these cases, it resembles an invisible presence, something that you can’t see, but can only feel. And this sensation of uneasiness is masterfully woven into the pages of the novel. Setting aside the story line, the book can serve as an incentive to prompt more dialogue on this often ostracized subject, which in reality as well, lurks mostly in the shadows.
All in all, Ward by Kyle Waller is certainly a strong start to his The Ward Trinity. This first book is more than simply an introduction to a dystopian universe, it is an immersion. Even if at times, you resurface to reality for some fresh air, something keeps pulling you back to the remaining pages. While, the book is not suitable for certain age groups due to some strong language and images, it stays appealing to a large number of people. There is something reminiscent of such classic stories as Mad Max or Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but with a strong smell of freshness in the air.
To begin with, this story has no heroes, in the classical sense, only villains. After the main character is faced with the following proposal: Up the river? Or down in the dirt? He ends up in the prison-city of what once was Sacramento California. The Ward is a place of no redemption, only survival. On one hand, the condemned must face nature, as ash keeps snowing over the land. But on the other hand, far more dangerous are the people who inhabit these parts. As the inhabitants are divided into several groups competing for some very limited resources, the power-plays that emerge are the main threat. Well, Kyle Waller throws his main character in the midst of this ongoing war, thus allowing the reader to jump straight into the action.
However, beyond all the action and thrill of Ward, there is a more serious issue underlining the entire narrative, mental illness. While at certain points its presence becomes blatantly obvious, at other times, it is much more subtle. It is this subtleness that I found more impressive. In these cases, it resembles an invisible presence, something that you can’t see, but can only feel. And this sensation of uneasiness is masterfully woven into the pages of the novel. Setting aside the story line, the book can serve as an incentive to prompt more dialogue on this often ostracized subject, which in reality as well, lurks mostly in the shadows.
All in all, Ward by Kyle Waller is certainly a strong start to his The Ward Trinity. This first book is more than simply an introduction to a dystopian universe, it is an immersion. Even if at times, you resurface to reality for some fresh air, something keeps pulling you back to the remaining pages. While, the book is not suitable for certain age groups due to some strong language and images, it stays appealing to a large number of people. There is something reminiscent of such classic stories as Mad Max or Cormac McCarthy’s The Road, but with a strong smell of freshness in the air.
January 24, 2023
Dark, Dystopian SciFi
There’s some great characters, world building, and imagery in this story of survival in a nightmare future world. The city of Sacramento has been turned into a massive prison, The Ward, and Tango Primary Five, our ragged and abused hero must enter it and face off against environmental hazards and murderous gangs in order to find the woman he has sworn to protect. Some really fantastic ideas, rousing battles, and intense writing make this an absorbing read. All that to the good, I did have the sense coming in that I’d picked up a series on the second book. Why is Tango Primary Five sworn to protect the woman he’s seeking when she is almost a murder-super-hero in her own right? Why do her eyes glow? Why do they change color when she’s near him? And why can’t the two of them touch each other? So much is going on in The Ward that I often felt like I was missing some vital elements of backstory. This book certainly does not suffer from the kind of over-exposition you find with a lot of science fiction. I actually would have appreciated a bit more, as this was a bit like being tossed into the deep end of a dark and dystopian swimming pool. Overall, an enjoyable, crazy, blood-soaked read, but I could have used a bit more explaining.
There’s some great characters, world building, and imagery in this story of survival in a nightmare future world. The city of Sacramento has been turned into a massive prison, The Ward, and Tango Primary Five, our ragged and abused hero must enter it and face off against environmental hazards and murderous gangs in order to find the woman he has sworn to protect. Some really fantastic ideas, rousing battles, and intense writing make this an absorbing read. All that to the good, I did have the sense coming in that I’d picked up a series on the second book. Why is Tango Primary Five sworn to protect the woman he’s seeking when she is almost a murder-super-hero in her own right? Why do her eyes glow? Why do they change color when she’s near him? And why can’t the two of them touch each other? So much is going on in The Ward that I often felt like I was missing some vital elements of backstory. This book certainly does not suffer from the kind of over-exposition you find with a lot of science fiction. I actually would have appreciated a bit more, as this was a bit like being tossed into the deep end of a dark and dystopian swimming pool. Overall, an enjoyable, crazy, blood-soaked read, but I could have used a bit more explaining.
April 4, 2019
The Ward is a book of a future Sacramento, California where it has become a prison that is constantly at war. There are several groups hoping to be the one to rule the ward. The people that go to the ward are those who are given a choice of execution or going to the ward. The world is covered with ash. It is dangerous to stay out as breathing it in will eventually kill you. For the people to survive in this prison, they must come together and be “one.”
It is an action-packed dystopian thriller. It grabbed my attention but at time I became confused in understanding what was happening in the story. In the background of this novel is the theme of mental illness. It is a darkness in this novel that brings one aware of the struggle of mental illness. It is discrete in the novel but I did become aware of it. It is a different dystopian novel to read which makes it worthy to read. Do read it!
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
It is an action-packed dystopian thriller. It grabbed my attention but at time I became confused in understanding what was happening in the story. In the background of this novel is the theme of mental illness. It is a darkness in this novel that brings one aware of the struggle of mental illness. It is discrete in the novel but I did become aware of it. It is a different dystopian novel to read which makes it worthy to read. Do read it!
Disclaimer: I received an arc of this book from the author/publisher from Netgalley. I wasn’t obligated to write a favorable review or any review at all. The opinions expressed are strictly my own.
January 1, 2020
If you are a dystopian genre fan, you may like this one. What it’s not: a zombie book, or a book like Divergent or Hunger Games. Supernatural monsters like vampires and werewolves aren’t going to rise out of the destruction of the earth and it’s not an “easy” read. This is a hard-hitting, semi-realistic book that is more Escape from New York than it is The Walking Dead. San Francisco has been turned into a full city prison, and it’s here were they have to survive. And it’s definitely not a romance in any shape or form.
If you like a book that makes you think, makes you search for clues and watch for the subtlety of mental illness that is woven into the book, this book would be right up your alley. Since it’s a bit of a rougher read, it does seem to slow the book down a bit. I haven’t heard of a sequel happening for the book, but it left off where it could easily go in either direction.
If you like a book that makes you think, makes you search for clues and watch for the subtlety of mental illness that is woven into the book, this book would be right up your alley. Since it’s a bit of a rougher read, it does seem to slow the book down a bit. I haven’t heard of a sequel happening for the book, but it left off where it could easily go in either direction.
January 28, 2024
Tango Primary Five is thrown into the Ward, a prison that once was the city of Sacramento. Factions are at war with each other for control of the Ward and there is a bounty on Tango Primary Five's head. The only way for him to survive and escape the Ward is to reunite with an assassin nicknamed the Angel of Death.
Right away, the reader is thrown into the middle of chaos and violence, as is usually the case with dystopian novels. I enjoyed the cast of characters, each with their own unique voice and personality. It seemed as though each one had their own set of secrets and agenda, which made for an interesting ride. There were a lot of action/fight scenes, which were fun to read. Though I wish I could have delved more into the back story of Tango Primary Five and the Angel of Death. Perhaps that will be explored in subsequent novels? Definitely one to check out if you're into warring factions and plenty of action scenes set in a dystopian world!
Right away, the reader is thrown into the middle of chaos and violence, as is usually the case with dystopian novels. I enjoyed the cast of characters, each with their own unique voice and personality. It seemed as though each one had their own set of secrets and agenda, which made for an interesting ride. There were a lot of action/fight scenes, which were fun to read. Though I wish I could have delved more into the back story of Tango Primary Five and the Angel of Death. Perhaps that will be explored in subsequent novels? Definitely one to check out if you're into warring factions and plenty of action scenes set in a dystopian world!
January 12, 2023
If you enjoy very detailed science fiction and great world building you’ll love this book by Tyler Waller with warring factions that are not just good against evil but good against evil any another evil and even more evil than you love the ward any war always becomes more interesting when one side has superpowers I enjoyed this book I just wish they would’ve been more explained at the beginning but having read through I finally got it and totally enjoyed it if you love science fiction then I highly recommend this book I will definitely be looking for more books by Kyle Wyler. I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.
January 28, 2019
I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Honestly, I found this a difficult book to read....from the initial paragraphs, I found the writing almost unintelligible and full of disjointed phrases and muddled references. The dialogue was grandiose and challenging to interpret... Essentially, I imagine this was a dystopian novel, trying to show a future world....in my opinion, not worth the effort....only my opinion.
Honestly, I found this a difficult book to read....from the initial paragraphs, I found the writing almost unintelligible and full of disjointed phrases and muddled references. The dialogue was grandiose and challenging to interpret... Essentially, I imagine this was a dystopian novel, trying to show a future world....in my opinion, not worth the effort....only my opinion.
November 11, 2018
Wow! This book is an absolute thrill ride! I couldn't put it down. I was swept along on this journey and the character had such a gritty struggle. I feel like this book embodied some important themes on the depression and mental illness, and how we cope with extreme situations and stress as human beings. 10/10 i highly recommend this!
December 7, 2020
Not for me.
I am sorry but this is just not my kind of reading. Those who like this kind of writing regarding a dystopian futuristic world will probably revel in it. I could not get into it at all and gave up in Chapter 3.
I am sorry but this is just not my kind of reading. Those who like this kind of writing regarding a dystopian futuristic world will probably revel in it. I could not get into it at all and gave up in Chapter 3.
December 13, 2019
Maybe it's the genre, but I couldn't even finish the first chapter. It felt like I was reading calligraphy, with just too many flourishes and swirls.
October 13, 2021
This is the first book I have read from this author and was pleasantly surprised. The setting is a future California and it is done in a way that is believable. Great story.
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March 23, 2025DNF. I tried so hard but what?! There was no world building. You just got dropped into a post-apocalyptic (?) world? I made it 30% through and still can’t tell you where/what is going on.
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February 2, 2019Netgalley
pub date Oct 1, 2018
rec Feb 2, 2019
BooksGoSocial
pub date Oct 1, 2018
rec Feb 2, 2019
BooksGoSocial
Displaying 1 - 15 of 15 reviews