The Dust Devils

The Broken Land #2

by Sean Williams

Adi's body has been borne away across the desert by her Clan, but her spirit remains Ros's constant companion. If he can't find the travellers in time, Adi will be presumed dead and her body cremated, leaving her a ghost forever. But Ros is not prepared for the dangers lurking in the shifting sands. Rescued from bandits and Dust Devils by a boy named Yury, he takes refuge in Yury's home a?? an extensive network of tunnels known as Dunetown a?? and learns that Yury in turn needs Ros's help. His family has been kidnapped by the sand bandits, a ruthless gang led by a psychopath obsessed with treasure and power. Ros must learn to trust again, and to overcome those who cannot ever be trusted. Darker things lurk in the desert than Dust Devils and sand bandits. And, all the while, Adi's voice is a constant reminder that time is running out ...

Genres: Fantasy

192 pages, Paperback

First published August 20, 2008

About the author

#1 New York Times bestselling Sean Williams lives with his family in Adelaide, South Australia. He’s written some books--forty-two at last count--including the Philip K. Dick-nominated Saturn Returns, several Star Wars novels and the Troubletwister series with Garth Nix. Twinmaker is a YA SF series that takes his love affair with the matter transmitter to a whole new level. You can find some related short stories over at Lightspeed Magazine and elsewhere. Thanks for reading.

Reviews

[Matthew Tait · Rating 3 out of 5]

Following on from the author's previous foray into YA fiction with The Changeling, Sean Williams picks up the tale with our young hero Ros seeking redemption for misdeeds committed in the fictional world of The Broken Lands. Previously we were left in the lurch with Ros seeking Adi's clan so that he could return her ghost, a constant companion - before she is presumed dead and disappears forever. Ravaged by the desert winds and harassed by sand bandits, Ros at last comes to the cradle of Dunetown, where a hapless youth named Yury and his feeble sidekick Scarlo offer a way out for them all.

A short novel that will appeal to a broad spectrum of readership, The Dust Devils is Sean Williams tapping into the naive youngling in all of us. The villains presented here are the stuff of nightmares, and hold up to the strangest dangers being presented in fiction today. But more appealing is the landscape itself, a scarred wasteland where not only Dust Devils lay in wait for the hapless traveller. The book bristles with a faint gothic undertone reminiscent of his grandest Space Opera, yet holds down the narrative of action and magic to supersede its predecessor.

[Katharine (Ventureadlaxre) · Rating 4 out of 5]

Just as good as the first, if not better.