Daywards

Darklands #3

by Anthony Eaton

When the skycity fell, most believed it took with it the last vestiges of humanity. Only a few escaped, led by a girl with a hidden destiny. They fled into a hostile landscape. But when the demons of the past come back to haunt them once more, Saria and her family must set out again, following an unmapped path across a dying land. Walking daywards.

Genres: Young Adult, Science Fiction, Dystopia, Fantasy, Fiction

352 pages, Trade Paperback

First published January 1, 2010

About the author

Born in Papua New Guinea in 1972, ANTHONY EATON spent an idyllic childhood growing up in the Perth hills, and on the Cocos (Keeling) Islands.

He attended High School and University in Perth, and studied a plethora of subjects before settling on a career in Teaching. He worked at Trinity College in Perth as a Literature and Drama teacher for eight years, during which time his first novel, 'The Darkness' was published by the University of Queensland Press. The novel was awarded the 2001 Western Australian Premier’s award for Young Adult Literature, and encouraged Anthony to turn his hand to further writing. In 2005, his historic fiction novel Fireshadow also won the WA premier’s award for Young Adult Literature and was named an honour book in the CBCA Book Of the Year awards.

His most recent book is 'Into White Silence', an historic Gothic novel set in Antarctica at the turn of the century, and dealing with the disappearance of an expedition to reach the pole from the East Coast of the Antarctic Continent. As a part of this, he spent Christmas 2005 at Casey Station in Antarctica as part of the Australian Antarctic Division’s Arts Fellowship programme. In April 2009, 'Into White Silence' was selected as an Honour Book by the Children's Book Council of Australian in the 'Older Readers' category of their annual 'Book of the Year' Awards.

In 2010, Daywards the long-awaited final book of his Darklands Trilogy will be released. He's pleased to finaly have this story out of his head.

He lives in Canberra, with his wife Imogen, son Tobias, and a slightly deranged Kelpie named Chelsea. He is an assistant professor of creative writing and literature studies at the University of Canberra.

Reviews

[rivka · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Finally got my hands on a copy a year or so ago. But as it had been so long since I read the first two, I needed to re-read them as well. I took all 3 with me on my recent trip to Israel, and read them all.

I was hoping for a somewhat different ending, but this one worked. And like the other books in this series, the characters are all fascinating.

[Deb Omnivorous Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good conclusion to an absolutely smoking hot series.

For this part of the story we skip both place and time; we are a generation, maybe two ahead of the events in Skyfall. The survivors of the rebellion and the destruction of the city are loving back in the bush and the genes that give protection from the vicious sunlight are starting to breed true.

None of this is thrown in your face though, the story follows the new characters as they live their lives, and yes, again there are betrayals and momentous events...

But the beauty of the book is in the painting of the landscape, the believability of the characters and how they fit into their world, the slow unfurling of an exciting story. I love the fact that the author never talks down to his readers, I loved the conclusion which certainly took me by surprise. I'll definitely have to read this whole series again.

[PRJ Greenwell · Rating 2 out of 5]

This series had a lot of promise but it degenerated into something...bland. This instalment rounds things up (mostly) and the main character from the first book does go full circle with her life, but the journey is a tepid non-event. And as I mentioned in my review for the prior book, the author seems content to deal with the sideshow of the huge issues of the world he's created rather than the main attraction.

Dare I say it, but I felt ripped off reading this series. That's not necessarily the author's fault either.

[Kat Young · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really would have liked to give this one 4.5 stars instead of just 4, but oh well.

I was so sad to finish this trilogy. Usually I am excited but I just didn't want to let this one go, there's something about following a character her whooooooole life until it comes fullcircle that is truly bittesweet and that's what this book was to me. It was a great series, and I'm not just saying that cos it was set in Australia :P

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read Nightpeople and Skyfall in 2009. For years I wanted to read this last installment. I read the first two again before reading the third and was just so upset. The story was great just like the others, but I had grown fond of all the characters in the first two and for this story to be set so far in the future, I thought I was reading something else. I think I just get too attached and too emotional.

[Kirstyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say, I loved this book. So easy to read. But certain events were not particularly to my liking and so i couldn't rate it the five stars I initially wanted to give it. Concluded, yet not enough was covered for me to feel properly satisfied with the ending.

[Steph · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked that this series as a whole didn't shy away from death and that romance was a non-issue. Book 3 brings a new main character, though Saria is still present. The evil scientist theme persists though, and I found the ending didn't address the ethical violations to my satisfaction.

[Trisha · Rating 5 out of 5]

powerful stuff.

[Allen · Rating 5 out of 5]

careful, very addictive!