The UK, year 2139.One hundred and fifteen years ago, a mysterious virus wiped out ninety-five per cent of humanity.Blackthorn, the largest settlement in England, rose from the ashes of the devastated old world. It is a troubled city, where the workers live in crude shacks, and make do with the worst of everything.It is a city of violent divisions, crime, and an over-populated jail block, until a … over-populated jail block, until a charismatic traveller has a miraculous vision, and promises to bring hope back to the people’s lives.
Blackthorn falls under Ryder Swift’s spell, and the most devoted of all is the governor’s loyal servant, Lieutenant August Hemsley.
Twenty-one-year-old Evie has lived her whole life in the shacks. She and disillusioned guard Byron Lewis are two of a minority who have doubts about Ryder’s message. Can they stand against the beliefs of an entire city?
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I’ve read quite a few novels by Terry Tyler, and the whole of the Project Renova series, and I was looking forward to this one as well, as it is a story set in one of the settlements we visited in the last novel in the series, Legacy(you can find my review of Legacy here and there are also links to the rest of the novel available on that post). Blackthorn is a pretty memorable place and my previous visit to that world made me think of Westworld (the old movie rather than the series, which I haven’t watched), because it was like an amalgamation of the worst of Ancient Rome and a Medieval court. Some of the events that happened in that novel are bound to be fresh in the minds of readers, and they are referred to in this novel, but I think even people who haven’t read any of the other novels in the Renova Series would be able to enjoy this one, as the author does a great job of creating a vivid world, and it’s not difficult to understand the rules and get to know the characters that play the different parts. Yes, those who have read the whole series will have a fair more background, and it fits in beautifully with the rest, but that should not deter new readers from trying it (and judging by the reviews, it seems that many new readers have enjoyed it as well).
I don’t want to go into a lot of detail about the plot, because there are a number of surprises, and the author has built them up perfectly and paced the story so that we discover each bit of information with the characters at a particular point in the story, sharing in their feelings and emotions, and that helps explain and justify their actions. Most of the story is told in the first person present tense, by the three main characters: Evie, a young girl, a shacker (because there is a strict social order, and where you are born determines your lot in life in Blackthorn. It’s very difficult to rise above one’s station and those who try pay dearly for it), who works in a bakery and leads a very modest life (she has no other option), clever, witty, and a bit of an outsider; Byron Lewis, a guard from a family with a long tradition in Blackthorn but also a bit of an outsider; and Lieutenant August Hemsley, who is a good an honest man, a bit of a loner and has always tried his best to do his duty, remaining blind to some of the most unsavoury aspects of life in Blackthorn. There are also brief chapters told in the third person (and in italics) that offer readers some hints and clues as to other things that might be going on behind the scenes and that our three narrators have no access to. Although those three get to learn plenty about what is really going on, readers get an even closer look at the darkness and horror most of the population are completely unaware of. This is a dystopian novel, science-fiction about a possible future if civilisation were to collapse (in this case due to a virus, a particularly scary thing to read at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic), and it touches on a lot of themes: social control, organised religion, faith, spirituality, and tradition, power and manipulation, family, friendship and identity…
I have mentioned the main characters and the way the story is narrated. There are other characters who play important parts, like Ryder Swift, an outlier who used to visit Blackthorn every year, charismatic, good at telling stories and a favourite with the shackers, who becomes something of a religious leader; Wolf North, the governor, a master manipulator who is one of the darkest characters in the whole story, and many others with smaller parts, like Evie’s friends and relatives, the other guards, the women who live in the House of Angels (I’ll let you learn about that when you read the story)… but if I had to choose one, my favourite would be Evie, who reminded me of Lottie, one of my favourite characters in the whole of the Project Renova series. Tyler excels at creating characters, some likeable, some dislikeable, but all real human beings (no matter what strange worlds and circumstances they might live in), and we see how the three protagonists grow and develop during the novel (the three of them are keen readers, so that helps the connection as well), refusing to be defined by socially-designated roles and categories and coming into their own. This helps us engage with them and feel touched, marvelled or horrified by their experiences, and we feel sorrow when we leave them (although the author hints at a possible follow up on some of the characters’ adventures).
Notwithstanding the author’s focus on her characters, she manages to create a truly compelling and realistic world in Blackthorn, one that might feel fairly alien to our daily experience and we might not like, but one we can understand, and some aspects of which might be uncomfortably recognisable. Her description of the different parts of the city, the conditions the inhabitants have to live in, their routines, their way of life, their hardships and/or privileges are seamlessly woven into the story, rather than told in long stretches of information dumps, and we learn all we need from wandering around Blackthorn’s streets with the narrators, sharing in their observations, their day-to-day life and their adventures. We see their homes, their places of work, we follow them to the bakery, the prison, the outskirts, the governor’s home, the bars, their friends’ homes, and we get to know the hidden spots in Blackthorn as well. This is done in a fluid style, with an eye for detail that does not disrupt the narrative or interrupt the plot (even when there are short chapters that take us back to earlier moments in the story), and the writing is perfectly in sync with the narrative, not calling undue attention to itself but rather serving the story. There are contemplative and beautiful moments; there are some funny touches; some truly horrific events, and some touching and hopeful passages as well. Tyler’s writing mastery keeps increasing with every novel as demonstrated by this book.
The ending hints at new beginnings and at many more stories. It brings some wonderful surprises and some disappointments (not totally unexpected), but I won’t go into details. I loved it, and, for me, it is a hopeful ending.
This is another great novel by Terry Tyler, and one set in a world that most readers will be able to connect with. I loved its unlikely mix of characters, the fantastic baddy (Wolf North his pretty up there with the best, or worst, depending on how you look at it), the masterful way the story is told, and how it makes us pause and think, about the past, the present, and the future. A few words of warning, there are some violent scenes (not extreme but upsetting), some very dark and nasty happenings, and its take on official religions could be challenging for some readers. Personally, I can’t wait to read the sequel to Hope.
I have read all the books in the Project Renova Series that follow the survivors of a virus that wipes out most of the population of the UK. Blackthorn has risen from the ashes and promises sanctuary in return for hard labour and obedience.
Characters in this book set a hundred and fifteen years after the outbreak, carry familiar names to those we have met before in previous books, and some bear the traits of their ancestors, occupying positions of power, often by manipulation and violence such as the governor Wolf Thorn. This familiarity extends to include the narrators of the book, loyal lieutenant to the governor August Hemsley, Evie from the poverty ridden shacks, and Byron Lewis one of the colony’s guards.
Despite harsh rules and their enforcement, Blackthorn is a troubled colony and Wolf Thorn is looking for resolution. This miraculously appears when charismatic traveler Ryder Swift brings the promise of redemption and faith to the citizens, from the humble shacks of the disillusioned and impoverished workers, right into the governor’s mansion.
Very few can deny the fire and passion that this golden-haired orator brings to the people, and with only a few dissenters, massive changes begin to take place in the dynamics of the colony. Some of which hide an evil and deceit that only a handful begin to glimpse behind the fanfare.
As with all Terry Tyler’s books, the characters are believable, even when they are not likeable.The world that they live in is vividly portrayed and you are invited to utilise all your senses to appreciate the living conditions from Stinky Bottom to the relative luxury of the shacks to the dank prison blocks.
This post apocalyptic world is not a comfortable one to inhabit, whether behind the walls of Blackthorn, or out in the small settlements struggling to survive nature and predatory gangs. You might grow enough food, but there is always someone coming along who is willing to use violence to take it from you. This encourages people to put up with the bare existence in the confines of Blackthorn, in return for its relative safety. To turn a blind eye to the dark nature of those in charge, and to accept without question the miracle that is being offered to them of a brighter future.
Can those with doubts change the direction that this reformation is taking? Or will they disappear as so many have before them?
When I have finished a book I like to think about what I have taken away from the story. Clearly we live in a world today that seems often to have a very thin veneer of civilisation, but the reality is that we do have structure, most of us have access to education and health care,and live in safety. Billions of us are privileged and have more than enough for our needs, and yet there is always that drive to have more.
But all it takes is one virus!
You can try to imagine what it would be like to survive in a world where all that we possess and love has been stripped away, or you can read Blackthorn and the other Project Renova stories and get a disturbingly believable look at the future. #Recommended