Book Launch for RAGING STAR!

I had the best opportunity to travel down to Moira's hometown of Bath to celebrate with her and many others the publication of Raging Star, the final installment in her Dustlands trilogy. 

Photo by Ferla Paolo

Read Along RETURNED: Jack

   'He'll head west and he'll find her. Saba.'

Jack has some news to share with Molly and along the way, some unexpected twists in normal life occur.

'It's been a parched, mean road all the way'

Jack and Atlas have been travelling since they left Saba and the others. They finally come across some people with 'weary face, wary eyes'. Tired of this hopeless life 'they aren't social people but they aren't mean'. There seems to be a little humanity left. But Jack cannot stay long as he is 'headed to the storm belt' to find the Lost Cause and Molly as he is 'the bearer of bad news. The worst.'

'There's something up ahead'

The Tonton appear on the road ahead of Jack with a young couple. The 'enemy have changed their game' apparently as they wear different clothes and behave in a different manner. They travel towards the shack Jack has just left. He knows it is a part of 'a land grab. A resettlement party' which results in the murders of the two parents, the young boy, Robbie, and the suicide of Nessa, a young girl. 'It chaos'. Jack is almost speechless as he watches and can only pass comment on the Tonton' notorious ways: 'they're rolling over the land like the plague'.

'He's afraid.'

Jack believes that 'Molly's in danger' after seeing this and regrettably admits that 'you can't kill all the badness in the world'. Ge muses on the new commander of the Tonton with his 'new game, new rules'. He concludes that he must be a 'man with a plan', 'determined, disciplined, persuasive and very, very smart'. The match he finds for this description is DeMalo - 'the stiletto in the dark'.

'The Lost Cause. At last.'

As Jack finally arrives at his destination, 'his stomach's jittery with nerves'. He knows the awful news of Ike's death must be passed on. His 'deep' history with Molly makes this all the harder, and results in him putting off the news for a long time. Meanwhile, Molly fills Jack in on the Tonton whose new leader is called the 'Pathfinder' and his men are 'Stewards of the Earth', who have the aim of 'healing' the earth. Molly insists that she can 'take care' of herself in this time. The way in which she talks about Ike and 'acts like a nervous girl' as she awaits his entrance evokes great pathos. As does talk of hers and Jack's deceased child, who'd 'be six by now'.

'She kicked the door down.'

Molly finds Jack's own love just as obvious as she asks 'who is she' about the new woman in Jack's life. Jack gives a brief overview - a very accurate one: 'pigheaded, prickly an stubborn'. But it's not all negative. 'She shines so bright' - causing Molly to believe in the depth of his love. She advises him to 'be with her'.

'Ike's dead.'

The mood is disrupted by Jack's eventual revelation that Ike is dead and won't be returning. He attempts to console Molly by telling her that 'he died well. He went out big' but her grief is immediate and heavy. She resigns to the back rooms of the tavern.

'Two men walk in.'

No, that's not the beginning of a joke. The Tonton have arrived at The Lost Cause also. They hear Molly out back and the reader is left to wonder just what's about to happen next...

~Ella

Raging Star COVER REVEAL!

It's here...and we only have to wait another 6 months for the actual content!

We're so keen to here from readers on your thoughts of the final installment of the trilogy's breath-taking cover! We hope to get a poll up soon on who you think the hunk beside Saba is - Jack or De Malo - either way, we're sure it's set to cause heated debate. And what about that beautiful green? Is it symbollic of Saba's dusty world regenerating itself...or could it be to do with the bombshell dropped in Rebel Heart associated with...'new life'. Sound off in the comments, Free Hawks!

All together now...

See some reactions after the jump!

Friday's Music: Under My Skin - Jukebox the Ghost

I have a lot of adoration for this band! Not too well known, but unique and quirky. I chose this song because I felt some parts of it represented the relationship between Saba, Jack and De Malo, something I’m sure a lot of us are curious about. It was something new when things started to happen between Saba and De Malo, and I felt like it changed Saba, opened her up. It literally felt that De Malo got under her skin.

I can feel you breathing under my skin,
Yeah I can feel you breathing under my skin

Of course, Jack gets under her skin, but in a different way. Where with De Malo Saba’s fire is sparked and harnessed into this beautiful passion, I feel like Jack is a gust of wind that creates a firestorm of feelings. Although this isn’t the only thing to look forward to in Raging Star, it is certainly something you should look out for. I want to see what Saba chooses to do with Tommo in the mix too, or rather, where the fates will take her.

I don't think there is anyone under your skin,
Like a Cheshire cat I think you're just a grin,
And I can feel you laughing, under my skin,
And the happy palpitations are making me... grin

~Bushra