Read Along: Resurrection

'Everythin I thought I knew, pretty much all of it turns out to be wrong.'

It's the final stop in the route for Saba and the gang, but what will happen at the Tonton HQ?

Read Along: The Road to Resurrection

'Life ain't black an white. People ain't neether. Family, friends, lovers. It's all a lot more complicated.'

Saba returns to her family and friends and they set off to rescue Emmi by infiltrating the Tonton base of New Eden - Resurrection...

Read Along: Weeping Water

'DeMalo. The Pathfinder. Master of New Eden. I'm dreamin. This cain't be true.'

Saba finds herself with the one person she never dreamed she would and her eyes are opened to a new world of possibilities and experiences...

Read Along: Sector Nine

'Trickster. Betrayer. Deceiver.' 

It's time for the group to be pretenders in this new environment but with old faces along the way, it's hard not to be recognised.

Read Along: The Lost Cause

'The Lost Cause is lost.'

Saba is as determined as ever to find Jack and the truth behind why he was with the Tonton, but neither is to be found at Moll'y Lost Cause.

Read Along: New Eden

'Long life to the Pathfinder!'

What was meant to be a hijack becomes an alliance as new land is explored.

Read Along: The Snake River

'You...are gonna be somethin else entirely'

At the Snake, the group settle into the camp for a few days, only to have their eyes opened to divinity, betrayal and a visitor.

Read Along: The Waste, one month later

'I'm fallin. Fallin. Fallin.'

Stuck in a wasteland, Saba's mental state experiences rapid deterioration and the group doesn't know how to save their strongest link.

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

Our 'emotionally repressed narrator who sweeps you off your feet'

Saba's made it to the headlines! Well, to the Telegraph's online culture forum! 

See article: 

At last, girls are at the centre of the action in books and films

This article tackles the issue of gender representation as the heroic character in popular culture, through various types of media. For me, Saba is a near perfect representative of what should be the norm in literature and film: strong, independent women. Why has it taken the world so long to realise?

I recently stumbled across a video of similar subject that I just have to share in relation to this issue:

So let's hope that 2014 brings a better deal for girls. Especially our Saba as we near the release of Raging Star in May! Moira has page proofs starting on Friday, and the excitement is growing!

Look out for the Rebel Heart read-alongs which will be starting up again soon! 

~Ella

Read Along: Evaluation & Review

If you're here, reading this, then it's pretty clear that I don't need to write a review, or give a 5* rating to Blood Red Road, because clearly you feel the same. 

It has been a pleasure to re-enter the Dust Lands and really study Saba, Jack, Emmi, and all the rest in great detail. Sometimes you read for the fun of it, and sometimes you read to find some deeper meaning, either in yourself or in the story. Blood Red Road fulfills all of these aims. 

The read along posts remain available as an archive under our menu options. Hopefully they will be useful upon release of Raging Star, so that readers can enter Saba's world once again with ease. 

There are plans to commence with a read along of Rebel Heart, however, this will probably begin in September, due to the business of admins over the next few months.

Hang in there, Free Hawks!

~Ella

Read Along: The Black Mountains

'It's the anger that keeps me goin.'

Saba, Jack and Emmi are headed into the Black Mountains, on their way to Freedom Fields. Ahead lies old friends and new, and...quite a few revelations!

Read Along: Darktrees

'I cain't stop till I find Lugh. I promised him.'

Upon arrival at the camp of the Free Hawks, Saba has to plan the journey she must take to find Lugh from her new starting point. Help comes from an unexpected source...

Read Along: Hopetown - One Month Later

‘They call me the Angel of Death.’

Saba has been fighting in the Cage for a month. Very successfully. Whilst she is separated from Emmi, she maintains her fighting spirit in order to hatch a plan with new allies to escape from Hopetown and head for Lugh. There are some...unexpected twists along the way in the Hopetown we encounter One Month Later.

Read Along: Sandsea

‘I caint count on nobody but me.’

Saba has set off into the unknown desert landscape of Sandsea in the hopes of following her brother and his captors to Hopetown. But on her journey, an unexpected companion meets her and together they walk into a truly unimaginable and horrific trap. But it will take them right into Hopetown.

Read Along: Crosscreek

‘Stars is just stars.’

 Saba and Emmi have finally made it to Mercy’s home at Crosscreek. What they find there is unexpected paradise compared to Silverlake, the only place they’ve known for their whole lives.

Read Along: The Trackway

‘I ain’t afeared of nuthin. I ain’t afeared of nobody.’

Saba and Emmi have set out to follow after Lugh, who has been taken away from their home, Silverlake, by four mysterious black-robed men. However, Saba is set on going alone, and leaving Emmi with a family friend called Mercy in Crosscreek. Emmi is not happy with this decision.

Read Along: Silverlake

‘There can be beauty anywhere. Even here. And if it ain’t, you can make it yerself.’

Silverlake: home of Saba and her family. At least it is until mysterious horsemen appear out the red dust and take Lugh away from the only place he has ever known. Saba is left, with only Emmi at her side, to find a way to get him back when she, too, must leave the familiar for the unknown.

Read Along: Prologue

‘It was all set in the stars the moment the world began.’

Moira Young’s Blood Red Road doesn’t lull one in gently. Instead, the prologue introduces Saba...by introducing her brother. In her own individual dialect she welcomes the reader to her world by the story of how she came into her world.

‘Lugh got born first...then me...that’s how it’s meant to be’. The relationship between this brother and sister is clearly going to be a focus point of the book’s plot. Saba’s narrative, although her name is not yet revealed, begins with her brother’s name, ‘Lugh’, denoting his importance to her. But there is also seemingly an inferiority Saba feels to her brother; she looks upon him like her role model. The list she gives of their differing physical qualities paints him in a more attractive, positive light whilst she is self-deprecating. This is obviously a character quality that will come into play later in the novel; for Saba to find who she is, away from her brother, and become her own person – someone worthy of the praise she awards Lugh.

There is also a strong theme of fate running through the prologue, even if it is only a few pages long. ‘Because everythin’s set...it was all set in the stars’. Such language can only suggest that something big is coming for Saba and her brother and the notion that it was always meant to happen highlights the significance of the events to come. This is emphasised by Saba’s words about her father, ‘I see the way Pa looks at [us] sometimes...and I wish he’d tell us what he knows’. However, this sense of fate is not the romantic ideal of destiny, instead it appears gritty and negative; it sets up tension and suspense, and most of all – anticipation.

Ultimately, the prologue enters Saba’s world in an unorthodox way; we know little about her, a lot about her brother, nothing about her world, and that something is coming, but not what. It introduces interesting concepts and the feeling that Blood Red Road might be the journey its name promises it to be!

~Ella

Weekly Blood Red Road Read Along!

Sometimes a book is just so good you have to read it twice. Or multiple times in the case of BRR. And thus begins a weekly read along of Blood Red Road – section by section!

These will aim to recap the main events of the ‘chapter’, key quotes, themes and character developments. We’d love your input on the articles and to hear what you liked most about each section.

For the schedule this series of posts will follow please see below, so that you can read along with us if you wish!

Thursday 28^th March: Prologue

Thursday 4^th April: Silverlake

Thursday 11^th April: The Trackway

Thursday 18^th April: Crosscreek

Thursday 25^th April: Sandsea

Thursday 2^nd May: Hopetown

Thursday 9^th May: Hopetown, One Month Later

Thursday 16^th May: Darktrees

Thursday 23^rd May: The Black Mountains

Thursday 30^th May: Freedom Fields

Thursday 6^th June: Evaluation and Reviews

We hope to do the same with Rebel Heart after Blood Red Road! Hopefully you will join us on our journey back into the Dustlands!

~Ella