MoiraYoung.com Goes Live

Moira Young, our beloved author among many other things, now has an official website! MoiraYoung.com is now live, and features links that include: Dustlands Trilogy, Thoughts & Inspiration, a Diary, About Me, and how to contact Moira yourself. Here's a peak at the site:

It even includes 'Dustlands' themed music! Click here to check out the site yourself:

http://www.moirayoung.com

What do you all think of the new website?

-J x
@jakevineyard

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: 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 Wraithway

'I got me some vengeance to wreak with the Tonton.'

Saba thinks she knows best and heads out alone but enemies and friends are close behind.

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 THE FIRST 40 PAGES OF RAGING STAR NOW

EEEEEEEK here's the cover in HQ!

You read the title correctly, everyone! Click here to read the first pages of RAGING STAR, the third and final book in our series. And then go tweet us at @DustlandsFans telling us what you think!

Thanks Moira! x

-Jake 

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

Moira Young Says Farewell to the Dustlands

With the completion of Raging Star, the last novel in our beloved trilogy, Moira Young has taken the time to write a small blog post saying goodbye.

In the autumn of 2006, I started writing a story called Dark Eden, set in an icebound future world. At the center of that story was a girl named Saba; her brother, Lugh; and her sister, Emmi. Working at my kitchen table, zipped into a sleeping bag for warmth as autumn turned to winter, I couldn’t possibly have imagined where our road would take us: that the four of us would stick together for seven years as the ice and caves of Dark Eden slowly morphed into the heat and vast plains of Blood Red Road, and as Saba’s story rolled out through Rebel Heart and, finally, Raging Star to become the Dust Lands trilogy. I didn't plan to write a trilogy. I had little enough confidence that I’d be able to complete one book; the mere notion of three would have sent me running for the hills.

Nor could I have imagined that Saba would bring me such luck: that the books would be welcomed by readers worldwide and win literary prizes in the US, UK, Canada, and France; that Ridley Scott would buy the film rights; that I’d record my own audiobooks; that fansites would be born; that my world would expand to include agents, publishers, booksellers, moviemakers, writers, bloggers, teachers, librarians, and readers and fans of all ages, every one of them passionate about books and the power of stories. I am privileged indeed.

Writing, for me, is slow, difficult, and rarely joyous. It’s also immensely satisfying, the most hopeful thing I can do and entirely necessary for my sanity. Three books on, I’m still a novice, but I’ve learned a little about writing and being a writer. The most valuable is this: you have to stick with it, day after day. Write, write, and write some more. Good words, bad words, mediocre words, gorgeous words. That’s how a story comes to life, how a book is written, how you learn to structure it over thousands of words and not have it collapse; writing, day after day, is how you learn and improve as a writer. I’ve also worked with the same writers’ group for the past ten years and would have given up long ago were it not for their support and critical input.

It will be sad to say farewell to the characters and world of the Dust Lands. I’ll miss them all and, most particularly, Saba. We’ve travelled a long, hard, thrilling road together. But this is where she and I must part company. It’s time for me to discover the other stories I’ve got to tell. Thank you so much for your brilliant support of the Dust Lands trilogy. I’m more grateful than I can say. Keep on reading and sharing the books that you love. Our world today needs stories more than ever.

It's sad to see that the final book has been completed and after it's released we won't ever return to the Dustlands, but we want to wish Moira luck in all of her future works. We're sure they'll be great and we'll be just as loyal fans. Moira, you've been so helpful this whole process of starting the site and we want to thank you. 

We hope to see you next year on one of your tour dates for Raging Star, possibly? Thank you again. 

~Jake 

Try It Tuesday: Lorde

There is no question that I'm recommending Lorde this week for for my own pleasure. Lorde (yes, there's an e there.) has recently skyrocketed herself to the top of most of the charts in the US and I have no complaints. Lorde is a 16 year old who acts nothing like one. Despite the fact that she's stated multpiple times she hates when people say she's 16 right off the bat, it happens anyway.

You can't help it! The New Zealand singer/songwriter, best known for her song 'Royals', looks, sounds and acts older than sixteen. She carries a certain maturity-very subtly I may add-that you don't see in many artists today.

To bring it all back in the the Dustlands, I'm recommending her song 'A World Alone.' Although the song references modern day things like "I feel grown up with you in your car," the jist of the song is the same. She's talking about feeling alone in the world with someone. I can connect this to Saba and Lugh in Blood Red Road without hesitation. Saba doesn't want to leave her home. She doesn't want to go on a treacherous journey. She doesn't want to do many things that she has to, to find her brother.   Her brother is the only person left she knows she loves and in her eyes, they are in the world alone.

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!

Try it Tuesday: Divergent by Veronica Roth

Hey Free Hawks! I'm writing this post about 15 minutes before midnight, so this might be the closest-to-not-tuesday Try it Tuesday ever!

Today I thought I would recommend 'Divergent' by Veronica Roth because the teaser trailer for this book's film adaptation was just released and it sparked some enthusiasm towards it in me. I was a huge fan when I first read the book and those feelings are starting to come back again!

We mention 'Divergent' on this site way back in March when we did a post about what you should read after BRR but I wanted to do a more in depth overview.

In Beatrice Prior’s dystopian Chicago world, society is divided into five factions, each dedicated to the cultivation of a particular virtue—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). On an appointed day of every year, all sixteen-year-olds must select the faction to which they will devote the rest of their lives. For Beatrice, the decision is between staying with her family and being who she really is—she can’t have both. So she makes a choice that surprises everyone, including herself.
(Synopsis from Veronica Roth's blog)

This book gets lumped together with Suzanne Collins' 'The Hunger Games' quite a bit and I can see why. Usually, I don't like books that when you read you can easily name another book off the top of your head that reminds you of it, but I loved this one. 

I'm a sucker for YA Dystopia books (which you faithful readers probably already know) so naturally I was intrigued about this one. Also, it seemed like this book sent out a lot of hype before it came out and that's always something to be weary about. But alas, as soon as I started it all my doubts went away. 

I love this book because although it is YA Dystopia, and there seems to be a never ending abundance of those types of books, it is very unique and I found it had a lot of qualities I don't see in other books. 

This book I feel is about finding yourself and I really enjoy the way the characters show that. I recommend this book to any Dustlands fan in a heartbeat! 

Click here to watch the new teaser trailer for the movie! (Not until you've read the book though :P)

See you guys,
~Jake
xx

The Coliseum: Yesterday, Today, and Tomorrow

'While stands the Coliseum, Rome shall stand. When falls the Coliseum, Rome shall fall. And when Rome falls - the world.'

~Lord Byron

This summer, I had the incredible oppourtunity to visit Rome, Italy. Naturally, the Coliseum was the first on the list of places to see: historical, cultural, and simply beautiful, it's rightfully Rome's tourist hotspot. But it also works as the inspiration of the Colesseum where Saba finds herself fighting in the Cage...

3 DAYS LEFT! Submit Your Short Story Now!

Hey Free Hawks! You only have 3 days left to submit a short story taking place in the Dustlands for our 1st Annual Dustlands.net Fan Fiction contest! Click the link below to submit a short story!

~Jake