MOIRA YOUNG was born in New Westminster, BC, where she attended the University of British Columbia before heading to the UK to study drama. After a few years of performing on the alternative comedy circuit and tap-dancing on a West End stage, Young returned to Vancouver where she successfully trained as an opera singer. Returning to the UK, she sang in some of London's most prestigious venues. Young has now returned to her first love - writing - with her debut novel, Blood Red Road. Moira Young lives in Bath, England with her husband.
"From the Hardcover edition."
Young's powerful debut, first in the Dustlands series, is elevated above its now familiar postapocalyptic setting by an intriguing prose style and strong narrative voice that show a distinct Cormac McCarthy vibe. When 18-year-old Saba's father is killed and her twin brother, Lugh, is kidnapped, she sets out to rescue him, along with their younger sister, Emmi, and Saba's intelligent raven, Nero. Their travels across the desert wasteland bring them to a violent city in which Saba is forced to fight for her life in an arena. When she escapes with the help of a group of women warriors, she and her new allies (including a handsome and infuriating male warrior named Jack) try to prevent Lugh from being sacrificed. Young's writing style-channeled through Saba's wonderfully defined narrative voice-may be off-putting at first, but readers will quickly get used to the lack of quotation marks and idiosyncratic spelling and punctuation ("There ain't nuthin written in the stars. They're jest lights in the sky") and be riveted by the book's fast-paced mix of action and romance. It's a natural for Hunger Games fans. Ages 14-up. (June) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.
Gr 7 Up-Eighteen-year-old Saba and her beloved twin brother, Lugh, know nothing of the world beyond the bleak landscape of their father's shack on the outskirts of a postapocalyptic Wrecker city. Everything changes, though, when the dreadful Tonton (think Haiti's Tonton Macoutes) descend on the homestead, kill their father, and abduct Lugh. Saba sets out to find him, trailed by her annoying little sister, Emmi. As the two girls cross a desert they enter a world in which the surviving remnants of humanity have organized themselves into haphazard and often brutal factions. An unlikely pair of scavengers captures them and force Saba to fight other slave girls in a cagelike coliseum. Her physical strength and ferocious spirit earn her the sobriquet "The Angel of Death." After a slow start that establishes the background and the siblings' relationships, the plot takes off on a wild ride through intrigues and battles, encounters with dastardly villains, and sudden reversals of fortune. Saba is aided by a seemingly human crow, loyal Emmi, a band of women warriors known as the Free Hawks, and a handsome scoundrel named Jack. Readers know that Saba will succeed, but not without overcoming impossible odds. Invented spelling and punctuation (no quotation marks are used) add to the vigor of the telling, and the protagonist's voice vibrates with the glorious energy of a young woman coming into her power. Saba has just the right combination of warrior rage and tender heart to survive and thrive in her chaotic world. The ending leaves several threads hanging, and readers will be eager for more.-Carolyn Lehman, Humboldt State University, Arcata, CA (c) Copyright 2011. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
"It's "Mad Max" and The Hunger Games meets True Grit. . . .The
author moves between ruthless action and gorgeous, buttery
narration. . . . In the hands of a lesser writer, that style might
have dragged, but first-time author Young is talented, and she's
just getting started. . . This is a must-read, where girls rescue
boys, and where the future looms up full of hope and loss,
struggles and archetypes that give the story a timeless, classic
edge."
-"The Globe and Mail"
"Eerie and adventurous. . .on par with Suzanne Collins' The Hunger
Games and Paolo Bacigalupi's Ship Breaker. . . Blood Red Road has a
cinematic quality that makes it white-hot. . . .The fervor is more
than warranted."
-"LA Times"
"Brutal and thrilling."
--"The Wall Street Journal"
"Not only will it satisfy the cravings of Hunger Games fans, but it
is--dare I say--better than The Hunger Games. . . . This book will
blow you away. . . . Blood Red Road simply delivers. The story, the
writing, the characters and the narrative voice are stunning and
completely original, setting this book apart from the crowd of
dystopian novels."
--Hollywood Crush, MTV.com
"[Blood Red Road is] poised to be the next big thing in teen
fiction, and with good reason. . . . The world . . . is beautifully
wrought, as well as terrifyingly plausible. . . . Young has taken
familiar pieces of everything from "Gladiator "to Lord of the Rings
and put them in the hands of a spunky, moody heroine who breaths
new life into old motifs."
--"Quill & Quire"
"[Blood Red Road] mashes together McCarthy's intensity with a
laconic narrative style taken from the literature of the American
west. . . . Yes, this is the perfect apocalypse for pre-teens."
--"The Guardian "(UK)
"Young adults will enjoy reading this story of the transformation
that is possible when you fight for what you believe in and know in
your heart that it is right."
--"National Post"
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