Blood Red Road by Moira Young earned its way to the top five in my list of Favorite Books after the first page. Literally. I read it, and I thought, "My beautiful, beautiful Blood Red Road, where have you been all my life? I've been everywhere, book, looking for some story. A story that can shake me, keep me reading on. I've been everywhere, book, looking for your action, looking for your pace, searching for your plot." And I bet you just read that in Rihanna's voice. All right, enough with the lameness, what I mean is that this is a book that will plunge you into the deepest ocean, give you a glimmer of the surface, then drag you straight back in to its icy depths. There is absolutely no time to breathe in this clever post apocalypse tale. Without even considering it I can say that Hunger Games has been quite a disappointment after this book. Blood Red Road, Hunger Games has nothing on you. Nothing. And Katniss better run for District Thirteen, because the Angel of Death herself, Saba, smells blood. This is a gory, sarcastic, beautiful, hysterical, bracing, terrifying, real, sweet, and amazing story, and if you haven't read it, you haven't lived. Blood Red Road has a searing pace, a poetically minimal writing style, relentless action, and an epic love story (quote from book). This is what Nancy Farmer, author of The House Of The Scorpion, has to say:
I absolutely loved Blood Red Road! What a great read! Moira Young goes over the top with a most engaging heroine. Saba is a crusty, foul-tempered warrior woman who must be covered in scar tissue by the end of the book, but men still follow her around like starving wolves. The dialogue is fast and often humorous; the pace never lets up. No situation is so bad that it can't get worse in the next couple of pages. I especially liked the awakening of the Hellwurms as they emerged to feed. Well done, Ms. Young!
I went through the blood red roads of Silverlake, the wilderness of The Trackway, and the lonely beauty of Crosscreek. I went through the scorching gruel of Sandsea, the cruelty and despair of Hopetown, and the hidden homeliness of Darktrees. I went through the cold horror of The Black Mountains, the enslaved corruption of Freedom Fields, all for the knowledge that it's not over. It's never over. Is it?
