Fantasy Book Reviews

Where The Desert Ends

Author: KateKay3948
Title: Where The Desert Ends
Link: https://www.wattpad.com/story/71187414-where-the-desert-ends

Where the Desert Ends (great title!) is a steam-punk fantasy survival story about a dying planet, where water is scarce, and law is absolute. It has a Final Fantasy 7-esque feel to it, for which I applaud the author for being able to evoke. The first line of the story: "It only took a moment for her life to change forever" was enough to reel me in.

The story is told from the perspective of two characters: Nyla and Sage. In the Prologue, we meet Nyla, a responsible and pragmatic sister to her younger sibling, Aisley, who embodies hope and innocence. Through a series of quick scenes and action sequences, the author masterfully paints for us the harsh world where the story takes place. The use of imagery was spot on; from the hot, languid desert town, to the bloody corpse after an execution. All five senses were considered. I felt hot and sweaty just reading the story! "I've found land without sand" is a line in the story that I feel perfectly captures the essence of the plot. So much mystery. So many questions! The Prologue was wonderfully written and left me wanting more.

So then I read Chapter 1 and must say I was a little disappointed. It felt rushed and non-committal. I'll explain. We meet Sage, the youngest member of the guard, and she's about to put a bullet in the head of a fellow officer. But she hesitates, gets captured, and lands a ticket to prison, where she'll presumably be left to die. Good plot, but poorly executed. The action scene where Sage gets captured was confusing. There were three characters in the scene, but it read more like there were five or six. What made it worse was that the action was constantly interrupted by Sage's internal dialogue/thoughts. There were too many unanswered questions and we are left wondering what Sage's motives are and why she's protecting her father. In the final scene, Sage is all indignant about being punished, which seemed off to me. I would've expected her to know the consequences of her actions. Overall, it just felt like the author didn't know what she wanted to tell us in the chapter, or didn't want to commit by divulging too much information.

Despite a weak Chapter 1, the Prologue offered enough intrigue for me to want to read further. This story feels very promising and I can't wait to read more. Check it out and give it some love!