Blood Red Road by Moira Young (Random House, 2011, eISBN: 9780385671842) is a compelling addition to the trendy dystopian subgenre of Young Adult (YA) fiction. This first-time author blends mythology, adventure, and gritty realism to create a unique story that will appeal to young adults of all ages (though younger teens may find some of the darker elements disturbing).
Blood Red Road: More Than Just Another Post-Apocalyptic Novel
Blood Red Road recalls elements of Paolo Bacigalupi’s Shipbreaker and Suzanne Collins’s The Hunger Games, but it is far from a carbon copy of either. The setting is spectacular; it may best be described as the Wild West via Gladiator, threaded with mythic and futuristic details. The future depicted here is one in which an unspecified disaster has left behind a scarcely populated landscape of desert and ruined cities. The majority of those left alive are addicted to a substance called chaal, the true villain of the novel. Young’s depiction of a struggling populace enslaved by a mind-altering drug is chilling in its believability.
The story introduces us to 18-year-old Saba, one of the toughest heroines to come along in a while (she could easily give Katniss Everdeen a run for her money) and one of the most likeable. When Saba’s twin brother Lugh is kidnapped by the Tonton, the merciless servants of a self-appointed “King,” Saba sets out on a quest to rescue him. Along the way she competes in a gladiator-style tournament, falls in with a group of young women called the “Free Hawks” (who call to mind both the heroic outlaws of Wild West tales and the Amazon warriors of Greek legends), and reluctantly falls in love with a young rebel named Jack.
The character of Saba is one of many reasons to praise this book. She is tough, wily, and unwaveringly brave – so much so that at times it stretches the limits of believability. Yet Young injects just enough humanity – and plenty of flaws – into her heroine that the reader’s incredulity will be short-lived.
Where the novel may lose some readers is its heavy use of dialect. Initially, the novel’s idiosyncratic voice makes for slow going, but readers who stick it out will soon get used to all the yers and I sayses. Part of the appeal of Blood Red Road is that it reads like a conversation with an illiterate (but highly engaging) teenager.
One of the marks of a great novel is the presence of elements that are archetypal, and yet somehow new. Saba’s quest to rescue her brother from a hellish land is as old as Orpheus (if not older), but Young has reversed the traditional gender roles. She also chooses to name Saba’s brother after a Celtic hero, an ironic touch given his decidedly non-heroic role in the novel.
Apart from potential difficulties with the dialect, most teens will thoroughly enjoy Blood Red Road – boys as much as girls. It’s a bleak future Young paints, yet its gritty lawlessness is as appealing to the imagination as the novel’s equally hardened heroine. Readers will look forward to the sequel.
Heather Fawcett - Heather Fawcett is a Vancouver-based writer and editor. She holds an M.A. in English Literature and specializes in teen fiction, having ...
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