"Benjamin Percy's THE DEAD LANDS is a case of wonderful writing and compulsive reading. You will not come across a finer work of sustained imagination this year. Good God, what a tale. Don't miss it."Stephen King"The Dead Lands is a gripping and inventive adventure about the resilience of the human species. Benjamin Percy may conjure a future that's brutal and dark, but it's not without bravery, compassion, and love. He is a truly gifted storyteller." Edan Lepucki, author of California"THE DEAD LANDS is an ingenious thriller, relentlessly driven by Benjamin Percy's powerful writing."Jess Walter, author of Beautiful Ruins"THE DEAD LANDS is a bomb-blast of a novel, casting its tremors in every direction. Benjamin Percy's range grows broader with every book he writes. Here he takes a journey across a cataclysmic future American West, sending his band of seekers, scholars, assassins, and explorers through a landscape as dangerous and surreal as it must have seemed to the original Lewis and Clark. Their adventure, like the novel itself, travels far past the frontier, into the deepest and most thrilling of wildernesses."Kevin Brockmeier, author of The Brief History of the Dead"This post-apocalyptic reimagining of the Lewis and Clark passage is a thrill ride through a nightmare America. THE DEAD LANDS is gorgeous and haunting and full of heart, like some wonderful offspring of The Hobbit, The Road,and Stephen King's Dark Tower series."James Frey, author of Bright Shiny Morning and EndgameAbout the AuthorBenjamin Percy is the author of the novels Red Moon and The Wilding, and two short story collections, Refresh, Refresh and The Language of Elk. His writing has appeared in Esquire, GQ, Time, Tin House and elsewhere. His honors include the Pushcart Prize, an NEA grant, the Plimpton Prize for Fiction, and a Whiting Award. Raised in the high desert of central Oregon, he lives in Minnesota. where can i download free books The Dead Lands: A Novel
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. a completely entertaining, consuming, brilliantly written novelBy Benjamin and TiffanyCompletely entertaining, consuming and brilliantly written novel. This is our first introduction to this Benjamin Percy and after reading this book we now have a game in my family called "say that how Benjamin Percy would" followed by our best noir voice while attempting to go into great and creative borderline eerie detail about ANY subject matter big or small. Get this book for any history buff/apocalyptic loved one in your life because even though the story is set in the despairing future, Percy is able to connect his readers to the past by creating a real sense of what it would have been like for the actual Lewis Clark to have set out on such a dangerous treacherous journey that ended up shaping our great nation- we won't be able to look at this part of American history the same way again. I purchased this book for my hubby after hearing a captivating NPR interview with Percy and I definitely earned some major "awesome wifey" points by doing so because whether it be day or night I cannot pry that book from his fingers, stop him from telling me the latest development, or quiet him from reading me excerpts. Honestly the writing is a little too creepy for me (I get nightmares easily) but I cannot deny how original the story is or how masterful a writer Percy is. This book comes highly recommended by our family, we can't believe the book was only $8- so it is a steal; but be forewarned that your significant other will never ask you to go to the store to buy toilet paper in the same way thanks to Percy's genius literary inspiration.0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. It seemed like it took a very long time for anything to ...By Scott S.I had a bit of a hard time really getting into this one. It seemed like it took a very long time for anything to happen and there seemed to be a lot of elements that either weren't fully realized or just didn't work.I won't go into a ton of detail to avoid spoilers, but a few examples included that the ending felt very abrupt, one of the characters creepy habit didn't really seem to serve a purpose other than to show us he was a creep (which we knew otherwise anyhow), and the story didn't seem to keep it's own timeline very well. Even though this is supposed to be 150 years after the apocalypse, the ranging parties are still able to find useful items within half a day's ride (i.e., half day out, half day back) of the walls of Sanctuary? I'm pretty sure anything of any use within that range would have been picked over a long time ago. I know that's kind of a silly thing, but there's a lot of those types of little things that kind of added up to bug me at times.The general setting is good and there are some really good scenes (the bat attack), but I found the overall story to be fairly predictable and not fully realized.6 of 7 people found the following review helpful. "Are we there yet"By tholtyI am no student of American history and so could make little connection to all the 'Lewis and Clark' and 'Aron Burr' stuff. And are there any important connections - there does not seem to be any similarities other than an epic journey across the USA from St. Louis to Oregon? I am also not a big fan of 'magic' or 'fantasy' and a hero that pulls down magic fire when in physical danger strikes me as being a bit silly and a much too easy plot device to get him out of trouble. And the story is much too long - I found myself thinking "Oh God, they are still only in South Dakota".I am a fan of dystopian stories about the future however and this one just qualifies, but only just. A big disappointment.