Bite by KS Merbeth
Bite, the first book in the Wastelanders saga by KS Merbeth is a fun read, set in the post-apocalyptic barren earth ravaged by nuclear war. Unlike my first impressions about the book when I saw that chilling cover, the book subverted all my standard expectations - of this possibly being a romp in the dirty deserts with some flesh-craving zombies. Instead what we get, is an engrossing and highly immersive story of this young girl, nicknamed 'Kid' - an intimately personal story of her adventures and how she survives these brutal wastelands. It is also a well written tale about family (the pseudo one that she "stumbles" onto and decides to stick up for), friendships and relationships (borne out of necessity or need) and even questions the concept of humanity in these harsh, ruthless post-apocalyptic deserts.
Kid has lost her father recently and is left to wandering the hot, brutal deserts of the wastelands - in search of food and water. That's when she comes across this bunch of 'raiders' - a motley crew looking to trade in at the next town, for food and water. But to her horror, she finds out that the members of this crew, referred to as "sharks" are actually 'cannibals' - with no compunction about eating flesh. Sharks are at the top of this foodchain in this mad max'esque world without law, where survival is the only rule that counts. Kid gets rapidly indoctrinated to the ways of this gang as they move from one town to another. Very soon, word gets out of this strange 'Saint' who wants to cleanse the word of such sinners, like the 'raiders'. Do Kid and her crew survive this, forms the rest of the highly propulsive narrative, that is a no-holds barred, take-no-prisoners drive-angry shoot-em-up through the barren, scorching wastelands.
From the get-go, Merbeth pushes the pedal to the floor on this survival drama - rapidly introducing us to the main quartet of players in the crew : There's Wolf, the de-facto leader , a tough man with no morals or ideals other than getting his crew to survive in these bad lands, bad times. There's the pretty Dolly who is a crack shot with a gun but is tight-lipped about everything else around her. Tank is the muscle but with a soft corner for little girls in distress. And then there's Pretty Boy - who as the name suggests is impossibly pretty but is generally a dick about most situations, only willing to save his own skin.
The pacing and the tone is very well balanced - while yes, it's a grim and bleak premise, the story itself is light and peppy. Told from the POV of a teenage girl, the tone is well attuned to the general irreverent, nothing-can-happen-to-me kind of atrocious confidence attributed to general teens. Indeed some of the situations that the Kid walks into, sigh. But Merbeth brings alive the hopelessness of this world, living in the aftermath of nuclear wars, canned beans being the only available flavor of food left and water a scarce element. The raiders party though, they bring in the swagger and attitude into this narrative, rolling in with the big guns and bigger bazookas. There is a lot of high-octane action sequences as the raiders escape the noose, time and again - scraping past the finish-line by pure luck or coincidences.
This is the kind of book that hooks you in from the first few pages and then let's you forget the rest of reality as you let the Kid and her motley crew take you on a roller-coaster of an adventure, fizzing with adrenaline, bazookas and badassery in the hot nuclear wastelands of a hellish earth. Highly recommended!
Kid has lost her father recently and is left to wandering the hot, brutal deserts of the wastelands - in search of food and water. That's when she comes across this bunch of 'raiders' - a motley crew looking to trade in at the next town, for food and water. But to her horror, she finds out that the members of this crew, referred to as "sharks" are actually 'cannibals' - with no compunction about eating flesh. Sharks are at the top of this foodchain in this mad max'esque world without law, where survival is the only rule that counts. Kid gets rapidly indoctrinated to the ways of this gang as they move from one town to another. Very soon, word gets out of this strange 'Saint' who wants to cleanse the word of such sinners, like the 'raiders'. Do Kid and her crew survive this, forms the rest of the highly propulsive narrative, that is a no-holds barred, take-no-prisoners drive-angry shoot-em-up through the barren, scorching wastelands.
From the get-go, Merbeth pushes the pedal to the floor on this survival drama - rapidly introducing us to the main quartet of players in the crew : There's Wolf, the de-facto leader , a tough man with no morals or ideals other than getting his crew to survive in these bad lands, bad times. There's the pretty Dolly who is a crack shot with a gun but is tight-lipped about everything else around her. Tank is the muscle but with a soft corner for little girls in distress. And then there's Pretty Boy - who as the name suggests is impossibly pretty but is generally a dick about most situations, only willing to save his own skin.
The pacing and the tone is very well balanced - while yes, it's a grim and bleak premise, the story itself is light and peppy. Told from the POV of a teenage girl, the tone is well attuned to the general irreverent, nothing-can-happen-to-me kind of atrocious confidence attributed to general teens. Indeed some of the situations that the Kid walks into, sigh. But Merbeth brings alive the hopelessness of this world, living in the aftermath of nuclear wars, canned beans being the only available flavor of food left and water a scarce element. The raiders party though, they bring in the swagger and attitude into this narrative, rolling in with the big guns and bigger bazookas. There is a lot of high-octane action sequences as the raiders escape the noose, time and again - scraping past the finish-line by pure luck or coincidences.
This is the kind of book that hooks you in from the first few pages and then let's you forget the rest of reality as you let the Kid and her motley crew take you on a roller-coaster of an adventure, fizzing with adrenaline, bazookas and badassery in the hot nuclear wastelands of a hellish earth. Highly recommended!
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