Defiance

Defiance by C.J. Redwine
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

Sometimes a book has all the right elements - good plot, good characters, interesting setting, good storytelling. And yet for some reason it doesn't add up to a book that just blows you away. Such is the case with Defiance.

Problem one: the world wasn't really well developed. There was a fortified town, a wasteland with a lot of trees, villages with "tree people" (whom I assume look and act like native Americans), and apparently other towns. The image I had in my head of the village was somewhat renaissance, with cloaks and swords and long dresses and the traditional roles of men and women. The extremes of the gender roles was touched on lightly, but there wasn't any background given as to why it was that way. The town was fortified with steel and concrete, and yet people used horse-drawn wagons. There was a beast but it sounded like a cross between a dragon and one of the worms from Tremors. There was a ruthless dictator, but he didn't seem overly smart or clever.

Problem two: everything seemed to happen too fast. But really, it didn't. I think it's just that the backstory wasn't there. We just got to vaguely know some of the characters and then they were gone before they were fully developed. When some of them died, I just didn't care because I wasn't invested enough in them. And this was sad, because they were really good characters who, had they been fully developed, would have given the story a rich depth that it lacks.

The characters were likable enough. Rachel is tough and smart, if a bit reckless. Her father has taught her to not be such a girly girl, and yet she doesn't seem to have lost a feminine softness. What seems to be lacking in her is a confidence in herself that apparently was shaken when she was spurned by a boy. She is full of a lot of bravado that overshadows her true abilities. She may be a great fighter, but the whole insecurity thing was a bit overdone.

Logan is better drawn. He's part hunk, part MacGuyver, part geek, part strong protector. Above all else, he's a thinker. It was so enjoyable to watch him think through each situation logically by mapping out each possible scenario and its conclusion. He was also fairly emotional, although that didn't seem to influence his actions overmuch. He was a wonderful romantic lead.

Quinn and Willow were wonderful characters that I wish had held a larger role in the story. It was as if we just were introduced to them and then they disappeared. Oliver, Sylph, Eloise and even Jared seemed shallow characters, poorly developed within the scope of the story. And I find this sad, because I really liked each of them.

This was a great plot and for a book that is 403 pages long, you'd think it would have been a gritty saga. Instead, it seemed like a relatively short camping trip with a few bad guys thrown in. I never felt the characters' lives were ever in any real danger. The romance was okay, but it lacked the tension and buildup that would have made it really great. And the bad guys - who was the real enemy? The Commander? The beast? The opposing army?

The synopsis for this book calls it "post-apocalyptic." I'm not sure what I missed, but it didn't feel post-apocalyptic to me. Generally, I think the term "world-building," is overused but I find it extremely appropriate here. The background setting was just empty, with no reason for the world being as it was. Why were the towns isolated? Where did the beast come from? What caused a "wasteland?"

What happened?

Perhaps these questions will all be answered in the sequels. I liked the story enough to continue with it, but this is definitely more of a so-so read. It is apparently the author's debut novel. A debut is always a starting place, and this author seems to have written a lot about writing. That would explain the idea that this story has so many fabulous elements that just never seemed to congeal. I have every confidence that it will start to make sense with the next installment.

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