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A review by whit2ney
Amber Sky by Amy Braun
4.0
Nash has one job: survive. In his small dystopian society, The Stray Dogs, he's the main attraction as the Crater champion—he fights for entertainment as well as punishing anyone who needs to learn a lesson. Being the best fighter still makes him an outcast in society, which is just one of the reasons why Nash would rather survive in the unrelenting outside world than fight again for the Ryland, their hovel's lead boss.
After Nash's one friend, Sonya, is physically threatened, he agrees to go on the surface to intimidate the local farmer for food and supplies. It's there that Nash meets a marauder that gives Nash his ultimate plan for escape.
The dystopian realm is definitely Braun's dojo. She gives lots of detail of the local scenery, as well as the local dystopian threat—the Hellions. The ultimate enemies are humanoid blood-suckers that were the reason for much of the population decimation and part of Nash's reason for living underground for so long. Her world is the right combination of dystopia and steampunk from the social structure system, to the tools of survival.
Braun also does a good job of giving a realistic account of the damage Nash earns and dishes out. She really gets into the mind of a trained fighter when describing each fight scene and he responds in a realistic manner to the types of injuries he sustains.
I think my favorite part of this novella was the entertaining relationship between Nash and Sawyer (the marauder). It's fun watching these two macho loners try to work together. They take turns saving the day and being pretty cocky about it. I'll let you guys enjoy that.
I will warn younger readers that there are off-screen references to heavy violence and rape. They were tastefully done in the novel, given the rugged, no-mercy society that Nash lives in.
Braun's choice to make this a novella made for great pacing and a great teaser to the rest of her Dark Sky series. The only real drawback was a slight overemphasis of Nash's reactions to each blow he receives; a bit too many reminders of just how much air is being punched out of him.
After Nash's one friend, Sonya, is physically threatened, he agrees to go on the surface to intimidate the local farmer for food and supplies. It's there that Nash meets a marauder that gives Nash his ultimate plan for escape.
The dystopian realm is definitely Braun's dojo. She gives lots of detail of the local scenery, as well as the local dystopian threat—the Hellions. The ultimate enemies are humanoid blood-suckers that were the reason for much of the population decimation and part of Nash's reason for living underground for so long. Her world is the right combination of dystopia and steampunk from the social structure system, to the tools of survival.
Braun also does a good job of giving a realistic account of the damage Nash earns and dishes out. She really gets into the mind of a trained fighter when describing each fight scene and he responds in a realistic manner to the types of injuries he sustains.
I think my favorite part of this novella was the entertaining relationship between Nash and Sawyer (the marauder). It's fun watching these two macho loners try to work together. They take turns saving the day and being pretty cocky about it. I'll let you guys enjoy that.
I will warn younger readers that there are off-screen references to heavy violence and rape. They were tastefully done in the novel, given the rugged, no-mercy society that Nash lives in.
Braun's choice to make this a novella made for great pacing and a great teaser to the rest of her Dark Sky series. The only real drawback was a slight overemphasis of Nash's reactions to each blow he receives; a bit too many reminders of just how much air is being punched out of him.