The CSFF Blog Tour is featuring Jill Williamson‘s YA dsytopian novel Rebels, final book in The Safe Lands series, this month. Yesterday I gave you an overview of each book in the series, some info on Jill and a link to my review of book 1, Captives. (Click HERE for yesterday’s post.) I didn’t read book 2 of the series, but my friend Stephanie did — and loved it! Here are her thoughts on Outcasts:
Outcasts, the second installment in The Safe Lands series by Jill Williamson, not only continues to plunge the reader into a “fantasy” world of the future, but picks up speed in exciting plot development and further unveiling of the mysteries behind the Safe Lands society and the plague that infects its people. With mounting danger met with equaled bravery, Mason, Levi, and even Omar each began to find a way to impact not only their family and friends, but the Safelanders as well. As Mason continues to search for a cure for the Thin Plague, he begins to uncover not only clues to the mysterious illness, but a realization of his feelings for the beautiful Ciddah. Omar, desperate to atone for his betrayals, creates a vigilante superhero that becomes an unexpected symbol for hope. Levi continues to lead the scattered remnant of Glenrock and orchestrates a daring and dangerous rescue of the children still held by the Safelanders. This book certainly exceeded my already high expectations and left me eager to read the next Safe Lands book!
I believe The Safe Lands series should appeal to a wide variety of sci-fi & fantasy fans like me. Good science fiction helps us to have a clear picture of the impact of our moral and societal choices and to stand by those choices. Like classics such as A Brave New World and 1984, The Safe Lands series forces the reader to look at a world where the pursuit of selfish pleasures has resulted in a corrupt, plagued, and immoral society characterized by the unhappiness and emptiness of its people. Such a shocking glimpse of a world-that-could-be forces us to ask ourselves how our choices might make this possibility our reality. Ultimately, the reader must conclude that morality does impact society, a stance constantly under attack in our world today. Fortunately, the glimpse provided by The Safe Lands series equips us to stand firm on our views.
A BIG thank you to Stephanie for her very articulate analysis. Tomorrow, I will be posting my review of Rebels. In the meantime, make sure to visit the other participants on the tour:
Julie Bihn
Thomas Fletcher Booher
Jeff Chapman
Vicky DealSharingAunt
April Erwin
Carol Gehringer
Victor Gentile
Rebekah Gyger
Jeremy Harder
Jason Joyner
Carol Keen
Shannon McDermott
Meagan @ Blooming with Books
Melanie @ Christian Bookshelf Reviews
Rebecca LuElla Miller
Joan Nienhuis
Nissa
Writer Rani
Audrey Sauble
Chawna Schroeder
Jojo Sutis
Elizabeth Williams
I really liked the series. The society of the Safe Lands shows what part of our society has already become.
Nissa, I agree with you. The parallels are scary.
Thanks for the review, Stephanie! 🙂