Outpost (The Razorland Trilogy)

Outpost by Ann Aguirre, aka Razorland #2 didn’t leave as big an impression on me as Enclave, but I still really liked it.

Since this is the second in a series of 3, for those who haven’t read the first installment, I’m going to place the entire review behind a spoiler tag. I hate spoilers and would never want to ruin anything for something else that way.

Ready for some awesome book 2 filler?

Now, let me start off by letting you know that I never put a lot of anticipation into middle books. It never ends up like an Oreo so why should I expect it to?

The beginning brings the reader into Salvation a couple months after the group’s arrival. All four of them have made it safely and yes, Tegan is managing a steady recovery (yay!). The small opening twist is fun and unexpected (plus for me – I love to see Deuce and Stalker together).

Now let’s get a good look at this settlement. Salvation was rebuilt by religious zealots, so it’s not easy for Deuce to get along. Since, according to their scripture, if the boundaries of sexism are crossed, the plague will return. Women do “women’s work” and men do “men’s work”. Regardless of their standing, they still see the group as mere children, leaving them unable to resist their dire need for help. Each survivor is given a foster home, schooling, and apprenticeship. Can’t get any better right?

Maybe for everyone but Deuce, she’s not even allowed to wear pants.

“Maybe I was just one of those people who couldn’t rest easy unless things went catastrophically wrong.” – Deuce

I love this about her character. She’s bold and never lets go of her Huntress spirit. As much as I do admire that trait, I wish the author hadn’t spent the first half of the book on it. There was definitely more arguments between Deuce the Huntress and Deuce the girl than I needed.

Outpost definitely helps you to understand each character a little better. Deuce’s conflicting emotions, Tegan’s true strength, Stalker’s growing maturity, and Fade’s pouting. Yes, the distance he created with Deuce definitely becomes worse before getting any better, only to be shattered and rebuilt again. By Deuce btw, always by her. Fade just ignores her directly but secretly follows her around.

(-_-;) Ugh…

Finally half way through the book the stakes rise when people are required to venture outside of the walls for harvest. Deuce and the boys take up arms to protect the people of Salvation. Just another day in the life of Deuce the Huntress. At least, it should be right?

Not when the Freaks are evolving at what appears to be an accelerated rate. Breeding, cooking, building shelter, and worst of all, keeping humans like livestock. The Freaks now pose a larger threat then they could have ever imagined. Leading to a distressing rescue mission and the loss of someone special. (I’m not giving those details away though!)

No longer do the people of Salvation feel safe behind the walls. Constant attacks are leading to unrest and when your walls are made of wood, they can’t last forever. So who do they turn to? Deuce of course. Some turn to her for blame, but others see her as their only hope. Will her and the others survive another deadly trek across Freak infested lands?

With this much character development (including the Freaks), the final book will be able to serve up a quite the action packed finale. The next and final installment arrives in October of this year and yes, I am extremely excited.