Title: Bad LandAuthor: J. E. ByrnePublisher: Take Two PublishingPublish Date: 27 November 2013Pages: 228ISBN: 978-0989653336Genre: YA, DystopianSeries: NoneCaught up in the rave of the ultimate high school party, eighteen-year-old Sarah Cain finds herself outside at 3:10am with her high school crush. Together they witness a violent explosion that tears through the sky. Knocked unconscious, Sarah awakens to a world she no longer recognizes. The sun does not rise, there is no moon or stars, and black rain falls heavily on her shoulders. Forced into survival, Sarah is frequented with strange words and dreams that mystically draw her toward a mountain promising life, even amidst her dying world. Setting out on foot to follow this vision, Sarah meets up with other survivors and discovers that some of them have shared her same dream. Together the group sets off to find The Mountain. Tempted by good and evil at every turn, survivors must decide which path to take.
BENVOLIO
Romeo, away, be gone!
Romeo, away, be gone!
The citizens are up, and Tybalt slain.
Stand not amazed: the prince will doom thee death,
If thou art taken: hence, be gone, away!
Stand not amazed: the prince will doom thee death,
If thou art taken: hence, be gone, away!
ROMEO
O, I am fortune's fool!
O, I am fortune's fool!
BENVOLIO
Why dost thou stay?
Why dost thou stay?
What would a great story be without
the triumphs and tragedies of love? In one of my favorite romantic stories,
Shakespeare’s tragedy Romeo and Juliet, Romeo
has secretly wed Juliet, whose parents have already secretly arranged in
marriage to the noble Paris. If not yet enough conflict, Romeo later kills
Juliet’s cousin Tybalt in revenge for Tybalt’s slaying of Romeo’s friend
Mercutio. As Romeo realizes his doomed fate, he cries out, “O, I am fortune’s
fool! Sadly, we all know how this tragic love triangle ends.
In Dead Land, protagonist Sarah Cain loves two men, and seemingly two
men love her. One may prove her savior, while the other may lead her toward a
path of doom. One will have her
understanding what real love can be, while at the same time leaving her with
the realization that she, too, is fortune’s fool. Who will she choose? How will
their story end? The following are some of my favorite relationship-themed lines,
woven into the web of a Dead Land.
I could not bear
to lose him; not this way, not yet. Everyone looked at me and awaited a signal,
but it was one that I did not want to give. Finally Claire couldn’t take it
anymore. She glared at me. I could see the message in her eyes. She was going
after David, even if it meant dying with him. I met her stare and did not back
down. If this was how our tragic love triangle was going to play out, then so
be it. I was not going to intervene with fate. I, too, was fortune’s fool, I
thought. I turned away as she took off down the path after him.
He sounded so confident, his
voice soft yet strong. I again looked up at his face, into his eyes. He looked
back, deeply into mine. His arms were still around me, secure and warm in their
embrace. For minutes we didn’t say anything. We just searched each other’s
souls in the depths of our gaze. I have to confess that it was at this moment
when I first realized that I loved him. I loved his strength, I loved his
depth, and most of all I loved his goodness. I felt it so deeply that I wanted
nothing more than to let it consume me.
But instead of
grabbing the cup, he grabbed me. Lance leaned into me and pressed his lips onto
mine. I pulled his body against me, craving his warmth. He wrapped his arms
around me and tilted his head. We fit. We fit perfectly. I forgot there was no
coffee. I forgot there was no food. I forgot the world had ended. All I knew
was how I felt at that moment.
I fell into the
early stages of sleep. I could feel his breath at my ear.
“Sarah,” he
whispered. “I love you.”
I opened my
eyes. He had turned away before I could even respond. He was checking on Leah.
He laid a blanket on her as she breathed softly in her sleep. I pretended that
I was asleep and that I hadn’t heard him, but of course I had.
Romeo
and Juliet’s youthful passion and impulse eventually leads them to their grave
destinations.
As Dead Land progresses, Sarah develops
into a person of strength and character, but will it be enough to save her from
such impulse?
JULIET
O God, I have
an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb.
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
ROMEO
And trust me,
love, in my eye so do you:
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
SARAH from Dead Land…
As I followed my fated path,
I walked with a symphony of lament on my imaginary iPod. It told me that there
were certain things in life that I could not change. I wished that {he} could
hear the music. Then he would know the helplessness I felt as I entered my time
in the wilderness. I was the lost sheep. I wondered if he would ever come
looking for me. I hoped not; in a strange way, I wanted to be lost. I wanted to
be left alone. I wanted him to feel my absence.
As an
undergraduate Journalism student at Shippensburg University of Pennsylvania,
Jodi took the advice of one of her professors and changed her major to English,
specifically focusing on the art of writing. This decision laid the foundation
for a career in technical writing, teaching, and eventually fiction writer. Her
debut novel, Dead
Land, is set to be
released by Take Two Publishing on December 3, 2013.
Dead Land follows the life of eighteen year-old
Sarah Cain as she struggles to survive the pressures and temptations of high
school, relationships, self-discovery…and the end of the world. The novel combines Jodi’s love of fiction, appreciation for young
adults and the many challenges they face, and a passion for the spiritual
components in life.
