Author :Eden Wolfe
Series: Book 2 The Lower Earth Rising ( Click here for Book 1 review Selfsame)
Genre: Dystopian Fantasy
The continuation of the Lower Earth series, a dystopian fantasy set in a world where men are dying out after ‘The Mist’ and Queen Ariane continues her cruel reign.
Goodreads summary
Thousands of innocent genetic deviants.
One Queen who wants them dead.
Leadon long believed Lower Earth was a promised land.
But now that crop killers have become commonplace and Queen Ariane systematically obliterates those she deems unworthy, Leadon learns the hard truth about life on Lower Earth.
Humanity is scarce. Food is even more scarce. Ariane is driving Lower Earth to the brink of disaster.
When Leadon bears witness to an extreme act of cruelty by the Queen, she is torn between loyalty to the Ganese people and the morality of Lower Earth’s original peoples.
Thousands of innocent lives hang in the balance. One word and the Queen will have them destroyed. Leadon must convince her enemies that they should combine forces and work toward a common goal, or risk the promise of tomorrow for all.
In Selfsame, Lower Earth had to look itself in the eye. In Culling, Lower Earth must run from its own reflection.
Review
Book provided by the author for an honest review
The good
The series picks up five years after one of Queen Maeva’s daughters kills the other to become Queen Arianne but the wrong Queen lived. This Queen Ariane was literally forged for a possible future battle with no compassion- some of her actions and decisions were chilling. We learn a little more about the dystopic world and its creation- I found the explanation of the lava rock necklaces fascinating. The description of Cork Town where the undesirables live and the discrimination they face was particularly horrifying when I realised that they were people with disabilities or just not as perfect compared to the rest of the population. The book continues to explore the idea of forced population growth and the ramifications of this. One of Queen Maeva’s last acts as ruler was to replace The Willing Women with babies being bred in incubators forcing Queen Ariane to deal with the imperfect children born as a result. The whole concept of a few women being cloned and then undergoing mass reproduction to populate this world is an intriguing concept.
The bad
The book had several points of view and it took some time to get used to. I would have liked to have read a few more chapters from Rose.
The ugly
No content warnings
Perfect for Fans
Anyone who loves dystopian, fantasy with strong female characters
Summary
4 and a half stars.
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