DARKTHAW

The heroine of Winterkill (2014) leaves her tiny village to find settlers moving into the post-apocalyptic wilds.

Though Emmeline's settlement no longer suffers under a religiously based reign of terror, she's more than ready to leave. The allies she's made among the First Peoples visitors are itching to get home, and Em is determined to travel with Matisa, her beloved First Peoples friend, who found Em through their shared dreams. Despite their urgent need to move quickly, their party keeps growing: Matisa and her First Peoples family; Em's sweetheart, Kane; and others from their mixed Anglophone, Francophone, and Métis community. The journey is nowhere near as fast or as safe as they expect. After generations during which the western lands were populated only by First Peoples, settlers have been arriving from the European-descended Dominion in the east—and many of them are violent, lawless thugs. It seems the Dominion is no longer afraid of the Bleed, the horrifying disease that struck the continent generations ago. Matisa holds the band of travelers together as best she can, but disaster strikes so frequently readers may find themselves recalling the game “Oregon Trail,” with disease, kidnapping, and gruesome, bloody murder. Survival is so difficult that it overcomes Em's relationship drama, with the happy result that she builds a family with fellow travelers.

A philosophical, ruminative adventure for fans of the CW network's The 100