Sandymancer

In this quirky, postapocalyptic sci-fi outing from Edison (The Waking Engine) a ragtag crew of misfits learns to move past first impressions and unfortunate beginnings. Eight hundred years before the start of the book, the Earth was purportedly blasted into a desert wasteland by one of its own rulers, the Son of the Vine. He was eventually captured and confined in stone—but when Caralee Vinnet, a sandymancer (or elemental wizard), throws a rage tantrum, she inadvertently releases him from his imprisonment. The disembodied Son takes over the body of Caralee’s friend, Joe Dunes, and seeks to understand what has become of the world in the years since his banishment, learning of the apocalyptic weather conditions and the arrival of aliens. Determined to save Joe, Caralee accompanies the Son as he tries to repair the broken world. Along the way, Caralee learns the true history of the Son’s role in Earth’s ecological collapse while growing into her own sandymancer powers. After a slow start, readers will be drawn in by the well-realized characters and the weird westernesque setting. Edison makes this dystopia fun. (Sept.)