David has grown up only ever knowing the woods, the fields, tending farm and his grandmam's tales of the "Before". In the Before, Virginia was a green and fertile place, now Virginia is considered a northern state with long, bitter winters filled with ice and snow. Not to mention the dragons that, for some reason, the government refuses to acknowledge and therefore won't help the town exterminate. When David's younger sister falls ill he brings her to town seeking the healer. The person he finds is Callan, the new healer’s assistant and he's like no one David has ever met before. David and Callan become fast friends and David soon has to acknowledge, if only to himself and against law and the Bible, that he has fallen in love with Callan.

This book has many interesting levels to it. There is the post-apocalyptic setting, a hint of governmental conspiracy, the prevalence of religion in the face of tragedy, marauding dragons, harsh discrimination against homosexuality, discussion of classic literature and forbidden romance. It wasn't what I expected. I enjoyed both David and Callan, although they did tend to get a bit mushy with each other. David certainly does do a lot of growing up in the story, from a very young 16 to a very adult 17 over the course of the story and the "coming of age" theme was well represented. If it weren't for a couple of the more detailed scenes (though not overly graphic by any means), I would say this would be a great young adult story. The book is told from David's first person point of view which is interesting but I would have been kind of curious to see some of the other view points. The story often times has a very melancholy feel to it, but it never drags down into moroseness. We are left with some un-answered questions at the end, although it is an ending that you can say is in keeping with David's singular point of view.

This is a very well done story in whatever context you want to look at it from, from science fiction/fantasy to romance, and is probably one of the most literary small press pieces for this genre that I've read. ( )

Spoilers ahead.

I had to have this book specially ordered due to its scarceness on bookstore shelves. Bit of a shame considering what a delightful read it was. This book falls under many possible genres: fantasy, romance, coming of age, post-apocalytic, adventure, so on and so forth. At its center is David Anderson and Callan Landers.

The book is told first person from David's point-of-view. He is less educated of the two boys and this shows in his narrative. I felt wary into the first few pages because heavy dialects normally put me off, but the distinction in voice was not so heavy handed that it detracted from the story. Because they were the main focus of the story, Callan and David were the two most developed characters. Others were given personality, but hardly any were given enough face time to break the mold of what they'd been presented as. Others besides our two protagonists did manage to become round characters by the end of the novel but it didn't give enough time to appreciate what each character could have been. And this is fine--I'm not expecting a full story of every character packed into one novel, though I do believe that this leaves a lot of room for a sequel (which I will address shortly).

My favorite secondary character was the grandmother. I can't fully explain why since she wasn't given a spectacularly huge roll, but I'm suspecting that it has something to do with the fact that she was one of the few people from Before. I empathized with her, especially when she talked about Disney World in the early chapters. (Can you imagine losing the empire of technology that we've built for ourselves? No electricity, no cars, no running water? Kind of a scary thought.)

The main conflict of the story (at least the way I interpreted it) was the relationship between Callan and David. It could just as easily be argued that the book was about the threat of the dragons or government conspiracies or the struggles of living in a post-apocalyptic society. As such, there is much to keep the reader engaged. The book really starts to pick up when Callan is arrested. (Those were grueling chapters for me. The homophobic attitudes of the characters really pushed a few buttons, as I think it was meant to.)

The book doesn't pull any punches from there. It was not exactly what I would call a fast-paced read though the events flowed together very evenly. I would call it more of a moderate pacing, which suits me perfectly. And even though I was pulling for Callan and David, I found it getting a little melodramatic at points. I appreciate the fact that they loved each other and their situation looked a little hopeless, but the way they had to declare their undying, flowery love for each other wore thin quickly. Maybe it's just me--I'm not big on romance so I could be the only one these scenes grated on. Fortunately, there were enough actiony-fantasy scenes to balance these scenes out, but I couldn't help becoming frustrated.

On the subject of the two protagonists, Callan and David were great leads. They had their flaws, as any good character should, and as Callan pointed out in one chapter they complemented each other nicely. The fact that they relied on each other the way they did was sweet, but sometimes a little too much. I discussed the matter of the undying devotion above, but some of their actions just made me want to smack them. (For example, Callan wishing to die near the end because David was not there.) These times, though, were few and far between so I was able to write off to the stupid things people do when their in love, and I like to think that maybe it made their relationship a little more three-dimensional.

The book had a satisfying ending, but I wouldn't exactly call it a conclusion. The story felt like it had been left open with the possibility of a sequel. And I would like to see such a sequel--there were some things I thought could have been more fully resolved (the dragons! I want to know more about the dragons!) and some characters with unrealized potential.

Conclusion: if you're looking for a good fantasy story, this book is for you. You might have to look a little hard to find it, but it's worth the search. ( )

The Ice fell upon the world nearly a hundred years ago, and if civilization didn’t rightly collapse, it surely staggered and fell ill a while. In the small town of Moline, Virginia, folks struggle to survive, relying on hybrid seed sent by the faraway Departmet of Reintroduction and Agriculture and their own faith in God and hard work. But when a mated pair of dragons starts hunting the countryside, stealing sheep, and attacking children, the townsfolk quickly learn that they don’t have the weapons or the skills to fight off such predators.

David Anderson is a farmer’s son who has explored the world through books. When he meets the new healer in town, Callan Landers, he doesn’t quite know what to make of the strange warmth stealing over him. It’s not until he surprises Callan with another man-and both men are promptly arrested for sodomy-that David finally realizes the truth about his own feelings.

When David and Callan stumble over a secret in a nearby abandoned town, their personal problems fade before government politics and corruption that threaten lives. It seems the dragons aren’t the worst dangers facing Moline.
From All Romance eBooks.

I’ve never been a great one for the great outdoors and nature. I don’t do bugs and a girl has to have somewhere to plug in her hairdryer! So, I was surprised to have enjoyed this as much as I did. I found the day to day details of David’s life on the farm and and the interactions with his family and Callan absorbing.

The world building was well done and the hint of conspiracy certainly gave the story a neat twist. Some of the book leaves you guessing a little till the end and I am hoping the 2nd book comes out soon as I cannot wait to see what happens next.

The romance between Callan and David was sweet, tender and passionate. David was such a sturdy character, a likeable cuss and I enjoyed him immensely. The books length was also a plus and defnitely allowed the time for the development of the characters. At 282 pages in pdf I really felt that I got bang for my buck. I liked!
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The world as we know it is a thing of the past. Due to a case of mysterious global cooling, the world has been reduced to what amounts back to the medieval times. They still have all the knowledge of advanced medicine and etc. but at this point in the story those things are like fairy tales the old people tell their young kids.

(Takes a moment to fear global warming.)

On to the story. First of all it was better than I thought, next well, it really wasn't anything like I thought. I knew it was going to be deep but it's also a little less dramatic than I thought.

The romance is a big part of the story but I wouldn't say it's the sole focus.
This was really a story about David becoming a man and assuming himself. Note that David turns 16 about the middle of the book, but with the mentality they all have, you're a man the moment you learn to speak for yourself. Considering homosexuality is also illegal in that special time period, it deals a lot with homophobia and religious immorality and all that. Thankfully though, it slowly develops into acceptance~

David and Callan have this great shy attraction right at the beginning and it slowly develops into full fledge chemistry as the story moves forward. Having David describes himself as a rather hairy bulky troll compared to Callan before their most intimate moment was hilarious.

As a side note, there's also possibly the most gory scene I ever read so far in a non-horror book near the end. Aren't I glad we have the medical technology we do.

To finish, since it's all from David's PoV and most everybody, him included are farmers from a small isolated village, it's written in such a way to reflect that. So it didn't annoy me none, like they would say. ( )

While the story of David and Callan was lovely and enjoyable and while the writing itself was beautiful and had a wonderful flow (which is why it's gotten such good reviews regardless of the plot and setting flaws), this book could have been 100 x better with some good editing. It tried to be too much: post-apocalyptic-esque scenario with a pioneer setting (which didn't make any sense) and romance with fantasy and a conspiracy….of which nothing but the romance gets resolved. There were so many loose ends! I finished the book stunned that an author could end their book with so many unanswered questions. It was absurd. As another reviewer mentioned, if this book ever went back for a major rewrite to tighten up all the plot and setting problems, I'd be thrilled! Because, at its core, this is a very good book, with a very good writer…who just needs to enlist a very good editor. ( )