In the ruins of the world that was lies the city of Dios, a haven protected from the hostile environment known as The Outlands. Ruled by an oppressive Patriarch, the people of Dios are conditioned in fear. The smallest infraction could result in banishment to the Outlands, a fate worse than death.
With his make-shift family of “Undesirables,” Jett Lasting struggles to find his place in a world where drawing attention to yourself can get you killed. His very existence is considered a crime. To survive, he must avoid guards, beggar gangs, and an ever-growing tension that could drag the whole city into chaos.–from the blurb about The Outlands
Jett unwittingly becomes entwined in a plot to overthrow the government where his choices could lead to freedom or the death of everyone he’s ever known or cared about.
Thank you so much to Tyler Edwards for providing me with a digital copy for review! You can find out more on the official site here. You can also keep up to date with Tyler Edwards on Facebook or Instagram.
I haven’t read a good science fiction book in a while! So, I was happy to finally get around to reading The Outlands by Tyler Edwards. Honestly, this book immediately intrigued me with its premise. And now, I can happily say that it lived up to my expectations.
But continue reading for my full review of The Outlands and to find out what I liked about this book!
Review
To begin with, I loved the world-building in this book. Edwards put a lot of care and detail into building and formulating all the different aspects of the society and city that these characters live in. Personally, the setting is always my favorite part of any sci-fi story; I just love reading about all of it, from the government systems to the weaponry they have.
Though, for this book in particular, I really appreciated the way Edwards developed the government’s role in this society. A large portion of the plot centered around that, so I liked having a lot of background knowledge about it.
But, of course, I also liked the plot. Admittedly, it felt a little disjointed in places, and certain parts seemed overly drawn out. Overall, though, it had plenty of excitement and twists. It definitely kept me entertained! Additionally, the storyline didn’t follow the trajectory I expected, and I liked that things didn’t play out in an obvious, predictable manner.
Now, when it came to the characters, I must say that the narrator wasn’t my favorite in this book. For me, Victor just stole the show. (To be honest, Lilly did, too, but she wasn’t present for long enough to truly be my favorite. I wish she had been in more scenes!) That’s not to say that Jett, the real main character, was by any means “bad.” He had a lot of interesting components to his character and I enjoyed his perspective. But he just couldn’t quite contend with some other characters. Side characters always do seem so much more fascinating, don’t they?
TL,DR Recommendation
In the end, I do recommend reading this one! It had an interesting plot and a wonderfully detailed fictional world filled with great science fiction elements; it was definitely a worthwhile read. I can’t wait for Edwards to release future installments in this series!
If you do choose to read this one, drop a comment down below and let me know your thoughts! You know I always love to talk about books. Also, if you liked this review for The Outlands, feel free to use the Book Reviews tab above to see my full library of reviews. I have plenty of great books there that you can check out!
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