The Sundered [Paperback]

The world has changed. No longer are there huge land masses but instead landfall, some big enough to house cities, others just tufts of earth. The water has changed. No longer blue, it's black and thick, it covers the entire planet, and it kills you if you touch it. The population has changed. Mankind now has slaves: strange, alien creatures, none of which look identical, all of whom have mystical powers. These are The Sundered, claimed by human masters.

Harry Iskinder is a scavenger, criss-crossing the globe in a paddle boat along with his followers, known as travelers, collecting what they can to sell at the major cities. He is also searching for the Hope of Humanity, a secret object he believes will turn the Earth back to how it used to be and save mankind. Humans claim their Sundered Ones by telekinesis, and when Harry ensnares a first-tier Sundered it becomes the start of a journey that will lead him once more around the globe, this time in a life-and-death dash to discover the Hope first, and save the human race.

A review of this book, The Sundered, by Ruthanne Reid, would probably need to be about a thousand words long to do the book justice. There's just so much in this novel, so much back-story and such a detailed world that a short review would be far from sufficient. I normally don't enjoy reading full-length novels written in first person but this one (told entirely from Harry's POV) was a delight to read. It was humorous, serious, and compelling. Harry claims two Sundered in the book, Aakesh (who is first-tier) and Gorish (who is fifth-tier), and Harry's interactions with these two beings make for excellent reading. The connection between them, especially the mind struggles between Harry and Aakesh, are extremely entertaining.

Just for the record, first-tier Sundered are awesome with incredible skills and powers, whereas the fifth-tier beings are lightweight and vulnerable, and usually die quickly (using a Sundered too much wastes them and eventually kills them).

The book's pacing is spot-on, the plot easy to follow, and the dramatic twist at the end totally unexpected and brilliantly delivered. The characters are engaging, particularly Harry with whom the reader obviously spends all their time. Aakesh reminded me occasionally of one of those blue dudes from Avatar (although Aakesh is ebony-skinned), and Gorish reminded me of Gollum. The bit-part characters, mostly Harry's companions, offer lots too, and provide a vital sub-plot as the story progresses.

There's a load to say about this book, and all of it positive. There were one or two small errors, but these are easily overlooked. There aren't many books that pull me away from what I'm doing just so I can continue reading them--The Sundered was one of them.

Quite an inventive idea - might make a good film. It moves along with decent pace, the only down side is that, while the main character is developed, a lot of the others are a bit 2d. Don't let that put you off though its still pretty good.

When you get your bearings in this book it is a great read. However by the end you realise everything was not quite as it seemed. An interesting twist to a complicated story lay out.