The Harvest

The Heartland Trilogy #3

by Chuck Wendig

Blood will water the corn...

It’s been a year since the Saranyu flotilla fell from the sky, and life in the Heartland has changed. Gone are the Obligations and the Harvest Home festivals. In their place is a spate of dead towns, the former inhabitants forced into mechanical bodies to serve the Empyrean—and crush the Heartland.

When Cael awakens from a Blightborn sleep, miles away from the world he remembers, he sets out across the Heartland to gather his friends for one last mission. As the mechanicals, a war flotilla, and a pack of feral Empyrean girls begin to close in on the Heartland, there isn’t much time to make their next move. But if they can uncover a secret weapon in time, Cael and his friends might just find themselves with the power to save the world—or destroy it—resting in their hands.

Genres: Science Fiction, Young Adult, Fantasy, Dystopia, Fiction, Ebooks, Science Fiction Fantasy

437 pages, Paperback

First published July 14, 2015

About the author

Chuck Wendig is a novelist, a screenwriter, and a freelance penmonkey.
He has contributed over two million words to the roleplaying game industry, and was the developer of the popular Hunter: The Vigil game line (White Wolf Game Studios / CCP).

He, along with writing partner Lance Weiler, is a fellow of the Sundance Film Festival Screenwriter's Lab (2010). Their short film, Pandemic, will show at the Sundance Film Festival 2011, and their feature film HiM is in development with producer Ted Hope.

Chuck's novel Double Dead will be out in November, 2011.

He's written too much. He should probably stop. Give him a wide berth, as he might be drunk and untrustworthy. He currently lives in the wilds of Pennsyltucky with a wonderful wife and two very stupid dogs. He is represented by Stacia Decker of the Donald Maass Literary Agency.

You can find him at his website, terribleminds.com.

Reviews

[Dan · Rating 3 out of 5]

When Cael awakens, he finds that a year has passed and the world has plunged deeper into chaos. Can he reconnect with his friends and end the reign of the Empyreans once and for all?

I got this from Netgalley.

Chuck Wendig brings his Heartland trilogy to a close. There's not a lot I can say without giving away plot points, although if you're reading reviews for the third book in a trilogy, you deserve what you get. I will say that Wendig's not afraid to kill off characters but does so with purposes other than shock value, unlike certain authors I will not name with the initials GRRM.

In my experience, third books in trilogies are usually the big confrontation and the cleanup afterwords. Wendig bucks the trend and crams quite a few surprise twists. I didn't see any of them coming and loved the secret weapon. I also like that Wendig didn't take the predictable route in the epilogue.

While I gave the book a three, it's no fault of the book. I enjoyed it but my enjoyment was hampered by my aging brain's inability to remember the nuts and bolts of the previous book. The Harvest was a lot of fun and head and shoulders above most YA fluff. 3.5 out of 5 stars.

[Bradley · Rating 4 out of 5]

A surprisingly good conclusion to the trilogy. After the second book's cliffhanger (literal, in this case,) I was kinda surprised to come back a year in and full of massive character changes. Maybe not personality changes, but when you come back full of blight and light and you're kinda like the Green Man or Swamp Thing and the rest of the world has gone to s**t in war, what can you really expect?

Changes. Indeed. And all told, I enjoyed this conclusion quite a bit. It still has that YA feel but we went from farm life to a life on the run in the dirt and a different kind of run in the clouds to full entrenchment and embittered enemies in the skies in this one.

I *mostly* thought it was great. I did have some slight issues with the near deus ex machina world-killer ending, but not with the actual resolution. I'm glad I finally read this. The imagery will absolutely stick with me. Plant monsters and mechanical men and all. :)

[Simply Sam · Rating 4 out of 5]

Each book in the trilogy on sale thru 8/31/17 for $0.99! If you haven't tried it yet, you should. The more I think about this series, the more I love it!

Well folks, I did it. I actually finished a series. I know, I know, it's only a trilogy but baby steps people, baby steps.

I think the this series suffered a little because there was SO much back and forth, this group fighting this group, Empyreans vs Heartlanders vs The Blighted vs The Sleeping Dogs vs The Empyrean Rebels vs The Harpies. Whew! I'm sure there are some I'm leaving out. It just lacked a clear focus. It was muddled and messy and....well, maybe that's just life in the Heartland, eh?

With that being said, I loved the setting. I loved the Heartlanders. I loved all the colloquial swears and sayings, with all "The Lord and Lady"'s and "Jeezum Crow"'s. And even when not reading the books, I was still thinking about the Cael and Rigo and Lane and Gwennie (but mostly I thought about the Heartland.) It just got under my skin. And even though I still think most of the main characters were punks, Cael especially, I think they'll always hold a little place in my heart.

Anyhoo. I'm getting behind on reviews so a more thorough one will probably be in the cards for this bad boy. I just wanted to say that I think that while this last book may be lacking a little in clarity, it was a fitting conclusion to this series. I'm glad I read it to the end.

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Harvest by Chuck Wendig
Published 2015, Skyscape
Stars: ★★★★☆
Review also posted at: Slapdash & Sundry

Thanks to Netgalley for providing me with a copy for an unbiased review.

What a trilogy! Lots of twists and turns, and quite a few things going the exact opposite of the way I was anticipating -- which I love! While it's fun to figure things out early sometimes, it can also be annoying to constantly be guessing and getting everything right. Where's the fun in never being shocked? Well, this series did that for me. While there were a few things that played out just as I expected, there were others that played out in entirely the opposite way I forecasted.

I'm a little sad it's over, to be honest. I actually cared about these characters and their fight to change their world.

Thanks Chuck. Your books always entertain me!

[Michael Hicks · Rating 5 out of 5]

[This review is based on an advanced copy received by the publisher through NetGalley.]

Chuck Wendig returns to the Heartland one last time to wrap up his cornpunk opus in grand fashion.

The previous novel, Blightborn, left our MC, Cael McAvoy in seriously dire straights, but Wendig wastes no time in resolving it and jumping right into the action one year later. Tasked with a mission by the Maize Witch to recover a decades-old weapon that could destroy the Empyrean empire for good, Cael and his Obligated, Wendy, are off to save the Heartland! Along the way, familiar faces from past novels return to reestablish the cast of friends and enemies as the tyrannical rule of the evil skylords grows ever more constrictive. As the Heartland inches closer to war, McAvoy and his old crew of Sky Scavengers are simultaneously reunited and torn apart by conflicting loyalties, emotional turbulence, and a devastating attack by the Harpies, a band of teenage female warriors with self-inflicted scarring across their faces.

Across three novels, Wendig has expertly plumbed the emotional depths of his cast of characters, thrusting them into uniquely dark situations that make their hard-scrabbles lives all the more difficult and turbulent. The Harvest is no exception as, come hell or highwater, these new adults are forced to make very mature choices as they find their way in a very old world, fighting against a system that seeks only to oppress and dominate. The stakes are higher than they’ve ever been, particularly for Cael who, previously, had no ambition to change the world but to simply make his small part in it better for him and his. With adulthood thrust upon him, Cael is learning that the world is larger than he imagined, and much bigger than merely himself.

The world-building and mythology that has been developed in this series is utterly top-notch, drawing its cues from real-world food politics, comic books (I couldn’t help but sense shades of X-Men‘s Dark Phoenix Saga in one character’s progression through the story), and epic works, like Star Wars, which Wendig’s trilogy, and The Harvest in particular, have drawn multiple allusions to and several loving odes. Naturally enough, the Lord and Lady has seen fit to have Wendig author an upcoming Star Wars title, which is due out soon and will most definitely be hitting the top of my TBR stack upon release.

While I would certainly love to see Wendig return to this world in some capacity in the future, I’m quite happy with the time I was able to spend among the Sky Scavengers. I suspect my appreciation and fondness for this body of work will only grow stronger in the coming years, and I’ve grown a certain affection for this series across the three books. The Harvest is not only a solid work in its own right, filled with plenty of action and flotilla’s worth of heart and genuine emotion, but, equally important, it serves as a fitting finale to The Heartland Trilogy. There’s a sense of darkness to the proceedings here, but also a promise of hope and brightness. Fair warning, though: not everyone gets a happy ending, and not everyone walks away unscathed. But, that’s just life in the Heartland.

[Wynne McLaughlin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this trilogy. Great twists and a satisfying resolution, but hints that the series could continue, which I'd love to see. Definitely need to add Chuck Wendig to my list of favorite authors. My binge continues with the stand-alone novel "Invasive"!

[Hacen]

DNF

[Connor · Rating 3 out of 5]

[3.5 Stars] I'm having a hard time deciding what to rate this book. I really loved the first two, but this one was not as capturing. I think it has a lot of strengths, but I recognized some faults as well. So I'm going to do this similar to how I film my video reviews: Pros, Cons, Extras.

Pros: This novel continued what I loved most about the first two installments. I found it completely unpredictable. I was starting the epilogue and still had no idea what was going to be in store for me. This aspect alone makes this trilogy one that I would recommend any lover of dystopia or science fiction. The world continued to keep my attention always, and we got to learn a few things I was still curious about. The characters are all so unique that I found them all interesting to read about and to find out what would happen with them for good or for worse. There's little character security in this book, so I found myself rooting for the characters hard, hoping they wouldn't meet a nasty end. I'm satisfied with how everything wrapped up. It was the perfect amount of closing information and open ending to let the reader feel secure but also get to imagine a little for themselves. Overall, I love this trilogy, and I hope to collect physical forms of the books to read them over and over in the years to come. I'm also very excited to check out what else he has written!

Cons: For the first half of this novel or so, I felt like it was all over the place. There are so many more points of view and jumps between points of view that I found it quite jarring, and I actually put the book down for a while before picking it back up to continue. As I said for the first two books, while I find the characters interesting and hope they end up happy, I don't feel for them or get upset if something goes bad for them. I just didn't feel that connection that I love to have with the characters. These are my main two problems with this book, but they're obviously very important.

Extras: First off, I was provided an e-copy of this novel from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.In no way did this alter my perceptions of the book. This trilogy also has an LGBTQ+ character that is one of the main ones followed throughout the story, so if that sways your interest one way or another, that's fine. Lastly, I think a fair number of people class this as young adult, but I would actually suggest if for a more mature readership because it does have some sexy times and some pretty violent scenes.

[Reader-ramble · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm still sad I can't find hardly any YA dystopias this well done. They are few and far between.

Satisfying ending, if a bit sad. I totally recommend this series.

[Daisy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Quality Rating: Three Stars
Enjoyment Rating: Three Stars

◆ Thank you NetGalley for this eBook copy for review ◆

The Harvest wasn't nearly as enjoyable for me as the rest of the series and I don't feel was particularly effective in concluding the story. I'm all for things getting serious in the last book and stepping up to some of the harder realities or conflict, but The Heartland Trilogy is built on rapport and agendas - and there didn't seem to be any of either this time.

I've really enjoyed Wendig's ability to make entertain me in quite frankly some very bizarre situations (living corn; people made out of vines and leaves as tongues; genetically engineered pegasus' to name a few), but somehow it didn't quite work in this book. I have a feeling it's partly to do with the fact things got a bit more serious, but for a series that for me has honestly only really been about the sarcasm and ceaseless determination of the characters, it made the writing sort of bland.
There is also the issue that far too much was going on: the multiple storylines has worked brilliantly in past books, but this time there were too many new characters and plot lines introduced right at the beginning on top of everyone else that it was hard to keep up. I was already trying to muster some attention for a few of the current characters and having even more thrown on that didn't have that much relevance didn't help.

The main storyline for The Harvest was the relationships - and most of them romantic. It shouldn't have been. It should have been about the group finally having a victory against the Empyrean, or something other than the love triangle. This is the big problem with love triangles: they completely overwhelm everything else. And they turn the person at the center of it into a very unrealistic and unappealing character; it was okay for Cael to be conflicted at first. But it got to the point where he was playing them off of each other and just going for whoever he was more attracted to a certain point in time. It wasn't only out of character for him, but it was so unfair because he had other things going on in his plot line, but the girls didn't. Cael had other things to distract him and think about and decide, whereas Gwennie and Wanda weren't characterised to have any other priorities.
This leads me on to the female portrayals in The Harvest. Now I've always mentioned that Im not happy with how women are presented in these books, but I was aware it wasn't exactly deliberate and there were efforts to make them more fair and realistic. I can see that happening again this time, and in theory they've come a ridiculously long way. But I feel like 'actions speak louder than words' is a very appropriate phrase for this writing: though the girls are, in the grand scheme of things, stronger and more independent and more powerful and sure of themselves and complex. But when you really look at it they're still mainly concerned about their possible romances, and they're still told what to do by the boys, and are usually saved by them too.
Towards the end, The Harvest became a little melodramatic and I didn't like the twists it took. It was heading in the wrong direction for me quite early on, but I think the choices made weren't particularly practical or realistic for the situation they were in. The conclusion itself felt cut short in some places and dragged out in others (of course Cael and Wanda got three times the amount all the others got put together) - and not even with much result. Even the epilogue didn't make much sense, and there are more loose ends now than at the start of the book. [SPOILER FOR REST OF PARAGRAPH.] I mean they didn't even take the Empyrean down; there's still those genetically engineered ants that could destroy every food source available to them; Wanda's still crazy with the Blight; there still dangerous people after them that will almost certainly be determined to kill them now that they broke a whole flotilla. But then in the epilogue it's years later and all the other problems have magically disappeared and everyone lives happy ever after - oh but of course Gwennie's still jealous that she didn't get Cael. [END OF SPOILERS.]

I like the diversity of characters in The Heartland Trilogy, but without the rapport some of them feel kind of unnecessary.
Cael has been heading towards darker places since we started and he's finally got to the point where he's not so sure what right and wrong is. Now don't get me wrong, I love characters and stories that involve these moral decisions or whatever you want to call it, but Cael to me as been heading in more selfish directions. And I just don't really like it. And while I appreciate that where his characters has gone it made it much less enjoyable for me to read his parts.
Similarly, I really don't like Wanda. I've never really liked Wanda, and the ways she's gradually changed have in fact made me dislike her even more. So naturally reading her parts was also incredibly tedious.
Now Gwennie I've been growing to like more and more; in the last book she was completely awesome. She took the situation into her own hands, she wouldn't let anyone push her around, but she still had that understandable indecision in what she had to do. She really came into her own person - and really into her own story. But then suddenly all the boys are back again and all she's really given the opportunity to do is deal with her relationships with them. That would be fine - if she had other things to do as well.
We then get to the collection of characters that all started off with promise but ended up getting left behind when it came to significance in favour of the horrific love triangle. A lot of the time I've been a lot more interested in Balastair or Lane over the the protagonists, but they're only there to give the odd important bit of information or a touching monologue. Then characters like Boyland are demonised to make us like one of the protagonists, but are then written like we're supposed to feel sympathetic for them later. They were plot devices rather than characters and I think it's a real shame.

There was a problem with the pacing for me because I never felt like anything was happening. The Harvest is definitely the most 'typical' of Young Adult storylines in the series, and so I expected the common 'we're going to overthrow the government' conclusion, but there's no point where they're actually heading for that. Admittedly I was to blame for assuming that's where the story was going, but looking back I can't actually see what it was progressing towards, or any point where they seemed to have something to work for. In a book like this, where there's so many characters all the time, there needs to be something driving forward to regulate some sort of pacing.

I was really disappointed by The Harvest and it didn't tie anything up particularly satisfyingly for me, though it does compliment the rest of the series because I wanted it to be good so badly. I just feel like too much was taken on in this last instalment and wasn't able to be maintained whilst still having that trademark wit and entertainment - and as soon as that enjoyment was taken out for me it crumbled a little bit. I would completely recommend the first book books in the series, and depending on the stretch of you own imagination you could skip this last book to be perfectly honest.

[Henriette · Rating 4 out of 5]

this was a great conclusion to the series, and the ending was quite surprising. all in all a great distopian series and would recommend. the characters goes through a lot in the span of the series and i feel like they ended up in a good place even though i did not see it coming, it feels like a good way to end.

[Online Eccentric Librarian · Rating 5 out of 5]

More reviews (and no fluff) on the blog http://surrealtalvi.wordpress.com/

Interestingly enough, I wasn't impressed with the first book in the series but stuck with it through the second, which was better. But this third book was excellent - nuanced characters with huge growth arcs since the beginning, surprises, an unpredictable ending, and a lot of action. No one is safe and characters die as the battle lines are drawn between the Heartlanders and the Empyrean in this final in the series.

Story: Cael had fallen from the sky after Boyland prevented Gwennie from saving him. But the Maize Witch has plans for him and she can't let him die. It is a hard time for everyone: Wanda (who gives herself up fully to the Maize Witch/blight in order to save Cael and heal his horrific injuries), Rico (who is wandering and lost now that he has lost a leg), Lane (battling an embittered boyfriend Killian and his drug addiction), Gwennie (who stays with Boyland, her obligated, after she believes Cael dead), Pop McAvoy (fighting to save a world that he believes already took his son), Ballistair (caught up in the rebellion), and Ballistair's mother - the Maize Witch (who has plans of her own). While Lane takes over the fallen City and Cael goes on a mission to find a secret weapon for the Maize Witch, the Heartlanders will meet up and begin the fight to destroy the corn and take the Heartland back.

What I found most interesting was the subtle and nuanced cast. Wanda's huge character change through the story as she submits more to the Blight is contrasted by Gwennie and Cael's fatalism after the huge turn of events in the last book. Lane loses more and more of himself with Killian's downfall. Each character changed and was affected by everything happening around them - they all grew in some way, some for the better and some for the worse.

There were several plot twists but this was non-stop action as the Empyreans unleash a secret weapon (in the form of a martial soldier and her highly trained elite soldier orphan girls) that ends up backfiring on them. Similarly, the Heartlanders' weapon (that the Blight Witch compels Cael to find) was quite original and tied neatly and poetically into the storyline. Both weapons, Empyrean and Heartlander, take a heavy toll on their group as well as the enemy. There was some smart writing here throughout.

The book has an epilogue - some fifteen years later - which I appreciated. There may not always be happy endings but it was a pleasure to have closure on the story. Especially one as wild and climactic as this one ended up being near the end.

In all, I was riveted and greatly enjoyed The Harvest. I'm really glad I stuck with the story after the first book. Reviewed from an advance reader copy provided by the publisher.

[Katherine Karch · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is book 3 in the HEARTLAND trilogy, a story about dystopian society of "haves" benefiting from the "have nots" while simultaneously dehumanizing and oppressing them. Sound familiar? The themes of this trilogy are frighteningly familiar in the context of current events in America.

Basic plot: an oppressed class of people living in atrocious conditions, forced to labor and suffer, knowing that all their efforts and suffering will never yield results that benefit them but instead benefit an elite group that, frankly, despises them. The oppressed reach a breaking point and rise up against the elite. Predictably, the privileged elite find the idea of "sharing" unpalatable and fight back. The main characters are engaging, likable (and dislikeable), and flawed. I enjoyed all three books, but this review will focus specifically on the third book. I'll work hard to avoid spoilers.

THE HARVEST picks up the Heartland story a year after Lane, working with the Sleeping Dogs, successfully takes down the Empyrean flotilla, the Saranyu. Cael McAvoy wakes from a year long state of... hibernation, coma, incubation? Okay, that was never made clear. Frankly, I thought this was bit of a missed moment by the author. There was a certain weight placed on the "specialness" of Cael in conversations between Esther Harrington (aka The Maize Witch) and Wanda, Cael's Obligated. Cael's year-long incubation only strengthened the implication that there was something special about Cael. And yet, Cael came out of his year-long stasis pretty much unchanged. Based on the "Cael is special" conversations (of which there were a few) I kept expecting a moment in which Cael tapped into special "Blight Powers" or something to save the day, but he never did. So that was, in my opinion a bit of an accidental Red Herring. Or, another way to think of it, the author made a promise to the readers and didn't fulfill it.

What did I like about THE HARVEST?

1) Character development. I enjoyed watching Lane grow and mature and change in an authentic and believable way. He wanted leadership at the outset of his adventure but in an immature and theoretical way. When leadership landed in his lap, he didn't know what to do with it, clearly wasn't ready for it, bungled things pretty bad, but grew and matured and got things figured out. Similarly, I enjoyed watching poor Rigo grow up from a kid who just wanted a simple life into a young man who understood that there's no such thing as a simple life.

2) Bittersweet endings that felt authentic. If you're into happy endings for characters you come to love, this isn't the book for you. Not everyone makes it through alive, for one thing, and Wendig doesn't restrict himself to killing off the "redshirt" characters. And, of the characters who do survive, the future they secure for themselves isn't a glorious utopia. Not even close. They're haunted, some of them damaged (physically and psychologically) and that felt real to me.

3) Pacing. I continue to be amazed by Wendig's ability to write break-neck, action-packed pacing that is loaded with descriptions that draw me in and viscerally immerse me in the settings of every scene. He's a big fan of analogy and simile and metaphor, and okay, sometimes the writing got a little bloated with all the figurative comparisons, but still the pacing of this story just ripped along, yanking me forward to the next, the next, the next moment.

4) Voice. Jeezum Crow, these books are written with such a fantastic voice (or voices?). Within each chapter, the POV jumps from character to characters, and each jump is accompanied with a shift in voice that is compelling and distinct and very engaging. Love it.

What did I not like about THE HARVEST?

Rarely (never?) do I read a flawless book, and this one is no exception. While I feel there were more positives than negatives in this book, there were definitely some negatives for me.

1) Character arcs that weren't tied up in a way I found satisfying. Whatever happened to Merelda McAvoy? She got a lot of time on the page in book II. Her character arc deserved a much more solid wrap than it got. The same goes for Wanda, Boyland, Rigo, Arthur...

2) Unexplained Plot Elements. Or, Element, I guess. Why, I wanted to know, had the Empyrean taken to the skies in the first place? This trilogy is not so much a SciFi dystopian story as a SciFantasy dystopian story. Hard SciFi fans, be prepared to be frustrated right from the start. Sentient corn that can "smell" blood and physically move to get it creeped me the heck out (I've spent time in corn country; endless seas of corn is unsettling enough without thinking that it's aware and malevolent) but it's a scientifically laughable idea. A blight disease that turns people into half-plant, half-man hybrids with unexplained psychic abilities to communicate with other blighted individuals? Yeah, no. Gigantic, and I do mean gigantic, flying cities. Cool concept, sure, but the science of that idea is well... nonexistent. So, you've got to suspend disbelief and let go of the desire for the science to hold up. It just doesn't. But that was fine for me. I'm good with suspending scientific principles if the rest of the story is engaging and the writing is good. What I struggle more with is needing plausible social and historical context/motives in the stories I read, and that wasn't given to me. Why would people build giant cities in the sky and then ruin the earth below to stay up there? Wendig did reference a lot of climate catastrophe changes down below, but if you've got the tech, the manpower, and the resources to build giant floating cities, why didn't you apply all that directly to solving the climate-change induced problems? Dunno. Maybe that'll ring true for folks. We are a species that tends to turn tail and run from problems even when running away is more difficult that facing the problem head-on would have been. Still, I wanted an explanation and I didn't get one.

3) A Rushed Climax and Denouement. I'll be frank. Things got kind of ridiculous in the last 10% of the book, even for a SciFantasy story. There was a final confrontation, between the characters and the villain and it lasted... moments. Like, and eye-blink moment. Worse, during that eye-blink moment the villain lost all dimensionality that made them interesting. If you've read any of my reviews, you'll know that I have strong feelings about the importance of multi-faceted, three-dimensional villains with authentic motives that readers can identify with. The villain in this story started with just enough dimensionality and motive that I was intrigued and interested, but then... they became a evil caricature: they just wanted power for the sake of wanting power with no actual and believable reason for wanting that power. As a result, defeating the villain was boring and empty for me. Then, in the aftermath of defeating the stereotypical power-hungry monster, it's revealed that the "struggle" the MC's were going through was irrelevant because they had the ability to solve the problem all along and executed the solution, and I'm nearly quoting here, with a finger snap. Are you serious? Way to rob the solution of an emotional satisfaction. And then, the story cuts to an epilogue that takes place 15 years later that read like a book report summary. I would have likes to sit with the characters in the more immediate aftermath of the battle, as the proverbial dust was settling.

---

So, yeah, three star review. Not bad, not incredible. I love a good dystopian story, and this was a really good dystopian story that felt incredibly topic right now. I'm a big fan of Wendig's writing in general, and I am more than happy to recommend this book to others, but I'm not going to pretend that there weren't any disappointments for me.

[Rose · Rating 3 out of 5]

Goddammit...I waited almost a whole year for this and I wasn't blown away. It was good and it closed off all the story lines but I wanted to get lost in this world like I did with the prior two and that just didn't happen. This is one of those stories that stuck in my imagination. I would think of it every so often wondering what was going to happen. That was probably my downfall. I should have waited until all the books were written to start this series.

There isn't much sense in telling you what happens, vaguely of course, because we all know this is the one where the Heartlanders rise up and overthrow the Empyrian. They had already started that in the previous one so this is the logical course. I was really rooting for these people. I loved the characters but it felt liked they changed in this one. They seemed a bit shallower and lost some of their humanity...and in certain cases that was literally true as they became blighted. Perhaps it was because they were a bit older and a little more war-torn, as they've all been through so much at this point.

I may sound like I'm a tiny bit down on this story but that isn't the case. It was still fun and exciting to read with lots of action and a few surprises. Cael's life changed in a way I never saw coming. New characters were introduced including one absolutely batshit crazy girl from the flotilla that had been destroyed at the end of Blightborn. If you've read the first two in the series, then it's a no-brainer, you have to read this. If you've not read any of this series, this would be a good time to start. It's a young-adult, science fiction and dystopian tale about what happens when you mix genetic manipulation with a population of 'haves' and 'have-nots'. It never turns out well for the 'have-nots'.

[Mark Gardner · Rating 5 out of 5]

The epic conclusion of the Heartland Trilogy floored me like a punch from Mike Tyson in his prime. Books one and two seemed to move along steadily. In book three, Wendig must’ve pressed the button and injected nitrous oxide leaving me with a surge of speed akin to the wheelie-popping scene from Fast and Furious.

When I saw The Harvest was available via NetGalley, I immediately downloaded it and moved it to the top of the to-be-read pile. I tore through his words in less than twenty-four hours and was satisfied with the ending.

All the familiar characters are there from the first two books, and they continue to be written in a compelling manner that makes them likeable, despicable and above all real.

The adrenaline rush from the opening prologue to the epic showdown between the Heartlanders and the Empyreans was only topped by a new villain that was both scary and sympathetic. Cael made this villain in such a way that reminded me of the Batman/Joker dynamic.

The ending of The Harvest wrapped up the series, but still left a thread of more stories to come if the author so chooses. I for one would like to continue reading the aftermath of The Harvest and its epilogue.

[Mrs. Kenyon · Rating 3 out of 5]

Cael has been in a Blightborn sleep for a year. During that time the Heartland has undergone many changes. There are no more Obligations, towns are dead or dying and the survivors are being involuntarily transformed into mechanical beings. The Empyrean has one priority … to destroy the Heartland. The Heartlanders are not willing to be rolled over so easily. Cael and his friends set out to overcome the mechanicals, war machines and a group of girls who have embraced their wild nature. Can Cael overcome all these obstacles? What can they use to fight a group of people that have so many advantages?

The Harvest is the third and final book in The Heartland Trilogy. The book would have been much more enjoyable if Wendig did not continually include information about events from the first two novels. It wasn’t until I reached the last half of the book that all of this reviewing finally stopped. Once the true story was in full swing, the story progressed quickly and the ending was very satisfying. I recommend this book as a supplemental reading option, but I definitely encourage readers of the first two books to wrap this series up with the finale.

[Samie Foster · Rating 5 out of 5]

So here at the beginning of 2020, I have become absolutely addicted to the Heartland Trilogy by Chuck Wendig. The first book started off as a country version of Metropolis where people on the ground are forced to farm inedible corn for the rich living in a island in the sky. But soon expanded into a surprisingly layered scifi epic. I just couldn’t get enough of. And finally after everything that has happened so far, it’s time for the conclusion. Here is my review of the final book in the Heartland Trilogy. The Harvest by Chuck Wendig

So what is it about? It begins with Cael waking up after a year long coma in the care of the maize witch and he wakes up to changed world. After the events of the last book, the rick sky people (known as the Empyrean) retaliated. They decided not to deal with farmers and their free will. They decided to take the farmers and use their lobotomized brains as computers for robotic workers. The towns are all destroyed and people are on the run. Cael is horrified by this, but the maize witch tells him she may know a way to save the world. Says if he goes to Pegasus City, the last real community of people in the Heartland they could stand a chance to save the heartland. And of all people, its mayor is his long time friend Lane.

But it’s not that simple. His arranged marriage fiancé stayed with the witch's blight community (Blight are people infected with plants and have roots growing under their skin) and decided she loved him so much that she wanted to be like him and infected herself to be like Cael who’s is infected. Crazy I know. She’s the super needy crazy type. And she insists on coming along. Cael’s girlfriend and frenemy find out he’s alive and find him at Pegasus city. Rigo find his way there as well.

The reunion is a bit bumpy bit all of them, but they must work together to find this weapon to kill the corn, before the Empyrean destroys essentially the last of the Heartlanders.

So onto the good and bad. Let’s started with the good. This is a good ending. Most trilogies have an okay ending at best, but this didn’t. Everything continued to escalate to a grand finale that was perfect. It was so unpredictable, original, and full of so many left turns that kept the readers on their toes. There are a couple plot points in particular I hated and I was thinking to myself, “Why is the author doing this?” I mean one plot twist I’ve seen destroy so many books and movies, but the Wendig would do the impossible and twist it into something with an incredible pay off. Also it’s great to see how much these characters have grown after all the tragedy and loss. There’s a point where the book slows down a little bit and focuses on the reunion of friends. It was just great to see them all together and happy again. It’s a very nice calm before a very big storm. It’s just a perfect book for the most part. Also these characters are still teenagers trying to do their best and not very good at it. It’s even stated in the book by Lane. They mean to do the right thing, even if they don’t know what the right thing is at the moment. These teenagers are not meant to be heroes. They fumble and screw up a lot but because the world falls down to them, they have to work two, three times as hard to get the job done. And that, I find fascinating. To see how they pull this all off is just amazing. And it makes their journey in incredible.

The bad? The last hundred pages seem a bit rushed. It can be inferred from the circumstances in sky city toward the end, why the characters get to break into some places really really easy without being caught. But it’s never really explained. The reader is asked to fill in the blanks. That is odd. What else is odd, is the lack of detail this section. It felt like Wendig had to get from point A to C . A and C were well realized, but he didn’t have an idea of what point B should be. It does not hurt the story that much. It’s a minor problem compared to the greatness of the rest of the book though. Also there’s another thing many people might not like. The books has the characters go through so much, and after all that the reader will want a certain ending, especially for two certain characters. And the readers are not going to an ending they want, but they will get something very bitter sweet. Those who live get a happy ending of sorts. The repercussions of all that happened have the characters different than before wanting different things in life. Some may find that disappointing. I personally didn’t know what to think about it at first, but ended up loving it in all its imperfection because life is messy and it felt natural. But I feel many may not like it. Also another thing is, this book series again is classified as Young Adult and that is a lie. There are sex scenes, torture, gore, sex slavery to an extent, cursing including F bombs and full on body horror. A lot this is detailed too. So I ask why is this young adult? Is it because the majority of characters are in their late teens? If that’s the case shouldn’t the first half of It by Stephen King should be broken off into a YA novel as well. Or should the Friday the 13th movies be re rated to PG-13 instead R? Because it’s the same thing in this book. Point is, just know what your handing to your ten year old if you want to them to read this book. I feel many older children will be mature enough to read this. But this is just a warning that this is not Harry Potter.

Overall, this is a fantastic epic scifi tale that took me by total surprise. I only read this because Kindle versions were $.99 a book and I was just trying to save money. But it was a real treasure I did not expect. I expected okay at best, but was real fantastic read. I daresay a masterpiece in dystopian future genre. It has extremely flawed, yet fantastic characters. A great world. An amazing layered story with so many twists and turns you’ll get whiplash. There’s never a dull moment and it’s a must read. So go out and read the Heartland Trilogy. It’s worth the read.

4 smoothies out of Four

Overall Rating: An Amazing Conclusion to an Unique Dystopian Masterpiece

[Jennie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Oh joyful day! I finally finished this series!! True Story Happening Right Now: Monsanto just released a soybean seed that is pesticide resistant to 2 of the most effective herbicides on the planet. As of today, I learned that one of these pesticides is currently illegal, but farmers are using it anyway. This pesticide then drifts to other fields, killing all the crops around it.

Basically this entire trilogy is premised around a very similar thing. It really is a fascinating story about the inherent dangers of unregulated scientific progress. While it can be so good in so many ways, people who crave power will stop at nothing to keep building that power. As a result, the good is now very, very evil.

I have a hard time only giving it 3 stars, but I found the characterization to be really.... meh. Pretty much every character annoyed the crap out of me. The ending is very anti-climatic, though I suppose life can be that way most of the time. All in all, good series in regard to the story and science.

[Robert Babiak · Rating 4 out of 5]

store picked up in third book

the second book went by fast enought, but felt like filler. this one had a good finish to the story, great characters.

[Dave Butler · Rating 3 out of 5]

ehh - listened on audible and often found my attention wandering - not a good indicator for a compelling story - it was a bit too YA not enough SF - just okay

[Heather · Rating 5 out of 5]

The love connections are still an all-out tangle rather than a triangle or other simple figure. Gwennie’s going to marry Boyland–oh wait, no she isn’t. Balastair and Cleo are back together–but wait, Gwennie and Balastair have kissed. Cael and Wanda get together; Cael and Gwennie get back together. Also, as usual for this series, there are some unlikely coincidences of timing. Rigo runs into Pop in one random town; Cael runs into Gwennie in the middle of a cornfield. You just know that no matter how far apart they are, the characters will always manage to find each other again.

Finally Chuck fixed the stereotype I was so annoyed about in the first two volumes of this trilogy. Gwennie and Wanda eventually have some interactions that do not fit into the rivals for a man’s affection/can’t trust/can’t rely on pattern. It’s nice to see a relationship between females in this series that has some decent moments to it, even if it’s only for a short time.

The plot reeled me in. So far we have a mechanical corruption of the flesh coming from the Empyrean side, and a biological contamination coming from the Maize Witch’s side, and the Blight has been portrayed as the lesser of these horrors. It’s nice to see the question of what makes one better than the other get a little more complicated–after all, both should be pretty horrific. The Witch’s agenda turns out to be rather fascinating; don’t worry, I won’t give it away. I love how Chuck writes the Blight–it’s beautiful and horrifying all at the same time. That is seriously skillful.

I’m not that fond of Cael, so I’m glad the focus is spread around to plenty of the different characters. If anything I think Wanda becomes my favorite character of the trilogy in this installment. She’s creepy as hell, sure, but she has plenty of personality.

All in all this is an excellent conclusion to the trilogy.


Consider my rating a 4.5
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2018/12/r...

[Thomas Quatrale · Rating 4 out of 5]

I decided to hold off on reviewing this until I completed the Heartland trilogy, which included "Under the Empyrean Sky", "Blightborn", and "The Harvest". The reason: Some series have satisfying endings in each installment. Other series leave you asking "What happens next?". This trilogy is the latter. I found the story very interesting and frustrating at the same time. Characters are well drawn and the story is well plotted. Why frustrating? Because I'm not sure if the world of the Heartland is a post apocalyptic Earth or pure fantasy like the setting of Lord of the Rings? To me, it feels like a future Earth set in the heartland of the former United States, but I don't know if that is right. There are hints in the books of a wider world outside of the Heartland, but no details are ever provided.
So, I'm left with no idea how this interesting world came to be. That said, I still recommend the series. As of August 2021, the three volumes are just 99 cents each for Kindle.

[Emily Craven · Rating 4 out of 5]

The final installment of Wendig's trilogy is just as awesome an ending as you could wish for. Wanda has found her gumption, Cael is alive and kicks some arse, and the rest of the gang have managed to muddle their way into figuring out who they are and what they want, banding together at the last instant to get rid of the Empyrean once and for all. I love how Wendig shys away from the stereotypes and gives all the characters such complex relationships and interactions that are allowed to morph and mature and move on from past mistakes. I especially love how Gwen's story ends, a perfectly acceptable and amazing owning of who she is and her rejection of societal expectations of women. While some parts were a bit gory for me, I really loved this book and the series and highly recommend it to YA readers everywhere.

[Dee · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked this last book of the Heartland series, but not as much as the second book in the series. I think this could be because time has passed in the storyline between book 2 and book 3 and it was hard for me to envision all that happened during that period of time. Some of it was explained, but the Empyrean girl who comes to wreck havoc on the Heartlanders - it was hard for me to envision the journey she must have taken which got her to where she was when she first shows up in the book. And she turns into a major character. I found it interesting that characters we become deeply invested in die, which doesn't always happen in books of this duration (in my experience) but that plot strategy works in this book. I also see a future for more books in this world and would love to read a book about the life of Squirrel and Scooter!

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

I gave all of the books in this trilogy 4 star reviews. There are some problematic tropes in it, kill your gays and barely any POCs to name a couple. That said most of the women in the series are strong and not just in a kickass black widow kind of way. The women in this series are complicated and varied from the emotionally intelligent to just plain clever. There is one group of women, The Harpies, that don't make a ton of sense in the narrative. Had he introduced them earlier in the series and taken some time to develop the characters and their motivation then they would be more than just an enemy for the protagonists to fight. I do reccomend the series and the audiobooks but be aware of the issues if they are deal breakers for you.

[Severina · Rating 5 out of 5]

The final book in the Heartland series jumps the action ahead one year. There’s been many changes since we last saw Cael and his friends. Lane is now running the grounded flotilla and trying to get it airborne; Wanda makes some big choices in order to stay close to Cael, and Rigo is struggling at a far off outpost. Some old faces make a reappearance, and the struggle between Heartlanders and the Empyrean comes to a head.I really enjoyed this one, with a nice mix of action and character development and/or redemption. I’m not exactly happy with everyone’s fate, but when you’re turning your world on its head it’s simply not going to work out for everyone. I did especially love that a minor character got his chance to shine in the end.

[Gilda Felt · Rating 5 out of 5]

I’d barely put down the second book before starting this one, I was so into the series. And it did not disappoint. I only wish there was a fourth book in the works. There’s certainly enough of a set-up in the third book to make that possible.

The characters just kept getting stronger, as they tackle yet another obstacle. Probably because they’re beginning to mature, so the book doesn’t read so much as a YA (not that I’m all that sure as to what that means.) Cael, especially, begins to see things not so much as how they will affect him but how they will affect others.

There’s a lot of action, with good and bad outcomes. But there’s characters to fall in love with, too. And such a great ending to a terrific series.

[Wendy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not sure what about this series didn't work for me. It wasn't bad, but I didn't really connect to any of the characters. Maybe because I read them via audiobook. Or maybe because I have read some absolutely brilliant fantasy in the last year or two. (Hello, Broken Earth trilogy). The writing is solid, the premise is interesting, but it was missing something for me. Enjoyable, but not really that memorable. I will say the action sequences are incredibly well done. There are some women who are complicated, not sure how I felt about one or two of them. There is a death that truly made me angry. Certainly not a bad series, but not quite what I had hoped for.

[Michelle Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

The finale of this trilogy was like a roller coaster ride. A year has passed since the events of the second book.

The book closes off all of the storylines well. You know what happened with all of the characters (for better or worse.)

You never know who to trust because there are so many backstabbing characters. However, you understand the motivations and they are in character.

The pacing is fast and the action is riveting. We see more of the world that we did in either of the other two books.

The worldbuilding is top notch and typical Wendig (weird as hell just the way I like it)

[BRT · Rating 3 out of 5]

The final book in the Heartland Trilogy is, by far, the best of the three books. The pacing of the action is not only less frenetic, but it's well crafted to moving the plot and emotions appropriately. After the downing of one of the Empryean sky cities, the rebels and the Maize Witch continue their campaign to end the tyranny of those above. However, the groups don't have the same goal. To keep things interesting, a group of female Empryean assassins is training to take out the rebels and take over the skies.