Orphans and Outcasts

Northland Rebellion #1

by Kylie Leane

The tides are changing.
Zaprex technology is awakening.

After two sol-cycles trapped in a box with a ragtag group of sick and starving children, the golden Kattamont Denvy Maz is finally free. Now, with the help of the Messenger Hunter Titus, he is taking his adopted ‘cubs’ home to the desert land of Utillia where they’ll be safe from the impending eruption of Coltarian. But the Twizels’ yoke remains locked around his neck, robbing him of his immortality when he needs it most.

For Jarvis, infected by a Zaprex protector bot and gradually becoming a Human-machine hybrid, Utillia is unlike any place he has ever known. Mist-powered sailing ships travel on oceans of shifting sand, captained by gigantic Kattamonts, while from beneath the dunes come the lonely calls of long-abandoned Zaprex cities. And all the while, on the periphery of his optical lens, a warning signal flashes. This sector is destabilising.

They are about to cross paths with an outcast Kattamont Queen bent on vengeance and a Human scavenger with a great deal to hide.

Denvy and his cubs have forged a new family but their bond will have to shift and change as quickly as the sands of the burning-sea they are sailing upon.

Genres: Science Fiction

340 pages, Paperback

First published October 1, 2017

About the author

Kylie Leane lives in the beautiful Adelaide Hills, South Australia, with her delightful pet cat's Charcoal and Winter.

Reviews

[Claire Belberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

As always, I revelled in Kylie's imagination and delightful characters. This novel is a short excursion into another part of Livila, the world of her trilogy Chronicles of the Children. It provides an insight into some of the characters we have heard about but not previously met (or only briefly) so far in that saga. Orphans and Outcasts is a peripheral view of the land and the many events building up to a devastating crescendo not yet reached in either of the series. I say it's peripheral, but that's really only because I started with the earlier, larger work. In terms of what is happening in the big picture of Livila, this story is just as significant. Now I'm waiting eagerly for the next instalment of Northland Rebellion and Chronicles of the Children!

[K.E. Fraser · Rating 5 out of 5]

This lady can destroy worlds just as deftly as she creates them.

It has been some time since I read Leane's other two books, which dovetail into this sub-series rather than feeding directly into it. Despite that, I didn't struggle with orienting the characters at all, and I think you could read it as a stand alone from that perspective.
I think having read the current books in The Chronicles of the Children did help with background knowledge of the world of Livila, but there wasn't much that I had to call upon.

I thoroughly enjoyed this first installment featuring the band of misfits and look forward to more books soon.