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Jubal Van Zandt #5
Wasteside
Cannibalistic witchdoctors, undead cyborgs, and giants who live forever.
While Carina faces off with an army of Tects, the search for a cure takes Jubal Van Zandt and the candy knight halfway around the Revived Earth to Wasteside, a dead continent of black sand, flowing lava, and tribes of nomadic man-eaters. Jubal’s looking to learn the secret of the Forever People, but are the ingredients for immortality beyond the reach of the greatest thief in history?
While Carina faces off with an army of Tects, the search for a cure takes Jubal Van Zandt and the candy knight halfway around the Revived Earth to Wasteside, a dead continent of black sand, flowing lava, and tribes of nomadic man-eaters. Jubal’s looking to learn the secret of the Forever People, but are the ingredients for immortality beyond the reach of the greatest thief in history?
- GenresFantasy
231 pages, Kindle Edition
Published October 2, 2018
3 people are currently reading
8 people want to read
About the author
Eden Hudson
52 books315 followersI am being forced against my will by Goodreads to have a capital E at the beginning of my name, even though the correct spelling is "eden." So there's that.
But also . . .
I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn't have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, "Yes, I'll take those," and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.
But I'm also a tattoo addict, coffee junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. Jesus actually is my homeboy.
But also . . .
I am invincible. I am a mutant. I have 3 hearts and was born with no eyes. I had eyes implanted later. I didn't have hands, either, just stumps. When my eyes were implanted they asked if I would like hands as well and I said, "Yes, I'll take those," and pointed with my stump. But sometimes I'm a hellbender peeking out from under a rock. When it rains, I live in a music box.
But I'm also a tattoo addict, coffee junkie, drummer, and aspiring skateboarder. Jesus actually is my homeboy.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
June 18, 2019
Jubal is back on my good side, lol!
Wasteside by Eden Hudson is book five in the series and Jubal final made it to the wasteland to find the cure for his disease but then he has to decide on performing the ritual! Very intense! Plus Carine is in the jungle looking for Nick! Lots of action and emo in this book!
Wasteside by Eden Hudson is book five in the series and Jubal final made it to the wasteland to find the cure for his disease but then he has to decide on performing the ritual! Very intense! Plus Carine is in the jungle looking for Nick! Lots of action and emo in this book!
October 2, 2018
Watch out boy, she'll chew you up.
The Jubal Van Zandt series didn't seem like it could get darker after the first book, but thinking about it now, it has done so with gusto. Over and over. Maybe there's a ray of light in the fifth volume in the series, Wasteside. Maybe. If so, it probably just means we're about to get literarily choke-slammed in the series finale.
When the JVZ series first launched way back in late 2016, Jubal was introduced to us a "narcissistic sociopath." I think the baggage related to these terms kind of clouded my opinion of him at first. I really liked the books immediately, found them sharp and hilarious and ridiculously entertaining, but I didn't know what to make of Jubal. I think I was so hung up on the idea of him as a "sociopath" that I couldn't wrap my head around what the author was trying to say about him.
Those terms -- narcissist and sociopath -- are probably accurate descriptions of Jubal, but the character is much more than those things. (I suppose any individual would be.) Tonally the author doesn't treat him like a Hannibal or Dexter or some calm yet sinister Other to be feared or hated or distanced in any way from the reader's self. He is a person. A complicated, sometimes despicable, and almost always hilarious person. A person with an interior world, a person we can relate to and feel empathy for, a person we can identify with. And he's a person I have grown to care about and worry over.
I think this fully clicked with me starting with the second book, Beautiful Corpse, and my strong like for the series turned into a love. It's absolutely one of my favorites series of all time.
The fifth book only strengthened both my affection for the series as well as that worry. In Wasteside, Jubal's quest for a way to beat the plague continues. He travels to another exotic locale -- the black sands of Wastside. There he meets a tribe of man-eating man-eaters and attempts to pull off another of his schemes. In the end, he faces his most gut wrenching decision along the journey so far.
Then there's Carina's journey to find Nick. The bloodslinger faces off with a witch and her army of undead cyborgs. Despite their being apart, the parallels between Jubal and Carina have never been clearer or more striking than they are in Wasteside, and they rarely seem to stray from each other's thoughts. I find the things that they have in common charming and sort of disturbing at the same time.
So now there's one book left, and I literally feel from sick worrying about Jubal and Carina, worrying about how this series will end. Part of me wants a happy ending of some kind for Jubal, but another part of me can't imagine how that could happen or how he could deserve it.
Internal conflict! Torment! When is the next one coming out already?
The Jubal Van Zandt series didn't seem like it could get darker after the first book, but thinking about it now, it has done so with gusto. Over and over. Maybe there's a ray of light in the fifth volume in the series, Wasteside. Maybe. If so, it probably just means we're about to get literarily choke-slammed in the series finale.
When the JVZ series first launched way back in late 2016, Jubal was introduced to us a "narcissistic sociopath." I think the baggage related to these terms kind of clouded my opinion of him at first. I really liked the books immediately, found them sharp and hilarious and ridiculously entertaining, but I didn't know what to make of Jubal. I think I was so hung up on the idea of him as a "sociopath" that I couldn't wrap my head around what the author was trying to say about him.
Those terms -- narcissist and sociopath -- are probably accurate descriptions of Jubal, but the character is much more than those things. (I suppose any individual would be.) Tonally the author doesn't treat him like a Hannibal or Dexter or some calm yet sinister Other to be feared or hated or distanced in any way from the reader's self. He is a person. A complicated, sometimes despicable, and almost always hilarious person. A person with an interior world, a person we can relate to and feel empathy for, a person we can identify with. And he's a person I have grown to care about and worry over.
I think this fully clicked with me starting with the second book, Beautiful Corpse, and my strong like for the series turned into a love. It's absolutely one of my favorites series of all time.
The fifth book only strengthened both my affection for the series as well as that worry. In Wasteside, Jubal's quest for a way to beat the plague continues. He travels to another exotic locale -- the black sands of Wastside. There he meets a tribe of man-eating man-eaters and attempts to pull off another of his schemes. In the end, he faces his most gut wrenching decision along the journey so far.
Then there's Carina's journey to find Nick. The bloodslinger faces off with a witch and her army of undead cyborgs. Despite their being apart, the parallels between Jubal and Carina have never been clearer or more striking than they are in Wasteside, and they rarely seem to stray from each other's thoughts. I find the things that they have in common charming and sort of disturbing at the same time.
So now there's one book left, and I literally feel from sick worrying about Jubal and Carina, worrying about how this series will end. Part of me wants a happy ending of some kind for Jubal, but another part of me can't imagine how that could happen or how he could deserve it.
Internal conflict! Torment! When is the next one coming out already?
October 3, 2018
My fave book of the series
Wasteside is the 5th book in the Jubal Van Zandt series and it’s my favorite. Besides loving the author’s descriptive landscape of the Wasteside and all the gruesome creatures that exist in it, we get to meet a new vulnerable side of Jubal that comes towards the end of the book and I’m not exaggerating when I say, albeit cliched, it’s eye opening and jaw dropping. Other than that heavy proclamation, lol, we find Jubal is still narcissistic in every way including his trademark finger gun and he still has his protective kigao hovering in the background. Jubal moves closer to his mortality and desperately races against time to find a cure to the deadly plague that’s turning him into a beautiful jewel encrusted corpse. In place of Carina he finds a second rate replacement who shall remain nameless in this review because no one can replace the Bloodslinger!
As for Carina the Bloodslinger, she turns her back on the Guild, and against their wishes heads out on a separate search to find Nick her fiancé, who’s held under the spell of a witch that’s holding his soul captive. On her quest to find his soul she seeks the aid of and reunites with a favorite character of mine, Het, who immediately steals my heart. The banter between Het and Carina brought out Carina’s soft and tender side that offered me a respite in an otherwise action filled read.
Although Carina and Jubal are on separate journeys, cerebrally they fend off their affection for one another as their thoughts often cross paths. The romantic in me impatiently wants Jubal and Carina to reunite but I also find myself in a quandary as my sympathy for Nick grows. WTF. Now that I did not see coming. Way to get blindsided. In fact, I’d say the last quarter of the book was a series of being hit with the unexpected. The ending which is not really an ending but more of a “nail biting until we meet again in the next book” had my head spinning. It’s a non stop chain of events that had me OMGing over and over. As I reached the last page I screamed whaaaat? I kept turning the page and then going back to the previous page. As I did that a few times I had to grin, more of a sneer, as I growled: Eden Hudson, you did it to me again. I’ll just have to do it right back, 5 stars!
Wasteside is the 5th book in the Jubal Van Zandt series and it’s my favorite. Besides loving the author’s descriptive landscape of the Wasteside and all the gruesome creatures that exist in it, we get to meet a new vulnerable side of Jubal that comes towards the end of the book and I’m not exaggerating when I say, albeit cliched, it’s eye opening and jaw dropping. Other than that heavy proclamation, lol, we find Jubal is still narcissistic in every way including his trademark finger gun and he still has his protective kigao hovering in the background. Jubal moves closer to his mortality and desperately races against time to find a cure to the deadly plague that’s turning him into a beautiful jewel encrusted corpse. In place of Carina he finds a second rate replacement who shall remain nameless in this review because no one can replace the Bloodslinger!
As for Carina the Bloodslinger, she turns her back on the Guild, and against their wishes heads out on a separate search to find Nick her fiancé, who’s held under the spell of a witch that’s holding his soul captive. On her quest to find his soul she seeks the aid of and reunites with a favorite character of mine, Het, who immediately steals my heart. The banter between Het and Carina brought out Carina’s soft and tender side that offered me a respite in an otherwise action filled read.
Although Carina and Jubal are on separate journeys, cerebrally they fend off their affection for one another as their thoughts often cross paths. The romantic in me impatiently wants Jubal and Carina to reunite but I also find myself in a quandary as my sympathy for Nick grows. WTF. Now that I did not see coming. Way to get blindsided. In fact, I’d say the last quarter of the book was a series of being hit with the unexpected. The ending which is not really an ending but more of a “nail biting until we meet again in the next book” had my head spinning. It’s a non stop chain of events that had me OMGing over and over. As I reached the last page I screamed whaaaat? I kept turning the page and then going back to the previous page. As I did that a few times I had to grin, more of a sneer, as I growled: Eden Hudson, you did it to me again. I’ll just have to do it right back, 5 stars!
September 28, 2018
I read Wasteside in an evening when I probably should have gone to sleep because I was excited to find out what was next. Wasteside continues the buddy story between Jubal and Carina where it left off, which is to say they aren't in the same zip code both physically and mentally, but they're never far from each other's minds. If you've read the previous ones, this is a bit silly, of course--just go buy it already, we know you're going to.
The series continues to hit the right points on new places, new characters, big fights and emotional explosions. I guess you could pick it up here, but since this is a kind of meta-examination of 4 approaches to being superhuman (sadism, self-interest, solipsism, and selflessness) you really need to start from book 1, revenge of the Bloodslinger, when it's just a love/hate-but-love story between a decorated knight and a thief.
For those who've read book 1, heck yeah! It's a rollicking adventurous ride to the bright side of the planet, full of cannibals, mutants, and mechanical spiders! Plus you get to revisit some of the old places and characters we've loved along the way. Carina's house is still a fire hazard. Jubal's family is still complicated. It's probably the most fully fleshed of the van Zandt (or Xiao) books so far, while the Soul Jar was perhaps the most raw emotionally. The author continues to push the limits of how close and how honest you can get with a character, which is a delight. If you're here, you're wasting time, go read it and let me know what you thought. Let's book club it or something.
The series continues to hit the right points on new places, new characters, big fights and emotional explosions. I guess you could pick it up here, but since this is a kind of meta-examination of 4 approaches to being superhuman (sadism, self-interest, solipsism, and selflessness) you really need to start from book 1, revenge of the Bloodslinger, when it's just a love/hate-but-love story between a decorated knight and a thief.
For those who've read book 1, heck yeah! It's a rollicking adventurous ride to the bright side of the planet, full of cannibals, mutants, and mechanical spiders! Plus you get to revisit some of the old places and characters we've loved along the way. Carina's house is still a fire hazard. Jubal's family is still complicated. It's probably the most fully fleshed of the van Zandt (or Xiao) books so far, while the Soul Jar was perhaps the most raw emotionally. The author continues to push the limits of how close and how honest you can get with a character, which is a delight. If you're here, you're wasting time, go read it and let me know what you thought. Let's book club it or something.
February 15, 2019
I don't think I have been so addicted to a series as much as this since Harry Potter. I just finished book 5 and I'm heartbroken that I now how to wait for the final book. Ugh, I need more. Im not ready for this amazing world to end. Carina and Jubal still have so much romantic tension to work through. I need more back story. I need five-star penthouses and ventilator masks. And is the Shag ok? We haven't check on it in awhile. No book 6 isn't the end I need at least 12 more books until all be satisfied. Eden Hudson is was a pleasure to be introduced to your work. Your book was the best thing I have purchased at Dragon-con.
December 17, 2019
Brilliant!
It was brilliant as always - brutal, gory, vicious and totally unapologetically entertaining and funny. Action non-stop, betrayals, conniving and as always our beautiful and self-adoring thief, Jubal, coming out on top. I can’t wait for the next installment. Brilliant work!
It was brilliant as always - brutal, gory, vicious and totally unapologetically entertaining and funny. Action non-stop, betrayals, conniving and as always our beautiful and self-adoring thief, Jubal, coming out on top. I can’t wait for the next installment. Brilliant work!
October 26, 2018
Wonderful
Another their amazing story from one of my favorite authors. The storyline is awesome, twisted and a little sick, but still entertaining. I think I will have nightmares about JvZ's mom. All I can say is wow, that's a plot twist. I can't wait to see how it ends.
Another their amazing story from one of my favorite authors. The storyline is awesome, twisted and a little sick, but still entertaining. I think I will have nightmares about JvZ's mom. All I can say is wow, that's a plot twist. I can't wait to see how it ends.
October 24, 2018
I love these books, I'm enthralled by the characters and have no idea who I want to come out on top
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 16, 2019
this one had quite a few twists in it again the betrayals were epic and the snark was there as well, i do hop the next few are not too long in coming out
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews