YA Teen (I think). Journey/ quest across a sandy plain with element of danger. Read 2009-2010.

[Nikita]

Ive been searching for this book for a few years now, first read it when I was 11/12 in 2009/2010 and was in the school library
From memory it was maybe an advanced read so maybe aimed at 14-16 year olds.

I think it was part of a series but one book stands out in memory.

I remember a journey of some sort, possibly a quest, across a sandy plain possibly a desert. I think the main character was looking for something or delivering something. I have a vague memory of factions or fighting being there, with a looming sense of danger for the protagonist. I want to find this book as the setting was very rich and powerful, but I have such a bad memory.

I feel there may have been some sort of magical element to it but cannot say for sure. The image of a sword and shield is in my head, along with a 4 or 5 word title? But again, I could be wrong.

Sorry thats not much to go off but hopefully by some miracle someone has read this as a teen.

[Nikita]

Looking at their description they fit exactly what I've explained but unfortunately not them :( Great suggestions though!

[Alan]

The Makers by Victor Kelleher has main characters going across a sandy / rocky plain.

Do you have any idea what the setting of your book might be? Historical (crusades / medieval), magical, apocalyptic, SF?

[Nikita]

I don't think it's that either but seems along the right lines of like tribes etc. It seemed like it was fantasy, like the main character had to go on a quest and the open plains really stuck in my mind. I'm hoping I haven't just imagined it as a story in my head 😂 I've been trying to find it for a few years now but that's the most info I have to go off.

[Ayesha]

Probably not what you're looking for, but one of the books in the Inheritance Cycle by Christopher Paolini had a scene where they travel across plains...I believe it was Eragon (first book)
Other than that one of the Ranger's Apprentice books also had a scene like this..even though there wasn't much fighting and this is another long shot.
Erak's Ransom, I think.

[Sammy]

One of the books in The Song of the Lioness series is mostly in the desert. It's called The Woman Who Rides Like a Man. The main character is Alanna.

[Rose]

Sounds also a bit like the opening of Stephen King's the Dark Tower cycle:

"The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.

The desert was the apotheosis of all deserts, huge, standing to the sky for what looked like eternity in all directions. It was white and blinding and waterless and without feature save for the faint, cloudy haze of the mountains which sketched themselves on the horizon and the devil-grass which brought sweet dreams, nightmares, death. An occasional tombstone sign pointed the way, for once the drifted track that cut its way through the thick crust of alkali had been a highway. Coaches and buckas had followed it. The world had moved on since then. The world had emptied."

[Ruth]

It's a long time since I read them myself, but The Wind Singer and/or the others in the series has the characters travelling across a desert.

[slauderdale]

Do you remember or have any associations with the main character/protagonist? Male, female, young, old, cultural and/or racial affinities?

Likewise, any relationship dynamics or sense of additional cast members or antagonists? Creatures encountered?

Also, possibly, was the person riding (and what?) or going on foot?