Demon in the Whitelands
By Nikki Richard
Publication Date: September 24, 2019
Publisher: Month9Books
Sixteen-year-old Samuel, son of a devout cleric, has endured shame and prejudice his entire life. Though he is destined to follow in his father’s footsteps, he longs for an ordinary life in the whitelands away from talk of demons and holy roots.
When the mayor claims to have captured a mute demon-girl, Samuel is forced to become her caretaker. But as Samuel gets to know the prisoner, he finds her not to be very demonlike. Instead, she is intelligent, meek, and an exceptional artist. Despite her seeming goodness, some more concerning things cannot be ignored. Samuel is hard-pressed to reconcile her uncanny strength and speed, one missing arm, ambiguous gender, and the mysterious scars covering most of her body.
Samuel forms a deep attachment to the girl with predator eyes and violent outbursts, against his father’s advice. As their friendship threatens to become something more, Samuel discovers the mayor’s dark intentions. Now, he must decide whether to risk his own execution by setting her free, or watch as the girl is used as a pawn in a dangerous game of oppression, fear, and murder.
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My Review
Richard’s Demon in the Whitelands is a post-apocalyptic tale following young Samuel, a pretty ordinary teen, all things considering. Sam lives a pretty harsh life. He’s no stranger to predjudice and closed thinking. He’s been dealing with the scorn of others most of his life. You see, he’s the bastard son of someone who really shouldn’t have fathered a child.
Sam’s made, and continued to make, some pretty poor life choices. Corralled and coerced to take care of a ‘demon girl’, Sam ends up talking to her and learns there is much more to Zei than he realises. Now he has a choice to make…
I enjoyed the writing of this story. I’m a sucker for dystopic fiction, so this was right up my alley. I really liked Sam. I can grok growing up feeling ashamed and unworthy. He’s also just your average teen criminal. There’s no magic here, no ‘chosen-one’ trope. Just real people struggling to survive. Recommended for those who enjoy dystopic fiction.
Nikki Richard is a sensitive queer writer with moods and coping mechanisms. An MFA graduate from the University of Baltimore, she lives in the city with her hot wife, amazing daughter, and fluffy cat.
This sounds great. It’s nice to hear about a magic-less dystopia! Glad you enjoyed this! 😀