~Extremely satisfying

Outriders, by Katherine Mackel, plays out on a future Earth—one ravaged by nuclear and chemical warfare. Deep under the polar ice, an ark holds God's people safe, while on the surface of the Earth, evil warlords battle for control of the land. The warlords fight each other using transmogrified animals and plants as weapons.

The people from the Ark also have sent people to the surface. These people--outriders--spend their time collecting plants and animals in an effort to save what is left of God's original creation. They also fight with the warlords, trying to help villagers who have no means of protecting themselves.

In the opening pages we meet Niki, a brave young woman outrider, who has gone to collect some new arrivals from the Ark. The new recruits are burped onto the ice by a great whale, much as the fish once vomited Jonah onto the shore. Just sixteen years old, the new outriders--scared but with a determined idealism--stand in contrast to Niki, who is twenty-two and has grown somewhat cynical during her six-year, evil-fighting stint.

I had a bit of trouble getting into the story. The world was strange, the slang terms Ms. Mackel created were unfamiliar, and I didn't find Niki particularly loveable. The premise was interesting enough to keep me at it, though, and I'm glad it was because within about three chapters I was hooked.

The characters hooked me, I think. I loved the outriders--brave, and honest--battling against the monstrous Baron Alrod. Brady is especially wise and wonderful--it's easy to see why Niki is smitten. The gargants had my sympathy from the beginning and Alrod, my disdain. What I especially loved about these characters is that I grew to know them better as I moved through the book, but they remained consistent to the way Ms. Mackel first introduced them. In other words, I ended up loving Niki, not because she was inconsistent, or her personality changed, but because I gained understanding of her heart and motives as the story went on. This is how it has to be for complex characters, I think.

Two of my favorites--Timothy and Dawnray--are minor characters. Even though they weren't on stage for long, their connection to one another, the danger they faced, and the righteousness of Dawnray's cause, grabbed me and had me rooting for them.

Mackel's story world also hooked me. The world is not terribly complex but it is consistent and there is enough detail to understand the ramifications of the warring lifestyles. The contrast between the outrider camp and the stronghold of Traxx is well done.

I liked, too, that the story felt deep. It's the kind of story you can read a second and third time, getting something new from each pass. There are layers to the character's motivations, there are spiritual lessons in the gifts they have, and the battles they face.

On the negative side--several of Niki's action scenes jolted me unnecessarily. I was reading fast, as one does in action scenes, wanting to hurry through the danger and reach the safety on the other side, but things that were missing slowed me down. I had to read parts over, trying to understand what had happened. Sometimes even a second or third reading didn't clarify matters. In the end, none of these minor glitches mattered. At the time, though, these bumps interrupted the story and detracted from an otherwise pleasurable read.

I like the ending of the book. Things are resolved and at the same time, danger is lurking for my heroes and I'm going to have to read the next book to find out if they all live happily ever after. If the next book had been published already, I'd have moved right on to it. My overall feeling for Outriders is one of extreme satisfaction.

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Copyright © 2005 Sally Apokedak