The water ruins everything. It kills on contact, covers all but the smallest islands, and reduces humans to practically begging for food. Well, not quite begging: enslaved Sundered Ones make food on command, conjuring it out of thin air. It's a shame obedience kills them. It's also a shame humans have no other choice.
Harry searches for artifacts left over from the time before the water came. When he's given the chance to find a mysterious device that might fix everything, he jumps at it - but this Hope isn't what it seems. In his broken, flooded world, every hope has a price.
Excerpt
The world I know is flooded.
The water’s black. You don’t go in the water. You don’t touch it. If you do, it will get you, drag you down, and you’re gone. You’re only safe from the black water in boats or on land, at least if you’re a human. The Sundered can do anything they want in the water. Who knows why?
I believe the world wasn’t always this way — that once there was land that stretched forever and water that held no danger — but that doesn’t set me apart. What sets me apart, makes me different, is I believe it can go back to that.
“Hey, Harry!” Toddy, one of my younger Travelers, points at something. He straddles the black water, each boot on a different tuft, standing with the easy balance we all must learn or else we die. “There’s something over there!”
I hate the tufts – knobs of land sticking out of the water, covered with limp grass like dirty hair. If there are a lot of them, we have to carry the boats. “Coming! Hold on!” Balancing my skiff on my back, I hop toward him, nodding at my Travelers who move to other tufts so there’s room for me to leap past.
I don’t really give a damn what Toddy wants. Whatever he has to show me, it’s not the Hope, the reason I’m out here in this screwed-up place. But I’m young. I can fake interest.
The last space between us is water. I put the skiff in, untie the paddles, and skim toward him.
“There are eyes,” Tod says, crouching now as I float near. “Over there, in the water. It’s a Sundered One, I’m sure of it.”
Sundered? Here? “That’s weird. We’re not near any cities or catching grounds.”
“Think he’s unclaimed? He must be!” Tod whispers excitedly. “Can I claim him? If he’s unattached, I mean? Can I?”
“No.” Damn, I said it too sharply – there’s hurt in his eyes. “No,” I say again, more gently. “We don’t know what tier he is. What if he pulls a reversal on you?” I give myself points for not mentioning he flunked out of Sundered training.
Toddy nods, trying to be grown-up about this, but I’ve hurt him.
Later. I’ll fix it later. Now, I skim where he pointed.
I see more tufts. I see black water, still and dark as far as the horizon in all directions, swallowing my world. I see – there it is. Round eyes bulge out of water, over a hint of skin that looks freakishly orange.
This thing isn’t even close to high-tier. I just feel it, the way I’d know what kind of pie it was by putting it in my mouth. The Sundered One realizes I’m staring at it seconds too late, and ducks under as if it thinks it can hide.
Why is it out here? Sundered only run wild in the southern tip of the world. I can feel it’s unclaimed – that slick-slime mind, ugly and incomplete, parts of its psyche frozen and alive but not really functional, not really there. It’s so low-tier there’s no point categorizing it. Toddy might be able to handle it, but I already said no, and to go back on my word is to regress as a leader.
It’s free and unclaimed, and Sundered are worth money, so that means it’s mine.
I half-close my eyes, focus my will, and tighten my grip around that worn mind.
It reacts to me and tries to run away, but this one has been claimed before. It – his – mental spaces almost fit me, edges dulled, and it’s no effort at all to hold him tight. Into that mind, into those ruined Sundered thoughts, I plunge – and then I pull.
Pull with will and thought and purpose, like lifting a weakly struggling thing out of thick, sucking mud. The mind suddenly comes free as easily as lifting my own head, and I know he’s mine.
That was too easy. He won’t be worth much. “Come up and let me see you.”
He hears the words. Sundered have different ears than we do. Any vibrations seem to get through. He obeys and clambers onto the tufts.
He looks like a frog. An orange frog-man, with bumps all over, with a wide, flat mouth and big googly eyes too far apart for a man’s but not wide enough for an animal’s. His spine curves so much he almost seems meant to go on all fours.
Really low-tier.
Toddy gasps, my Travelers paddle closer to see, but I don’t look at them right now. I’m fitting my brain to this little guy’s. “Ugly, aren’t you?”
He sort of ducks twice, acknowledging what I said with a humility so low it’s self-hate, and I realize he’s got suction-cups on each fingertip and webs between his fingers. Wow. Really low-tier, then.
“What’s your name, Sundered One?”
“Gorish,” he says.
Toddy tells the others how he spotted this one, so it’s sort of his even though it’s not. I want to find that endearing. I want to. I can’t. I’ve been out here too long. “Hello, Gorish. You know you’re mine now, right?”
“Oh, yes, master,” he says, doing that ducking thing again and again and again.
An unclaimed Sundered in the middle of nowhere. This is really weird.
My mind goes in all the usual directions. Why is he here? Could this have something to do with the Hope? Am I missing some important clue because I’m messing around with him instead of watching?
Maybe there’s no Hope involved, and he just pulled a reversal on his former owner and got away.
Yeah, right. Not this little guy. He couldn’t fight his way out of a wash bucket. Maybe his owner died. That would explain his condition.
I can’t question him now, anyway. If I do it wrong, if I sound stupid in the eyes of my Travelers, I could lose them. “I need a place to make landfall, Gorish. You know anywhere around here like that?”
“Oooh, yes, master!” the orange guy says, and he starts to caper. He dives in and out of the water, back up onto the tufts, showing off, or – no, he’s just playing because it’s something he knows how to do.
This guy’s head is shattered. Whoever claimed him last was rougher on his mind than I am. “Lead the way, Gorish. It’s getting dark, and we have to set up camp by then.”
So Gorish does.
I say nothing as we paddle, my single-person skiff cutting through the black water. This wasn’t the direction I was going. Gorish is leading us completely away from the tufts, further west than I’d planned.
I see some land, tiny islands, nothing but bald mounds of mud. What we need is a simple matter of size: what can handle eight people and all their gear, their tents, and a fire, but has a slope gentle enough that nobody rolls into the water in the middle of the night and vanishes forever?
Like all Sundered Ones, Gorish just knows where proper landfall is.
This one is almost flat, a mass of mess rising from the water. I whirl my hook-and-rope over my head and send it hard into the mud, anchoring myself so I can pull my boat to shore. My boots make sucking noses. This is one messy landfall.
Nobody cares.
Messy is worth solid land, worth the relief of space between us and the water. Tents and voices rise, and our boats line the shore like silent guardians.
We’ll rest well tonight. We’re going to need it.
Professional Reviews
Review: The Sundered by Ruthanne Reid
Wow. Just ... wow.
I can't remember the last time when a book grabbed me from the very start and wouldn't let go. What's really interesting about that little fact is that I can't really explain what it was that made the story so incredibly appealing.
That sounds like a negative, but it isn't. The author did her job with great skill and was completely unobtrusive. We're plopped down in Harry Iskinder's world with little knowledge of ... anything, really. Yet I never felt lost or frustrated by my lack of knowledge.
This is truly a one-man story, where the secondary characters are a bit fuzzy and out of focus. We see them, know who they are, but really it's all about Harry. Well, and his "first tier" (I feel as though I must add: "He has a name.") Sundered.
To summarize this book would be both difficult and laden with spoilers. But let me say that not one word was wasted, every single page was worthwhile and I'm planning on reading it all over again to see if I missed anything tasty because after a while I was just desperate to know how it was going to end I'm sure I must have skimmed it, at least a little. I loved Harry. I loved his Sundered (both of them). I wanted a happy ending, but was absolutely certain there couldn't be one. The author instead gave me the right ending; an ending that was surprising, ironic and while, not exactly "happy", wasn't sad either -- and I'm a HUGE happy ever after kinda gal. If it satisfied me, it will satisfy anyone.
When I finished the book, I was asked by a relative, "What was it about?" to which I answered, "I can't tell you... not won't, but truly can't." Because, while the book felt simple and basic it was deceptively complex and defies every try I make at explaining its plot.
I will say this: It was good. Amazingly, incredibly, surprisingly good. And if this is a sample of Ruthanne Reid's talent, then I hope she continues on releasing books. I'll be first in line to pick them up, no matter what the blurb or genre. She's gained herself a fan.
If I could, I'd give this a ten ... but since the top of our scale is five, that's what I'll assign it. With bells on.
5/5 flowers
BOOK SNOB – THE SUNDERED BY RUTHANNE REID
The Sundered is a surprisingly engaging and complex novel. From the first paragraph you are pulled into a world where Nothing is quite the way it should be. Friends aren’t loyal, the water is trying to kill you, and the people, well, the humans are pretty recognizable but the Sundered Ones… they’re something you’ll never imagine.
Completely original the story line of The Sundered is captivating and engaging. While the book itself was the perfect length for the story I couldn’t help but want ,ore and more and more. Completely mesmerizing Reid captures the inner life of the male Mai. Character perfectly. Even his inconsistencies make sense from within his mind
The truly miraculous thing about The Sundered is the manner with which Reid deals with issues of class and the ethics of owning another living creature. Between the Sundered characters of Gorish who is more like a pet than man, and Aakesh who presents as something like a fallen God, we are given the ability to see the innocence with which the humans accept their subjugation of the Sundered. It’s been taught to them in schools and as a necessary part of the human Eco system.
The humans are able to somehow take control of the Sundered’s minds and mentally leash them and their abilities. This is explained but I don’t want to give it away. The Sundered are broken, their minds their souls, their culture, and the humans see nothing wrong with their enslavement. But as Harry, the main character, proceeds on a quest for The Hope for Humanity to try and heal the dying world he lives in he learns more about the Sundered, humans and humanity than he ever expected.
A fantastic, fast, and thought provoking book The Sundered is highly recommended.
The Sundered by Ruthanne Reid--Review
My thoughts on The Sundered:
I wasn't sure what to expect when I decided to join the tour for this book. Before I read the synopsis, I had visions of a horror strewn blood bath. That was before I looked up the meaning of sundered. (sunder--to separate; part; divide; sever) As I began reading, the name made sense. The Sundered Ones in the story are separate from the humans in physical appearance and in power. And as the author stated in her guest post, Harry doesn't really know what their powers are...no human really does. And not knowing what you're truly dealing with is dangerous.
It would be difficult to go into too much detail about the story because that would give far too much away so I'm going to focus on what I did like. I enjoyed the easy, laid back flow of the characters and their dialogue. There was no stiffness that I have found in other SciFi books I've read. Harry is a riot with his internal monologue. I love when he calls the professor at the Academy a douche (in his head). That's not the only funny thing he says or thinks. Harry is just a riot. His interaction with the Sundered One he claims, Aakesh, is priceless.
Which brings me to the claiming of the Sundered Ones. It seems the humans can "claim" them. To me, it almost seems like slavery. It was never more evident than when Harry is reciting a rhyme they learned to keep track of the tiers of Sundered Ones. It goes like this:
Fifth-tier's strong and lifts big blocks,
not too bright but strong as ox.
Fourth-tier's fine with clever fingers,
painting, sculptures, make good singers.
Third-tier's quiet, good for play,
safe for children every day.
Second-tier's wild, feral, free,
eats everyone, but works for me.
Claim the rest with little work,
but they die soon, so best not shirk.
Aakesh's reaction to this is to say to Harry, "You do not see how degrading it is?" It's obvious that the Sundered Ones do have negative feelings about their place in society, if you can call it that. There really isn't much society in this book because the world has become so surrounded by the black water. Land is few and far between and the cites are brown and dirty. The dystopian elements kept reminding me of that Kevin Costner movie that everyone hated, "Waterworld" (I actually liked it). But it is excellent world building. I could really see in my mind's eye what the author was describing. The black water reminded me of that bog area in Lord of the Rings, I can't remember if it was in The Two Towers or The Return of the King. You know the one with all the dead people in it and it tries to drag Frodo down into it. Creepy.
I am really impressed that this is Reid's first novel. She really knows how to tell a story. I recommend The Sundered to anyone who enjoys the speculative fiction genre.
Heaven sent us an angel. She could be your neighbor. Her friends call her Megan, but when her eyes are glowing, everyone calls her Ember Reign.
Megan Martin was an average teenager. She felt cheated when her grandfather died and grandmother
