The Sunshield Bandit begins this Young Adult fantasy with a good old-fashioned raid on a stagecoach taking the red rock desert road through Ferrino. Lark, the bandit leader known for using the blinding sun as a weapon, turns out to be seeking slaves to rescue, as well as supplies for her motley band of youngsters. SUNSHIELD starts with Lark doing her utmost not to kill or harm anyone, but the story is going to become more desperate, and everyone finds their principles give way by the last chapter.
In the forests of Moquoia a glass palace has been built, from panes made by bond-labourers and slaves. Lark used to be one such slave before she freed herself. Now a visiting ambassador Veran from Alcoro, learns about the elaborate courtly rituals and colour themes of the elite, while being rebuffed by the man he had hoped would stop the slave trade. Prince Iano has suddenly changed from being open to improvement, and we learn that a lady he loves has been abducted to exert leverage on him.
Tamsin doesn’t know where she is being held and can’t get a message to Iano, apart from ransom notes she has to sign. She only knows that she’s somewhere dry, with clouds of bats at dusk. The three main story themes develop separately and become pressured, before starting to unite in a common thread. Meanwhile, we are learning the peoples, the customs and the environments. Mostly we roam the arid canyons and occasional seeps, feeling how hard the land is on those living rough, a land much like the southwestern US.
Emily B. Martin knows her landscape, since she is a National Park Ranger, and I found she brings the territory to life vividly, from the glaring sun to the sky-filling storms. The people in Moquoia supposedly revere natural settings, but don’t know or care that their palace is a hazard to birdlife, which has knock-on effects for themselves. They only want trees in manicured gardens tended by unseen staff. Out in Ferrino, we’re shown the warring bandits and natural hazards. This ‘Outlaw Road’ series is the latest work from Emily B. Martin, who previously wrote the ‘Woodwalker’ series. The second tale about Lark will be called Floodpath. I certainly intend to seek it out, because I had several great fun days reading SUNSHIELD and I expect this powerful tale will go from strength to strength. Grab your horse, crossbow and buckler, there’s a stage to raid!
A lawless wilderness. A polished court. Individual fates, each on a quest to expose a system of corruption.
The desolate canyons of Alcoro—and the people desperate enough to hide there—couldn’t be more different from the opulent glass palace and lush forests of Moquoia. But the harsh desert and gleaming court are linked through their past, present, and future: a history of abductions in the desert to power Moquoia’s quarries and factories, and a bleak, inhumane future built on the sweat and sacrifice of these bond laborers.
But events unfolding in the present could change everything. In the desert, outlaw Lark—known to most as the Sunshield Bandit—has built a name for herself attacking slavers’ wagons and freeing the captives inside. But while she shakes the foundation of Moquoia’s stratified society, she also has to fight to protect her rescuees—and herself—from the unforgiving world around them.
In the Moquoian court, young ambassador Veran hopes to finally make his mark by dismantling the unjust labor system, if he can navigate the strict hierarchy and inexplicable hostility of the prince.
And caught in the middle of it all, Tamsin is trapped within four walls, the epicenter of a secret political coup to overthrow the Moquoian monarchy and perpetuate the age-old system of injustice.
Separated by seas of trees and sand, the outlaw, the diplomat, and the prisoner are more connected than anyone realizes. Their personal fates might just tip the balance of power in the Eastern World—if that very power doesn’t destroy them first.
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