The year is 2043, and the world as we know it is gone.

We no longer rule the world. That honour now belongs to a fly/bee mutant that originated from a lab experiment that has gone terribly, viciously wrong.

These flies travel in swarms. You can hear them coming. If you are caught out in the open they will cover you in seconds, strip your skin and lift you from the ground with their numbers. People will often find piles of bones stripped bare, of people or animals that couldn’t find shelter quick enough.

There is also a fly flu. This lies dormant in the human body and can strike at any time.

Nico has grown up in this world. She was lucky to have her parents with her for most of her life, but now they are gone, leaving her with memories and stories from her childhood, and the skills to survive in this world.

One story stood out. Her father told it over and over again, and as she grew and he aged, he became more insistent that she knew it inside and out. When he began to suffer from the same illness her mother died from, she wonders if he is just delirious or the things he is saying are actually true.

Finally, alone except for her dog Harry, she sets off to a place called Manchester. According to her father she had to be there at a certain time to hear a bell. Not sure what it is all about, she knows she must honour this last story.

On the way she meets Kit, a 12 year old artist who seems wiser than his years. He has lived his life with his mother Dakota and a handful of others. But he too has lost loved ones and he latches onto Nico and her dog. Both encounter deadly people, keen to rule the world in their own ways, and both struggle to unravel the strangeness of what they see on their journeys.

Who is the Deliverer? A person in a grey full body suit and helmet that hides the face? Why do Nico and Kit feel they have been in the places they find before, when this is the first time they have left the homes they grew up in? Is there a future for them besides this sparse existence?

Wow. I really had to concentrate on this novel as it is far from linear, with a handful of viewpoints and clues scattered throughout to explain the plot. I would like to read it again to truly savor it all. The post apocalypse theme drew me in, then a sci-fi – time travel spin, threw me off centre for a bit. Book reviews were raving, so I kept reading to find out where Nico and her dog were going to end up. I’m glad I did.

I really enjoyed the way the characters were learning about their own world and trying to piece together the sparse knowledge of the old world from what they discover on their individual journeys. The retelling of Harry Potter mixed with another famous tale by one character to another was amusing, but overall these characters finding their way in this dangerous world was thought provoking and sometimes heart wrenching.

A powerful, thoughtful, mind bending read. 

Author – David Arnold

Age – 13+

(2021, Text Publishing, Action, Blended Family, Life, No technology, Dystopian, Family, Friendship, Future, Time travel, Post Apocalypse, Flies, Fly Flu, Pandemic, Humankind, New Hampshire, Journey, Art, Multiple Lives, Sci Fi, Dog)