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Title: Three
Series: Legends of the Duskwalker #1
Authors: Jay Posey
Rating: 4 of 5 Stars
Genre: SF
Pages: 329
Words: 121K

Synopsis:

From the Publisher

The world has collapsed, and there are no more heroes.

But when a lone gunman reluctantly accepts the mantle of protector to a young boy and his dying mother against the forces that pursue them, a hero may yet arise.

My Thoughts:

When I read this back in '14 I wasn't even using half stars yet, officially anyway. I gave Three a “strong” 4 and waxed fulsome about it. So I went into this re-read with a bit of hesitation, as I am realizing that my first impressions that are outstandingly positive don't always hold up that well.

Thankfully, this still got a 4star rating. However, it wasn't a “strong” 4 like last time. With this re-read it was more evident to me that this was Posey's debut (I believe). Descriptions felt a little rough and simplistic, like a charcoal drawing as opposed to a number 2 pencil drawing. What really did bug me this time was just how unexplained the world was. I realize that was deliberate but I did want more and I didn't get it. So I'm going to complain.

In that regards, I had a lot more questions. The “well, what about X” kind of questions. By not knowing how things worked, or didn't, I couldn't figure stuff out on my own. My biggest question is why humanity hadn't gone after the Weir. If they are reanimated humans but something different, where do they come from, how do corpses get Weir'ized and what are their weaknesses? I could understand if the Weir were a new thing or something, but apparently they've been around for the whole of Three's life? If I were to hand you a machete and told you to cut down that 14inch oak tree, or we were going to die, you'd whack away for all you are worth. If you didn't know any better. The correct response would be to hand the machete back to me and tell me to give you the flipping full size axe I was hiding behind my back. If you know the problem, you can figure out the right answer.

I must also admit that this read has been colored by the more recent books put out by Posey. He abandoned a second series and the third one he has started did not work for me at all. I'm carrying all of that baggage this time around whereas I didn't have to on the first go-around.

Overall, I enjoyed this but it wasn't as awesome as last time. Whether that is because it really wasn't or because I've changed, etc, I can't tell. I'm going to hold off on recommending this or not until I've re-read the whole trilogy and see how the whole stands up.

★★★★☆ ( )

The basic story description does not do much justice to this novel. Set in a future apocalyptic future, similar to Earth, the people are somehow linked to a computer-like network. Through this connection they can access information such as the time, sunrise/sunset times, GPS, etc. People live in communities, to protect them from creatures that run the night, called Weirs. Three is the name of our main character, and appears to be a sort of bounty hunter. When in one community, he is approached for help from a strange woman and child. Though his instincts tell him to not bother, he follows them, and gets caught up in saving their lives. She asks him to help deliver the child to his birth father in another community.

The story tells of their travel, eluding those chasing them - a group called RushRuin, ran by the mother's other child, half-brother to this boy. This group has enhanced abilities that give them added strength, or other attributes. As they travel to this other distant community, Three discovers emotions he had long though hidden, and of the unknown powers the boy child has.

I thought the plot interesting enough, though Posey does sort of just drop the reader into this world without much background information. How did the world get to be this way? How are people wired into this network? What exactly are these Weirs and how/why are the created and what do they hunt for? The second book, MORNINGSIDE FALL, will expand on more of these details I hope. Great read that even the YA crowd will like. ( )

"Three" (is it just me, or that a confusing name for the first book in a trilogy?) is a grim, tense, violent book from the first page to the last.

"Three" is a mood rather than character driven book, heavy on atmosphere and light on introspection.This isn't one of those novels where the reader feels smart for spotting the world-building clues that the author seeds the text with and creating a deeply textured society. This is novel where the world doesn't feel the need to explain itself; you have to figure it out as best you can while every character you meet is trying to kill you. This is a world so unforgiving that a child asking "Momma, are we going to die today?" is stoic realism rather than high melodrama.

Part Western, part Samurai-turned-Ronin movie, part survival horror video game, "Three" tells the story of a lone warrior, in a bleak, post-apocalyptic world, who breaks his own survival code and takes a woman and her son under his protection and embarks on a quest to find the boy's father.

The warrior, who is called Three, for reasons that are never clearly explained, is so laconic that he makes The Man With No Name seem intoxicated with the exuberance of his own verbosity.

An intense, dangerous, loner who is constantly vigilant and frequently deadly, Three is a bounty hunter who relentlessly pursues his prey through the Weir-infested wastelands of ruined cities, surviving by the sword, the gun and total personal discipline. Unlike the "soft" civilized folk who live behind city walls and don't go out at night, Three is all hard shell and honed edges and walks where he pleases.

The woman and the boy Three chooses to protect are far from helpless. Helpless doesn't survive past dusk in this world. They are capable of great violence and would be formidable if they were not being hunted by people even scarier than they are.

Although this book is primarily an action adventure vehicle, the kind of thing that would make a summer blockbuster movie or a best-selling combat video game, it is lifted by its willingness to take on some big themes: the true nature of heroism (it's not bravery if you're not scared); the possibility of redemption by doing something for others that will make them carry you in their memory; the importance of a living by a code; the rigour of vigilance born out of the inevitability of betrayal and the leavening effect of compassion.

If there is a message in all of this, it is that love makes you weak by giving you something to lose but the absence of love makes your strength hollow and futile.

Although this book was an engrossing read and I'll definitely be back for the rest of the series, I hope the next novels have more dialogue and less authorial voice. I picked up "Three" after reading Jay Posey's most recent book, "Outriders". In retrospect, I can see that that wasn't the ideal progression. Although "Three" is a remarkable debut novel, the thought that kept going through my mind was: "Wow, Jay Posey has learned a lot about writing dialogue in the three years between these two books." ( )

Three
Legends of the Duskwalker, Book 1
By: Jay Posey
Narrated by: Luke Daniels
This book blends some wonderful things together to make a book that was excellent listening!. A book about a seeming post-apocalyptic world with techno access. It also has "Weir" that change shape and other more fantasy aspects to this sci-fi thriller. It has a lone survivor that is different from most others and he chooses to help a mom and her kid. They too end up being very different. Three is the guys name. He is a tough guy and helps her and the kid but she is not a damsel in total distress, she too has skills. It is a wild adventure and had plenty of action, creative characters, great plot, and I can't wait for book 2! ( )

Well written

Perhaps those who read dystopian fiction find this formulaic but I like it very much and find it refreshingly well written. The dystopian world is kept at bay and it is not a rehash of how to live without our modernity. That is what makes this such a good read; the crash and fall have occurred and become the setting instead of one of the characters in the book. The reader is not burdened with too much knowledge about either the world or each character and thus surprises can occur throughout the story. I like it when the reader is allowed to speculate and can discover aspects of the story especially when those discoveries are congruent. ( )