Smoke and Other Storms: A Western Fantasy Adventure (The Revere Trilogy Book 1)

“Like it or not, Providence put men on top.” Not if the Revere women have their say. In the desert Rim of the Republic of Delilah, it’s wild west rules and the uninitiated don’t survive long. Moira Revere and her daughters Liza and Tesla, and granddaughters Adelaide, Vesta, Navy, and Leagen, have escaped indentured service in the frontier to remake destiny on their terms, living as outlaws. An easterner named Kane arrives with his crew, looking to rediscover the legendary town of Eden, where a once prosperous black gold mine was lost when Pestilence overtook the West. He hires the Reveres as guides. Tough and close-knit, the Revere women take on the lucrative assignment to save one of their own, but get caught up in betrayal when an absurdly excessive bounty has everyone hunting them from one end of the Rim to the other.

“Smoke and Other Storms” is a most surprising and edgy frontier survival adventure! The author’s striking syntax is sharp, economical, and creative, evoking a wild and unfamiliar way of life that is fascinating to discover. There is power and awe in the way that Moira “The Raven” Revere and Tesla “The Widow” Revere have overcome their slavery and objectification to thrive and be self-sufficient. Even greater poignancy and mystery shadows every counted footstep of young Adelaide “The Stranger” Revere, being a half-blood Tov, one of the few survivors of the fabled Tov Shadow Nation eradicated by war and  pestilence when the easterners arrived on the West Rim. Together, through misery and sacrifice, this multigenerational family embodies the most haunting demonstrations of female power ever seen in western fantasy.

Joan Lai