After a world war where the majority of Earth's inhabitants are killed by biological warfare, Stephen, his father and grandfather struggle to stay alive by keeping to themselves and scavenging whatever remains they can find among the destruction. His grandfather has always taught Stephen to be on his guard and lookout only for himself. Others survivors cannot be trusted -- they might be thieves or 'Slavers' who will capture you and force you to work for them or sell you off. His grandfather is a harsh and abusive man, but Stephen knows he's the one who has kept them alive so far.

So when Stephen's grandfather dies from the deadly virus that wiped out the majority of the world's population, Stephen is afraid things will change for the worse. It's only a couple nights later when his father tries to rescue a mother and son from dangerous Slavers when everything goes wrong. His father is injured and falls into a coma and Stephen has no other option than to accept help from a group of strangers who claim they can take his father to a doctor. Stephen soon finds himself in Settler's Landing -- a hidden community where people have houses, food and carry on with things like school and farming as if the world catastrophe had not happened. Stephen is wary of everything, especially since there are some people in the community who obviously do not want him there. He wonders how long the community can hide themselves from other survivors who would kill to have access to Settler's Landing and is intrigued by Jenny, the rebellious adopted daughter of the family he is staying with. Before long he finds himself in the middle of a deadly battle where Settler's Landing is under attack from a group of Slavers and a neighbouring community.

The verdict on this book: a simplistic plot with some good tension and a couple exciting scenes (being chased by Slavers, the big battle at the end) but I found the characters too cliche and needing more development (Stephen falling for the mysterious, rebellious girl was much too predictable). The story just wasn't original enough or powerful enough to make it stand out from other dystopian novels out there. Would I recommend it? Sure, I think someone looking for something straight forward, grounded in our real world (most things are pretty believable and there are no elements of paranormal or fantasy) and not overloaded with romance might like this...

Does your head pound when you see a shelf full of paranormal fiction? Do your eyes glaze over every time you read a synopsis about high schoolers finding out they're vampires?  Do you feel nauseated when you read reviews of books about love triangles between humans, werewolves and angels? Perhaps you are suffering from "paranormal fatigue".

Publishers' Weekly published an article titled, "YA comes of Age" back in September 2011 discussing current and possible future trends in young adult fiction publishing. They noted the continuing boom in YA literature which is possibly tied to the success of the Twilight series, but also an "industry wide case of paranormal fatigue". Apparently some editors are getting tired of the hundreds of manuscripts about vampires, angels, zombies and faeries. The article points out that some paranormal is continuing to sell, but the new trend is dystopian fiction, writers hoping for the same success of the Hunger Games Trilogy. An interview with the president of the American Library Association's YALSA about publishing trends in 2012 expresses similar thoughts that vampires are "fading" but also suggests that steampunk, in addition to dystopian fiction, might be on the rise.

I am definitely seeing more and more dystopian fiction, and though I personally prefer it over the paranormal theme, I can see the plots becoming stale unless authors come up with some unique settings and original characters that develop well throughout the story. That said, excellent writing can often save a formula plotline for me.

As for steampunk, I think it's still overshadowed by paranormal and dystopian themes. Will it be the next big thing? Some comments on the Publisher's Weekly article wondered if historical fiction or more traditional sci-fi would become popular. I think steampunk is more likely -- it probably would have more popular appeal. It has elements of fantasy (which readers seem to love these days) and potential to be pretty creative in the way technology is included. I think fiction written in true classic sci-fi and historical fiction styles will remain on the sidelines -- unless authors start cutting down the length and complexity of their plots (which, in that case, it would no longer be of the true classic styles!). But whatever the next big trend, I sure hope we can get away from endless descriptions of the protagonists' bemoaning forbidden love, unnecessary details of each character's wardrobe, and book covers that look like shampoo advertisements.