Review: Desolation: The Hollow Drum by D. Harrigon
I received a free copy of this book from the author in return for an honest review.
‘This explosive, penultimate instalment will see victory, pain and death.
‘After the disasters that shattered the group, Hetch and her nemesis Aqualina, along with a defector, must negotiate the explosive situation brewing with The Daughters of the Iron Drum.
‘Hetch is so close to reaching Landing Site One. The only obstacles that lie in her way are a mountain full of fanatics, and thousands of their terrifying Children. And a hostile jungle. Also, Captain Galetea wants a word.
‘Fanatics, bugs, betrayal, bugs, blood, and more bugs!’
Are we really up to book four of five of D. Harrigon’s Desolation series? It’s hard to believe it’s more than a year since I reviewed the first instalment, The Overdue Library, but here we are.
Like Keep Your Imaginary Friends Close and The Same River Twice, The Hollow Drum won’t make a lot of sense if you haven’t read the previous books. At the same time, if you are familiar with the series, it’s far from “more of the same” as Hetch and co. draw closer to the endgame at Landing Site One.
As the blurb indicates, book four introduces us to a whole new aspect of life on Desolation: insects! Alongside frenemies Hetch and Aqualina, we receive a lesson from defector Danica in the behaviour, hierarchies, and idiosyncrasies of the bugs the breakaway Daughters of the Iron Drum cultivate and worship. While these are imaginative and fascinating, I’m glad it’s the characters and not me having to crawl through their tunnels as an alternative route to the chambers of Ann, the supreme leader of the Daughters.
Not unlike the bugs they share a mountain with, the Daughters might appear to be a well-oiled machine from a distance, but a closer examination reveals conflicts, conspiracies, and violence. Having already recruited a few dissatisfied daughters, Captain Galetea and a contingent of Palace Guards take a more conventional route to the Daughters’ inner sanctum, hoping for a peaceful redress of grievances given the other side’s disunity, but – this being Desolation, where life can be short and brutal for all but the most fearsome of giant crabs – bloodshed proves unavoidable.
I can’t say much more without spoiling the story, but suffice it to say: there’s a lot of action over a short period of time (three-quarters of the book cover simultaneous events, but from different viewpoints), and the closing scenes had me looking forward to the final showdown, which is bound to be epic.
I enjoyed being reunited with Hetch and co., and some of their interactions – both between themselves and with Daughters/ex-Daughters – are a lot of fun to read. There were a couple of absent characters I did miss, who I hope we’ll get to hear from again before the series comes to a close!
The Hollow Drum is a fun, action-packed addition to the Desolation series.