Customer Reviews

Dust

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I am a lover of fantasy and this book ranks as one of the best with me. It has all the necessary elements--the reluctant but driven hero, the quest which only he can accomplish, the satisfying conclusion. Along the way Arthur Slade keeps the reader spellbound and wondering. I read the book in one day, unable to put it down. After I finished, I found that I couldn't stop thinking about it. The images are still fresh in my mind. I've reread it now and have discovered even more layers to it.

This is a book that you can't wait to finish, but at the same time don't want to finish. The only solution is to start reading it all over again.

As a a 6th grade teacher, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It had a "hook" from the beginning and kept me wondering until the end. It offers a number of "springboards" for teaching vocabulary and subjects from the Bible and ancient history. I hope to get enough copies to read in literature circles. (...)

Magical Realisim at its best. Robert's younger brother vanishes on the way to town. A rainmaker soon appears. Things aren't what they seem and people are forgetting what they ought to remember. All but Robert. Arthur Slade imbue's DUST with magic to spare. A wonderful read and not easily forgotten.

I almost didn't finish this book after a little boy was taken away by a stranger. Those types of things upset me, but for some reason I wanted to find out what happened. I'm glad that I kept on reading. Because of the faith of an eleven year old boy things were made right. The author has a great imagination and was able to share it beautifully with the reader. It wasn't what I expected, it evoked a lot of emotion and left me wanting more. It's one of those stories where good triumphs over evil. I'd recommend the book to others, hopefully you will be as pleasantly surprised as I was.

Here's my deal... I met Arthur over on the KB boards and after a conversation about advterising, I decided to buy Dust.

I was sucked in from the first chapter and couldn't put my Kindle down. Each chapter builder in a perfect pace - no crazy cliffhangers or anything misleading. The characters were real and story was just awesome.

The length is perfect for this type of story and for $2.99, it's a steal!

Buy it... NOW! :)

Until I read the nominations and awards particularly "An American Library Association Best Books for Young Adults" I did not realise that this was a book aimed at young adults and being far from young I thoroughly enjoyed it.
The book gets off to a slow start and slowly develops drawing the reader into the story. I liked the way it was written from a child's point of view with his fascination for words and the way their meanings were interpreted by him. The description of the characters and the locations was very good. Fairly early in the story Robert's (the central characters) brother goes missing and until I read further I thought it strange that no one seemed particularly interested however all becomes clear as the story developed. It is a fairly short story but I would have liked it to be slightly longer so the ending although satisfactory could have had a bit more detail.
In summary a great book suitable for all ages, don't be put off because it is a young adult book.

I give this book a 5 star rating as it is well written and has good character development coupled with great descriptive text. The author takes you on a journey into a "town gone bad" and weaves a story which has you believing from start to finish. Whether you are a fan of the fantasy genre or not, you will not be disappointed in this book. King, Koontz... move over, you have competition.

I really hate reading books that pretend to be scary or horrifying by using shock factors and sensationalism. This book, though obviously fiction, is very logical in its incredibility, which makes it easier to suspend disbelief.

Though the style is different, the process reminds me of Stephen King's books: they start out with ordinary people, people you would know, who happen into extraordinary events or situations, and the next thing you know, their world has gone terribly wrong. Could an 11-yr-old boy do what Robert has done? Probably not, when you think about it, yet in the book, it makes perfect sense.

Good storytelling!

Set in Horshoe, Canada during the Depression, this novel is as spare and practical as the dustbowl farms it describes. Robert is an 11-year-old, who loves reading and enjoys words to the extent that you can practically see him rolling a tasty word around in his mouth like a fine wine. One day his little brother Matthew disappears on the way to town, and Robert seems to be the only one who remembers Matthew or cares that he's gone. His parents, after their initial panicked search for Matthew seem to forget he ever existed. A new man, Abram Harsich, comes to town around the same time and promises the townspeople that his new machine will make it rain and save their farms, save their entire lives. The whole town pitches in to work on the rain machine, almost like they are under a hypnotic spell. Only Robert is able to resist, but can he make the town and his parents remember their missing children? Where are the children and what is Harsich up to?

A quick read, the sparse language manages to describe so much, with so few words. It's hauntingly beautiful and not overly explained. The reader is left to sketch in some of his or her own explanations. For some kids, that's great, it's a jumping off point, some kids really want things completely explained and may want to talk about this afterwards. The whole question of "could my parents really totally forget me" could be upsetting for younger children.

A good, quick, quality read.

I loved this book. I felt the same as many other readers, why haven't I heard of it. The imagery was very graphic, I felt as if I was in a film at times. The closest parallel I can make is Stephen King's Needful Things. The evil characters in each story are very similar. This is easy to follow and great preparation to adult fiction.