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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Dystopia and fairytales combine for a very dark read, November 16, 2010
Henry Whelp lives in the St. Remus Home for Wayward Youth, a sort of cathedral/bunker combo surrounded by a razor-wire fence. He's been locked up for breaking a window, but he's really being kept under surveillance because his father is in jail for homicide, and he's expected to follow in his dad's footsteps. The City is a dark and gritty place, devoid of the beautiful old-world magic that the fairies provided before they abandoned their floating town of Eden. Now, pharmaceutical companies capitalize on second-hand medicinal magic dust, dealers peddle dangerous dust variants on the street, and urban decay and ethnic tensions make for purgatorial living. Henry has no reason to stick around St. Remus after his friend Jack escapes and his confidante Doc is murdered, so he hits the street and finds himself working for the evil Nixie gangster Skinner. Will Henry discover the reasons behind his father's violent crimes, the disappearance of the fairies, and the rise of the thaumaturgical companies?
I started off the novel a little lost. I kept trying to figure out what Henry means by saying he's a "wolf"--is he a werewolf, who is a human part of the time and a wolf the rest of the time? Or a superhuman hybrid whose genome was infused with wolf DNA? As pages pass and Henry's revealed to have fur, a snout, and a tail, it becomes clear that he really is a slightly anthropomorphized wolf. In Dust City's world, several animal species have evolved to where they can speak, reason, and walk around in roughly human shapes. Human-people are called hominids and animal-people are called animalia and are mistrusted, so it's a parallel to conflict between various ethnic groups in urban settings. Wolves, ravens, and foxes are the predominate animalia species, but there are others like mules, which confused me a little because mules aren't their own sustainable species in our reality--they're the sterile offspring of a donkey and a horse, but we're bending biology here, so it's probably best to just go with it.
One element I really enjoyed was the wordplay. Almost all of the animal surnames are plays on Latin roots, like a fox being named Vulpino ( fox=vulpes), a raven named Corviday (raven=corvus), and a wolf named Mrs. Lupovitz (wolf=lupus). Even the facility Henry lives in is a reference to Romulus and Remus, the mythical founders of Rome who were raised by a wolf (and more recently, it could be a tribute to Remus Lupin of Hogwarts fame). Language puzzles like this are always fun to unlock.
Though this genre-cross story has a certain charm to it at times, largely owing to the inventiveness of the setting and Henry's likable humility, it has some big caveats. The inclusion of fairytale characters like Cindy Rella in her trademark shoes, Henry's dad as the Riding-Hood-murdering Big Bad Wolf, etc, can feel a little surreal at times. I like science fiction, retold fairy tales, dystopias, and wereanimal stories, but I'm not sure that all these elements mesh well together. The upright-walking animal characters are something readers are probably more used to seeing in Mid-Grade novels, but with all the drug use and detailed violence in this book, it's definitely not for younger readers. The story gets incredibly gruesome at times, since it recounts some fairy tales that involve mutilation and child murder.
There's an overall theme of hope, but the dark parts of the story just got too dark for me.
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3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Well Imagined and Original, October 29, 2010
Henry Whelp is in a Home for Wayward Wolves for misdemeanor. Any other wolf wouldn't be serving time but Henry's father known as the big bad wolf. The wolf who killed Little Red Riding Hood and her grandmother. Everyone's worried Henry will be just like his father.
Dust City is filled with popluar fairy tale characters. It populated by hominids, wolves, foxes, ravens, basically all animals living together. Over time all the animals have evolved. Wolves can speak with ease and work on two legs. The mules are the slowest to change.
"I ignore Jack's request. I'm watching a trio of mules play cards at the folding table. From an evolutionary point of view, mules were the last to get wise, so to speak. Their forehoofs aren't anything like those of hominids or wolves. Mules evolved differently, with hooves that became jointed, crablike claws - ebony pincers, offset by a stubby opposbale thumb. They have never been reviled like wolves, or mistrusted like foxes and ravens. As always they are largely ignored. I'm guilty of it myself. I don't even know these guys names."
The nimble and quick Jack (Beanstalk) is a thief. He is also Henry's best friend and the only hominid at the Home for Wayward Wolves. Henry is big enough to impose is power on the smaller animals but that is not in his nature. Right from the beginning this is something very likable about Henry. When Henry comes across some evidence that maybe his father wasn't in his right mind when he committed murder, he is determined to find out the truth. Henry believes fairydust, a drug many crave is to blame. There is a whole underworld that caters to its users. Henry goes undercover to work for his father's old boss Skinner.
There's a lot going on with the creation of Dust City, yet Weston, makes it work, very well. The author made me believe, feel and see Dust City. So much so, towards the end when Henry came across wolves trapped in cages that could only walk on all fours and couldn't speak, I didn't know what to make of them. The novel also as a nice mystery noire feel to it. Thanks to the dark city back drop and Detective White (Snow White). Detective White works alone and always catches the criminal.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enchanting, July 21, 2011
This review is from: Dust City (Hardcover)
Why did I leave this sitting on my shelf unread for so long. It was enchanting, or rather, it was the characters that were enchanted. Fairy magic in the form of 'dust' is an every day commodity in Dust City. It used to be made by real fairies, but they have long since fled and now it is a manufactured product. Not as good as the original, but still magical and mostly effective.
Henry Whelp has been locked away in juvie for a while now with the other wolves. Yes, wolves, foxes, goblins and all other sorts of animals have achieved sentience and live along side the hominids. It's not a perfect relationship between them, but it works for the most part. When his friend Jack, the guy with the magic beans, shows him some letters from his dad, the big bad wolf who killed the little girl and her grandmother, Henry starts to question many of the so called truths that he's been told.
As I started reading this story, I'll admit that I was a bit confused. Were there really talking wolves and elves and goblins all living together. I wasn't too sure about the characters who seemed quite familiar, almost like beings out of the Grimms Brothers' Fairy Tales. (that was intentional according to author Robert Paul Weston). By about page 30, my confusion was clearing and total enjoyment setting in.
I had no trouble believing that all these animal like beings were living together and in many cases cross-species friendships had flourished. Once Henry realized that he didn't have to go through this as a lone wolf and he called on his friends for help, the story really took off. This is a FUN story made all the more entertaining each time I realized a character was based on a Grimm's character. This is not a children's book as it included much mayhem and murder, though YA and adults will both find it a gripping read. Most definitely on my recommend list.
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