Yellow Locust
Book One
Justin Joschko
Genre: Science Fiction Dystopian
Publisher: Month9Books
Date of Publication: May 8, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-946700-63-6
ASIN: B079828BLX
Number of pages: 306
Cover Artist: Danielle Doolittle
Book Description:
Selena Flood is a fighter of preternatural talent. But not even her quick fists and nimble feet could save her parents from the forces of New Canaan, the most ruthless and powerful of the despotic kingdoms populating America-that-was.
Forced to flee the tyrannical state with her younger brother Simon in tow, Selena is now the last chance for peace in a continent on the verge of complete destruction.
In her pocket is a data stick, the contents of which cost her parents their lives. Selena must now ensure it reaches the Republic of California—a lone beacon of liberty shining across a vast and barren wasteland—before it’s too late.
Between New Canaan and California stretch the Middle Wastes: thousands of desolate miles home to murderers, thieves, and a virulent strain of grass called yellow locust that has made growing food all but impossible. So when Selena and Simon stagger into Fallowfield, an oasis of prosperity amidst the poisoned plains, everything seems too good to be true—including the warm welcome they receive from the town’s leader, a peculiar man known only as The Mayor.
As Selena delves deeper into the sinister secrets of this seemingly harmless refuge, she soon learns there is a much darker side to Fallowfield and the man who runs it. Before long, she must call upon the skills she honed in the fighting pits of New Canaan to ensure not only her own survival, but that of her brother, in whom the Mayor has taken far too keen an interest.
And she’d better act fast, for an all-out war inches ever closer, and New Canaan is never as far away as it seems.
Excerpt:
The grass
followed the siblings into town, looming silently along the highway shoulders,
lancing up through broken sidewalk slabs, squatting in the cavernous lobbies of
derelict skyscrapers. It stalked them all the way to the city center, where a
square kilometer of turf and asphalt had been pared away to uncover the silty
soil beneath. Stakes with tips painted green, blue, and orange still jutted evenly
along the field’s southern edge, though whether the colors signified crop
rotation or ownership, Selena couldn’t say. Only one plant grew there now, and
she was willing to bet it hadn’t been deliberately planted. The yellow grass
devoured every inch of naked soil, creating a neck-high carpet of brittle, oily
stalks. We aren’t gonna find any food on offer here, Selena thought, though she
kept this opinion to herself—the last thing her brother needed was more bad
news.
A fountain stood
on a cobbled square beside the field, its ledge chipped and weathered. A bronze
woman stood atop its stone platform, her face tarnished and scaly with grime.
She held aloft a jug with a broken handle. Water dribbled from its spout. No
food, maybe, but water’s more important anyway.
Selena knelt to
the water. A caustic stench of grease and bitter herbs rose from the pool. A
skein of shimmery oil coated the water, stirred to a rainbow froth where the
trickling spout spilled its endless contents. Selena rolled up her pant legs,
removed her shoes, and waded into the fountain. The water’s scummy skin clung
to her leg hairs. She cupped her hands beneath the dribble.
Even before the
water touched her lips, she knew it was bad. The stench of it lapped at her
face like a hungry tongue. She sipped anyway, gagged, spat. Running or still,
the water was hopelessly befouled. Its taste and smell lingered long enough for
her to place it: the smell of the yellow grass, the few times she’d been forced
to push her way directly through it. Not content with razing the town’s crops,
the vile stuff had also poisoned its water supply. Whatever this shit is, it’s
thorough.
About the Author:
Justin Joschko is an author from Niagara Falls, Ontario. His writing has appeared in newspapers and literary journals across Canada. Yellow Locust is his first novel. He currently lives in Ottawa with his wife and two children.
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