Blackthorn

Blackthorn is the fifth novel in Terry Tyler's scarily realistic Project Renova series. It is set a little later than the beginning of Legacy and takes place almost entirely within the city of Blackthorn which I remember seeing being established in the earlier book. There are nods to previous events and characters, but Blackthorn, I think, could also be satisfyingly read as a standalone novel or as an entry into the series.

The leadership and citizens of Blackthorn have established fairly secure lives within their walled city and the devastating pandemic of a century before is now mythology rather than memory. I liked how Tyler establishes this setting through three very different sets of eyes. Concepts such as equality didn't survive The Fall so, even within this relatively small society, a few people live luxuriously while others barely have enough to survive. This leads to frequent violence and unrest as people without hope feel they can only gain by agitation. It was interesting for me to watch attitudes change as Ryder's message of embracing The Light takes hold across Blackthorn. And, as the people begin to lives according to their new found faith - working together and trying to understand others' points of view, their lives do indeed improve. It's a cycle of self improvement that really does benefit Blackthorn, but unfortunately individual selfishness often trumps common good and Tyler understands perfectly how human nature works so is able to portray her characters' motivations in a totally believable way. She kept me hooked from start to finish and, as it's a while since I read the earlier Project Renova books, I am now very tempted to go back and reread the whole series.