For Day 4 of the ROOTLESS Blog Tour, I give you my review of ROOTLESS:
I didn’t know what to expect when I first cracked open ROOTLESS. I knew a few things about the book – that it was about a young nomad, Banyan, who lives in a post-apocalyptic world where nothing can grow except genetically-modified corn, and to maintain some semblance of the “old world,” Banyan builds trees out of scrap for those willing to pay the right price. I also knew that Banyan’s particular love story starts out with his love interest shooting him in the arm with a nail gun.
It sounded like my kind of crazy.
I normally leave the reviewing up to the other YABC staff reviewers, since I’m usually too busy managing YABC from behind the scenes, but after a few pages of ROOTLESS, I wasn’t about to let this one out of my hands.
Howard plunges the reader into Banyan’s world from page one – no lengthy backstory, no council meetings catching us up to speed. Banyan’s story moves at a rapid pace, and I was sucked in immediately. Turn after turn, twist after twist, we follow Banyan on a psychedelic journey across an American landscape we hardly recognize. Without trees to clean the air, people find it hard to breathe and some suffer from damaged lungs. Without roots to hold the soil in place, the coasts have eroded away into surging seas. And did I mention there were man-eating locusts plaguing the GMO cornfields of what was once the Midwest?
ROOTLESS is one intoxicating, crazy thrill ride. Although I did see a few minor twists coming regarding characters, I never knew where Banyan’s journey would lead him next. Howard has created a trippy, freak show of a world, and I mean that in the best possible way. After the ending (which I never once saw coming), I couldn’t stop talking about Banyan’s story for days. ROOTLESS is a book that sinks its hooks into your brain and won’t let go. It demands to be read.
Sounds like a great book. So excited to be a part of Chris’ blog tour.
Sounds like my kind of crazy too!
Chris, are you a big fan of post-apocalyptic books? If so, which one is your favorite?
This book sounds awesome. What’s the hardest part about writing a post-apocalyptic/dystopian novel?
Would you be able to survive in a post-apocalyptic world??
Chris what is your favorite book?
Where did you get the idea for this book?
Will there be a sequel?
Was it hard writing this book?
Do you like Nirvana? I can’t help but think of the lyrics to ‘Breed’, “…We can build a tree…”
What would you tell your teen self?
Have you ever been to a creative writing workshop?
Hi Chris!
How did you get the idea of “metal trees”? Have you been watching the Lorax? 😉
How did you become interested in writing books?
What is the thing you miss the most about the UK?
Christina K. in the rafflecopter
If you were to have a tree built, which one would you choose?
Thank you:)
How important is helping the environmental to you?
What inspired you to write a dystopian story?
What was your initial thought when you saw your cover for the first time?
What was the hardest part about writing this story?
Did you do a lot of research to make this dystopian come off as realistic as possible? Does it rely on a lot of sci-fi to make the world work?
Thanks for the chance to win!
This seems like a great book!
Were there any scenes that you were stuck on for a long time?
interesting………
wha is yout favorite book of all time
Who was your favorite author growing up? Did they influence your writing now?
How Long did it take to write the book from beginning to end? Thank You!! 🙂
Chris, Did you know how the story was going to unravel when you started writing, or did it sort of evolve as you began writing?
Wow, I hadn’t heard of Rootless until today, but now I really want to read it!
these are really cool shirts!
I cannot wait to read this book! It really sounds like a great read. Adventure in a world gone crazy!
This sounds like a great story!! I can’t wait to read it!
I’d rock that shirt.
this book does sound really great!
What’s your favorite book? The book sounds intriguing.
~swoooooooooooooooooon~
Rootless! OMG! I’ve been wanting to read this one since the release!
Thank you so much for the giveaway! Plus the t-shirts are cute!
Hey Chris!
What’s you’re all time favorite classic?
In your Goodreads profile you mention that you studied natural resources at college.Is that the reason you wrote a story where nature as we know it doesn’t exist?
YABC – Thank you SO MUCH for hosting the ROOTLESS Blog Tour! It was a blast putting it all together, and I literally could not have done it without you! To wrap up, I was finally able to track down Phil Falco (Art Director at Scholastic) and we chatted about cover designs and ROOTLESS here: http://foreveryoungadult.com/2013/01/29/behind-the-cover-rootless/ Sort of a Blog Tour Encore as this Q&A had originally been scheduled as part of the tour! I really appreciate everyone who’s made this whole thing so much fun – all the bloggers and readers and the people who’ve commented or got in touch and asked questions. And congrats to the lucky winners of the Giveaway Prize Packs. I hope you enjoy the T-shirt my friend made and the book that I wrote! Happy reading, everyone. And thanks for all your support and enthusiasm! Also – BIG thanks to YABC for the incredible review above. I’m honored that you thought so highly of the story.
CHEERS,
Chris
http://chrishowardbooks.com/