When everything one has previously known burns and falls, where can one turn? When defeat is at the door, what is left to fight for? And is there still a future in these landscapes of doom?
The year is 2060. The enemy is advancing. Lieutenant General John Arnhem no longer believes the war can be won. Disillusioned, he heads out into the Tanami Desert for one last mission: to try to evacuate his grandparents and the livestock on the farm where he grew up, and thus also save the remnants of the life he once knew.
Brett Hammersley has fought as an idealist in Arnhem’s regiment, but the war is tearing her apart. In the hope of finding what once mattered, she too tries to turn away and get away through this last mission. But even in the desolation of the Tanami Desert, it is no longer possible to escape the war. At the same time, Australia’s top leader, Foreign Minister Eden Elenia Caitleen, is faced with an inhuman choice. In this decision, she stands alone, and her time is running out.
Kvæven has an exceptionally vivid and vibrant language; he engages the reader’s senses from the very first sentence, effortlessly alternating between the disturbingly grotesque and the poetically dreamlike. His depictions of landscapes, animals, and nature are captivating and beautiful, evoking a sense of awe and gratitude.
Stavanger Aftenblad, about Red Dust I
Here are unusually sensuous and almost introspective descriptions of animals and landscapes. Beautiful in all its horror.
Bok365, About Red Dust I
An unusually vivid and beautiful novel.
Fædrelandsvennen, About Red Dust I
