As old roadside signs come to life and walk among the ruins of Las Vegas, an eleven year old girl struggles to resurrect civilization from an apocalypse, fighting the people who want chaos to reign. Derelict Dreams is an apocalyptic, science fiction novel of 50,000 words that is illustrated with 80 pictures. It follows Jen and her sister through a twisting reality where walking, derelict signs interact with the girls, while other people don’t see them at all. After their mother is killed, they run from a murderous gang, looking for their father who is on the Las Vegas Strip. Jen is forced to fight the killer, and after defeating him with the help of a walking sign, she escapes with the killer’s brother, now an ally. Jen’s sister dead, the two find her father and discover that the pandemic that triggered the apocalypse is also being used to exterminate people. Jen’s father is killed helping them escape. Driving a bus, they go to the mountains and survive there for a year. Jen realizes that people need to trust each other again, so they return to Vegas seeking those who want to stop the chaos and rebuild civilization.
As old roadside signs come to life and walk among the ruins of Las Vegas, an eleven year old girl struggles to resurrect civilization from an apocalypse, fighting the people who want chaos to reign. Derelict Dreams is an apocalyptic, science fiction novel of 50,000 words that is illustrated with 80 pictures. It follows Jen and her sister through a twisting reality where walking, derelict signs interact with the girls, while other people don’t see them at all. After their mother is killed, they run from a murderous gang, looking for their father who is on the Las Vegas Strip. Jen is forced to fight the killer, and after defeating him with the help of a walking sign, she escapes with the killer’s brother, now an ally. Jen’s sister dead, the two find her father and discover that the pandemic that triggered the apocalypse is also being used to exterminate people. Jen’s father is killed helping them escape. Driving a bus, they go to the mountains and survive there for a year. Jen realizes that people need to trust each other again, so they return to Vegas seeking those who want to stop the chaos and rebuild civilization.
In choosing to review Derelict Dreams, I was struck immediately by Patchin's artwork, and I would be lying if I said otherwise. His ability to capture young faces and emotions as well as landscape detail and elements of fantasy grabbed me as soon as I saw them, and as I read the story, I found myself flipping back and forth for the simple joy of immersing myself in the art. The colors and scenes are beautiful, imaginative, and realistic, and completely compelling in and of themselves.
But although Patchin's strength is clearly his visual art, the story is also thought-provoking and unexpectedly poignant. I was expecting a young adult fantasy in which signs come to life in Las Vegas and a pair of sisters learn about them in a post-apocalyptic reality. But while these things are certainly true, the story is both deeper and, as I mentioned, darker, than this, and I would not call it a young adult story (Patchin has labeled it Post-Apocalyptic, so the assumption was entirely mine). The tale has clear allegorical and political links to the coronavirus pandemic, and takes readers down a path that's part Lovecraft, part King, and part 2020 warning - from a certain point of view.
Patchin does an excellent job of scene setting and description, and I was drawn into the plot and the action, and did find myself fully invested in the eleven-year-old main character right from the start. Still, the juxtaposition of homicides with children as a direct (or very nearly direct) result of pandemic was a bit darker than I was expecting, and though it was certainly compelling, some readers may find it disturbing.
Derelict Dreams is available in both B&W paperback and color hardback editions, and while the art in the B&W is lovely, the art in the color hardback really is breathtaking and is what makes the book an overall four-star for me.