Kol Mendona, one of the last humans on the magical continent of Alon, is desperate to escape his dying underground compound. When Alessi, a fierce dragon slayer with silver eyes, arrives, Kol sees a way out. As they journey together through the deadly wastes, an unexpected bond forms between them â one fueled by passion and dangerous magic.
But as Kolâs strange new powers awaken, their bond becomes increasingly unstable. Something within him is changing in ways he doesnât fully understand, and if Alessi ever discovers the truth, Kol may lose more than her affectionsâŚ
Kol Mendona, one of the last humans on the magical continent of Alon, is desperate to escape his dying underground compound. When Alessi, a fierce dragon slayer with silver eyes, arrives, Kol sees a way out. As they journey together through the deadly wastes, an unexpected bond forms between them â one fueled by passion and dangerous magic.
But as Kolâs strange new powers awaken, their bond becomes increasingly unstable. Something within him is changing in ways he doesnât fully understand, and if Alessi ever discovers the truth, Kol may lose more than her affectionsâŚ
Kol shifted against the cold stone, pulling a book from his pocket and cracking it open on his lap. He ran a finger over its worn pages while the familiar ache in his back reminded him that this circular window frame was never meant to be a seat. But here, curled up beside the hallwayâs sand-obscured glass, was the closest heâd ever come to escaping.
âWhat are you doing?âÂ
He straightened in his seat at his sisterâs voice and looked down. âYou know.â He looked at the book in his hand, The Prince of Fire. âReading. Or, trying to.â
âYouâre distracted,â Mia said. Sometimes he hated that she knew him so well. âNightmares again?â
âYeah.â They were always the same. He looked out at the wastes once more and the nightmare returned, half dream, half memory. One moment, the outline of his mother and brother stood dark against the crimson wastes, then they turned to face him. Where there should have been features, there were only shadows. The next moment, the vision vanished and there was only darkness and his motherâs voice.Â
Find me.
Kol felt for the cool metal pendant around his neck.
âWhat were they about?â Mia asked.
He couldnât tell her. Their father wouldnât like it if Kol mentioned his mother again. Her name was a curse in this house.Â
âNothing important.â Kol smiled at his sister. âJust the dust bunnies under my bed. I swear, theyâre getting big enough to eat me.â The twins, Alana and Nalan, passed him in the hall, casting Kol a disapproving look.
Mia stood on her toes. âAstorâs coming. He wants you at the meeting.â
âHasnât he given up on me by now?â Kol asked. The hall was nearly silent, the rest of the family already at the emergency meeting his father called.
âShhhh, there he is.â Mia turned to her right, starting down the hall. âIâll see you there.â
âIâd rather stick my dick in a meat grinder,â Kol said once she was out of earshot. Moments later, heavy footsteps echoed through the space.Â
âHey.â Astorâs voice echoed down the hall. As always, he was impossibly composed, with a tight-fitting white and tan jacket over a slim white shirt. Now that Kol was an adult, they were both muscular and tall, with strong frames, but otherwise they couldnât have looked more different for siblingsâhalf-siblings, anywayâwith Astorâs golden hair and hazel eyes. Kolâs hair was a straight black mess slicked against his tan skin, and his eyes were just as dark, like his motherâs. Astor, on the other hand, was almost a mirror image of their father. His broad shoulders were tense, but that was to be expected. Usually, Kol would be happy to see Astor, but there was so much he wanted to tell him but couldnât, and that silence was a wall filling the space between them.
Kol met his brotherâs eyes for only a moment before turning back to the book. âHey.â
Astor tapped his foot as if searching for words. They had been so close once. Astor had raised him after his mother left, but now it was like they were a million miles apart, ever sinceâ
            âWhat do you think of the book?â Astor asked.Â
âHaven't read much.â Kol flipped through the pages. He hadnât gotten far, which was a little embarrassing, but Mia was right. It was difficult to focus that day. âOnly read maybe the first fifty pages before I stopped.âÂ
âDaydreaming again, huh?â Astor raised a concerned eyebrow and peered down at the book in Kolâs lap. Despite being only seven years older than Kol, there were several shining gray hairs in the beard that graced his chiseled jaw. It suited him, giving him a wise look. âIâm surprised you can still climb up there.â
âDesperation breeds ingenuity.â Kol tapped his head. âOnly good seat in the house.â
âItâs barely a seat. And itâs odd you picked that book today, of all days. You know Iâm going to ask where you found it,â Astor said. There was a slight irritation in his voice.
Kolâs face reddened. âI took it from your things. I figured you wouldnât notice.â
âI did notice, and Iâll need that back by tonight or weâre in trouble.â Astor ran a hand through his golden hair, cut short so it stuck out in a hundred different directions. âBesides, the bookâs incomplete. The last few pages are missing.â
âYou need it tonight?â Kolâs heart raced. Tonight, their father would make the announcement he had dreaded all month.
âFor the meeting,â Astor explained.
âWhy?â Kol asked. The reality he was trying to escape came creeping back in. It was a fate he hated, and yet he was helpless to fight against it. For himself, or for his brother.
âHow about you show up for once and find out?â Astor asked.
A deep, uncomfortable silence hung in the air, lasting for several seconds before Kol sighed. He twisted his body to face his brother, whose eyes were still fixated on the leather-bound book. âDo the others know?â
            âNot yet. A lot has changed. Now, will you come?â Astorâs eyes were stern. âSomething important is happening tonight, and you need to be there for it.â
âI canât.â Kol steeled himself for what would come next.Â
            âYou know you have to. Itâs part of living in the compound. Father will expect it.â
âFatherâs a bastard and an idiot.â Kolâs eyes met Astorâs, burning with intensity.
âMaybe he is,â Astor said after a moment, âbut itâs not our place to question him. There is order here, and everything will fall apart if we lose that order.â
Kol clenched his jaw. There was the biggest difference between him and his brother. Astor fit the system. He was the perfect sonâcaring, obedient, and faithful, even when their father was a belligerent oaf. Astor believed in the system, the order of the compound in which they survived. Kol, on the other hand, was a perpetual outsider despite being born in the cramped space. He never fit, no matter how hard he tried.
âFuck father. I donât like what he does, and Iâm not just going to sit there and condone it.â
Astor took a breath, running his hand through his rough hair. âI have to leave, whether youâre there tonight or not.â
Anger rose in Kolâs chest. âThereâs no reason for it. You know that.â
âThere is a reason,â Astor said. âNaomi is due any day, and weâre at capacity. Even just one more mouth to feed, and our agricultural efforts wonât be able to sustain us longer than a few years. Iâm a surplus male. Itâs an honor to make space for the next generation.â
âDonât call yourself surplus.â Kol sniffed, hoping his brother wouldnât see the tears working their way around the edges of his eyes. âAnd itâs not honor, itâs murder.â Leaving meant death, and if Astor left, the wastes would have swallowed up everyone Kol ever cared about.
The vision plagued his mind againâhis motherâs figure outlined against the dunes as he watched years ago from a not-as-filthy window, palm pressed against it so hard it hurt, breath fogging up the glass. She should be dead, too, and yet he could still hear her.
Find me.
âYou canât give up so easily. What if thereâs some way to survive out there?â Kol pressed his back against the metal again, his eyes turned toward the window. Faint light filtered through a layer of sand. âWe could leave this place.â
Astor scoffed. âDonât be ridiculous.â
âPeople didnât always live like this. They could go anywhere they liked.â
âAnd how would you know that?â
âBooks. We could find a way if you could just stay a few moreââ
âYouâd need magic to live out there, and we donât have any.â Astor crossed his arms and let out a heavy breath. âI taught you to read so youâd use your head, not lose your mind. Be careful, or youâll go mad just likeâŚâ
His mother.
He knew what Astor would say next, but it was a complicated thing, being compared to his mother. Some of his siblings whispered that he had already gone mad, but it didnât have the same sting now that he was a manâthere was power in madness, and he had a feeling that someday it would put an end to his fatherâs reign.
âIâd rather be mad than follow fatherâs orders,â Kol said. âAt least my mother was sane enough to deny him.â
âI shouldnât mention her,â Astor said. âIâm sorry.â
âItâs alright.â Kol glanced at the window again, his eyes tracing patterns in the silt. âYou have a lot on your mind. So do I.â
Astor took a breath, sorrow hidden beneath a forced smile. âI know how you feel about Father, but what if I want you there?â
It was difficult to deny Astorâs pleading gaze. âMaybe.â
âPlease,â Astor said in that way of his, the thin layer of obedient son peeling back for a second to show the man beneath. A scared man. A sad man. He was always the responsible one, the one their other siblings aspired to be, and now he would be rewarded with death. Kol's head throbbed. If he couldnât stop his brother from being sacrificed, he couldnât bring himself to sit there complacently, watching his fatherâs smug face as he murdered another member of his family.
But if the brother who raised him didnât want to be alone that night, Kol would be there. Even if it broke him, and he knew it would. This was all their fatherâs fault, overpopulating the compound and wasting resources. Kol took a sharp breath.Â
âI need a moment.â Kolâs fingers trembled against the bookâs warm cover. âBut Iâll go.â
âBring the book.â Astorâs footsteps echoed down the long hallway as he left.Â
Once Astor was out of sight, Kol sank down the wall and drew his knees to his chest, enjoying his last few minutes of solitude. With ten stepmothers and twenty-eight siblings, he was never alone. He was one of the only ones who didnât attend the meetingsâeven the younger siblings didâand the only member of the family who ever dared to question his fatherâs rule. His mother had. Thatâs why his father hated her. Thatâs why she had to die.
Find me.
            He cursed the fact he was too young to recall much of what happened. His eyes darted to a rare sliver in the windowâs filth, scraped clean by rain or debris, and looked to the twisting dunes beyond.Â
The wastes.Â
Many had left the compound, but none ever returned, victims of the poisoned air and acid rain.
Astor wouldnât come back, either. He would never see his brother again, just like heâd never see his mother.
A bitterness ached in the center of Kolâs chest as he stared into the broken nothingness. He hated this dark place, this stone prison they were born in. He would do anything for Astor, if it meant his brother didnât have to leaveâdidnât have to die. Maybe he could find another way for him to live, but beyond the windowâs filthy layer was a world of burning air, of monsters and shifting sands. No human could survive out there.Â
A dark figure moved across his narrow field of view.
            Kolâs breath quickened, a wet film forming on the window where he pressed his cheek against the curved glass. The shape stumbled over the burned horizon, vermillion against the raging winds.
Sweat beaded on his brow. Nothing survived out there. Nothing lived, nothing died, except⌠he heard his motherâs voice in his mind, faint words from a fading memory.Â
And from the Darkness came beasts with the faces of men. Monsters.
He could make out what appeared to be a creature on two legs, with tall ears and a wide tail. A pair of silver pinpricks glowed from the dark outline of its head. And it wasnât just coming towards him, it was running. At this rate, it would be at the compound in a matter of minutes.
He shoved the small book into his pocket before peeling himself away from the window. He leaped to the floor.
âAstor!â he called out in case his brother was still within earshot. There was no reply. As much as he hated the man, he had to tell his father.Â
Monsters with the faces of men. As he ran towards the meeting room, Kol passed dozens of the rounded windows, each filthier than the last. One of his fatherâs oldest wives, Margaret, stood just ahead. She smiled at him, dimples marking her tan skin.Â
âWhere are you rushing off to?â she called out as he brushed past her.Â
His chest heaved as he pushed his way down the hall. âThereâs something outside!â
âWhat do youâ"
            He missed the rest of her words as he threw open the meeting hallâs thick double doors. His sistersâ and stepmothersâ voices echoed off the wide walls and tall ceiling, the chaos hitting Kolâs ears the moment he was inside.
            His family shot him disapproving glances as he swam through the crowd before stopping at his fatherâs chair. The old man, with his gray beard cut harsh and angular around his jawline, exchanged hushed tones with Naomi, his youngest wife, her hand over her full and pregnant stomach. Astor sat on their fatherâs other side.
Kol lowered his eyes, as was custom. âLord Mendona.â He tried to hide the fact he was panting, but the sweat on his brow likely gave him away.
His father looked away from Naomi, and his face twisted into a scowl. âKol.â
There was no point in drawing things out. âI saw something outside,â Kol said. His chattering sisters grew silent and their eyes burned into his back. âA monster. Itâll be here any moment.â He put his fist down on the table.
Lord Mendona laughed, leaving Kol dumbfounded.
âWhat?â Kol asked.Â
âItâs not that kind of monster,â his father said. Naomiâs eyes widened, and she leaned away from her husband.
âItâs a monster. What else matters?â Kolâs voice was harsh.
âThat,â his father said, âis our honored guest.â
If youâre into post-apocalyptic stories with gritty survival, morally grey decisions, and a touch of hope peeking through the chaos, Wanderer of the Wastes by Kit Karlsson should be on your TBR. Itâs a character-driven story that grabs you but does take a little time in world building and character development. Again, this is a character driven story, so we care about the MC's journey not just the action.
Wanderer of the Wastes is about Kol, an isolated person trying to survive in a wasteland where nothing is easy, and danger is around every corner. It's hot, dry, and a constant struggle for survival, I found myself getting thirsty just reading the descriptions. The author excelled at descriptions and the world-building is on point, making it easy to picture every dusty path and every crumbled building.
Kol is such a compelling main character, but if you can't find a connection to Kol, you might not enjoy this book. Wanderer of the Wastes is not just about the action and struggle of survival, but the questions you have to ask yourself when you don't have the luxury of a conscience.
That's not to say there isn't any action. There are plenty of tense scenes, but thereâs also space for reflection. Some quieter moments are helpful in balancing the action and desperation of the story.
I have to add one more time how atmospheric Wanderer of the Wastes is. Boots crunching, sun baking, heat and dryness. This is a feeling and a vibe. Fans of truly postapocalyptic settings will feel like they are really getting a book of desperation.
Overall, Wanderer of the Wastes is a must-read if youâre a fan of post-apocalyptic tales or stories that really dig into what it means to survive, both physically and emotionally. Itâs raw, immersive, and ultimately hopeful â the kind of book that sticks with you long after youâve finished it. Highly recommend adding this one to your TBR!