THE DARK WILD

In a darkening city, with only a few human, animal and insect allies, Kester toils to avert corporate violence and an animal uprising.

In The Last Wild (2014), Kester escaped a creepy prison/school (he was aided by cockroaches and pigeons) and became a Wildness—a leader of a group of animals called a wild. But animals weren’t supposed to exist anymore, and they still aren’t: A virus killed the vast majority, and the rest are vulnerable to corporate-ordered cullers who shoot on sight. Kester’s father invented a cure for the virus, but evil company Factorium locked him up for it. This second volume takes place in Kester’s home city. Cullers threaten his wild, and Factorium seeks a mysterious weapon that Kester’s friend Polly is guarding. Underground, a different wild—a dark wild—plans to swarm into the streets, destroy the city and kill all humans. Feeling guilty for deaths that have occurred and desperate to avoid more, Kester slogs through a literal mountain of garbage, into underground caves and up onto a dam, all as Torday’s city settings become darker and wetter. Starlings take down a helicopter; Kester fights a dog with steel teeth. By the end, Kester’s wild is vastly increased, but defeating the corporation and restoring the natural world remain for next time.

Somber and urgent eco-fantasy, understated and tender.