Quest for Black Beach

Quest for Black Beach
by Neil Child
Published by Wood Dragon Books
Review by Toby A. Welch  
$17.99 ISBN 9781990863288

This quick read takes a riveting look into the future for those with an interest in fantastical worlds and times. 

I call a book like this a pocket read. It’s small enough that you can slip it into a pocket and finish it within a day or two. Visiting a futuristic place for a brief time is a pleasure. 

One thing I love about books that take place in the future is that they are as varied as an author’s mind allows. Thanks to writers with limitless imagination, readers can get pulled into whole new worlds that are intriguing places to visit. And this is what happens in Quest for Black Beach – we take a journey into an extraordinary time. 

Quest for Black Beach takes place 89 years from now, just far enough that we can only guess what life will be like. (Do you think anyone in 1934 could even remotely have guessed the realities of the world we are living in today? I don’t think so either!) You’ll find four groups roaming the planet, many of them created when ‘blasts’ occurred. 

You have robotia, robots that follow codes of conduct and are highly intelligent. There’s roktillia, beings that are a blend of mammals and reptiles that can live on land or in water. Pterosauria are large flying beings. And there are humanoids, people like you and me like the word suggests. Strikers are my favourite group. They are a subgroup of the pterosauria, beasts that can only swim and fly. Chips are cool, too: beings that are equally capable on land or in water but can only attack others if their heads are above water. Such a variety of fascinating organisms keeps the story interesting. Child does a phenomenal job of describing the creatures so readers can easily visualize them. 

The groups are confusing to keep straight at first but once you have them clear, the plot is a breeze. The gist of the story is that brothers Buzz and Kllay are on a journey to reach Black Beach, to return to their family. As the book starts, the teens have been travelling for almost a year, striving to reach the sanctuary of Black Beach. They encounter an assortment of beasts – among other obstacles – and must fight to stay alive. The excitement level notches up even higher when the brothers are temporarily separated. The terrain is also challenging, a mountain between them and Black Beach. The end wraps things up nicely, with just enough twists to keep things intriguing. 

I feel like Regina-based Child’s years spent as a busker, a hypnotherapist, and a high school guidance counsellor were the perfect petri dish for his imagination to develop Quest for Black Beach. What a fun and creative read!

THIS BOOK IS AVAILABLE AT YOUR LOCAL BOOKSTORE OR FROM WWW.SKBOOKS.COM