When Cloe finds her boyfriend in bed with another, she breaks her sobriety and wakes up somewhere else. In The Wasteland she meets Kitty and Jack a pair from America's old west and a whole population that appears to have been taken from different parts of Earth’s history. The Wasteland is not without it perils, from magic wielders to monsters...

The Arrivals (278 pages) is a new fantasy novel by Melissa Marr. Now you might be like me and think that a story set in a place where the dead are transported to screams ‘Riverworld’ and, in truth the two places have much in common. The Arrival is essentially a western, with the focus of the story switching around between Chloe and the brother and sister pairing of Jack and Kitty.

Although, not to a greater extent, we do get to meet other arrivals, but where Philip José Farmer was interested in how exposure to a cosmopolitan environment changed his characters Marr is only seems content to tell a straight forward story.

That is not to say that the novel is not without its own quirky charm, the world building is good, but the overall explanation as to what drives the characters is underdeveloped, the author seems content in placing you and her characters in an environment and just let things take place.

I have to admit to finding the book a hard read, it’s not as good as the books that it has borrowed from, nor are westerns a particular interest of mine. It’s not that the writing stank, as it didn’t, but then again I kept searching for and failing to find any reason to continue reading the book. It will probably find an audience, but unfortunately it’s not me.

6

Charles Packer