Ruins

Ruins is set in the distant future after climate crisis has forced all the inhabitants of Earth to migrate north to escape the unlivable heat in the south. The south is filled with artifacts of life before the crisis and archaeology professor Ember Agni is obsessed with these remnants of history. Ember ignores protocol to send a student on an archaeological expedition and even though the trip ends in tragedy the student makes sure that Ember receives an artifact that was found. This find leads to funding for another expedition and Ember travels south with a team of archeologists to search for additional artifacts.

The first half is slow paced but once the expedition begins there is a growing sense of expectancy about how the story will resolve. Ember is an inscrutable unlikeable protagonist, but I found that this added a depth to the book rather than detracting from it. Human character is unchangeable, regardless of time period or situational crisis, and I believe that this is a key point that author was making.

While I think the author’s The Light Pirate was a more compelling and readable novel, I thoroughly enjoyed Ruins and rated it 5 Stars.