Onero's Hunt is a 2023 dystopian science fiction novel by J.R. Devoe. It's the author's debut novel. The book was published in August 2023 by Dark Tide Publishing. It can be purchased from Bookshop.org
Toris Onero spends his time illegally scavenging wrecks for the black market, hoping to earn enough money to buy his sister a seat at the Academy. Struggling to get by in the remains of an iceless Antarctic, life is tough and every day could be his last. When widespread crop failures spark a brutal famine, the council of Polaria prepares to invade their barbaric neighboring nation to seize the resources they need to survive. As his sister is conscripted to fight in the coming war, Toris makes a startling discovery – the existence of a secret Seed Vault from long ago, locked away on the other side of the planet. The council offers their highest reward to anyone who can retrieve the seeds – and for the first time in seven hundred years, people return to the desolated world in search of salvation. The race is on. To claim the prize and free his sister, Toris must survive a perilous journey with a crew of felons to the other end of the world. But with others also competing for the same prize, he knows this mission will put all of his skills to the test. And things only get worse when a mysterious group begin their own expedition – to destroy the seeds and make war inevitable…
Toris was a fantastic protagonist for this story. He immediately stands out as a strong, determined character with clear convictions. His backstory adds some rougher edges to him, which make him more complex as well. I liked that he already had a lot of knowledge and skill, honed over years, to aid him on his journey. His arc isn't about a drastic change to his character but the growth he undergoes was engaging to follow. Jayda, Toris's sister, is likewise a very compelling character. She's confident, she's tough, but she also has moments of compassion. It was very easy to relate to her and sympathize with her character, seeing as she's a teenager thrust into a situation beyond her control. She fails, she makes mistakes and each incident adds depth to her as a character. The minor characters were also very interesting, for the most part. It was clear that each of them was dealing with a degree of conflict, internal or external, about the situations they found themselves in. I wish the antagonists had slightly more depth, however. There was room for nuance when it came to the main antagonist, but the narrative chose to depict them as wanting war simply for the sake of it. It felt a bit jarring, given how complex other characters were.
This novel has a fun and engaging adventure plot. While the overall story is about Toris and his crew trying to reach the seed vault, the most intriguing parts of the story are about the conflicts they get into along the way. There are exciting battles on the high seas with pirates, betrayals and plenty of fun, adventurous parts of the story. A major part of the story is also focused on Jayda fighting a war at Polaria's border, which was incredibly exciting to read. The narrative does a good job of building tension very well, in both Toris's story and Jayda's. It never forgets what's at stake should either character fail. There are a few plot twists in this novel, but the main one, connected to Toris's journey, worked on one level, but not another. On one hand, the reveal is foreshadowed very well in the text without the writing making the twist too obvious. On the other hand, the implications of the twist don't matter, because there's another reveal right after, which lessens the impact of the first twist. The climax of Jayda's storyline is executed very well, in terms of both tone and the resolution feeling satisfying. The climax of Toris's storyline isn't as well executed. Parts of the final confrontation were a bit confusing. I had to read some sections more than once. I think the conclusion of the novel worked perfectly for the story the author wanted to tell. It felt satisfying overall, and true to the characters it was about.
The world-building was the weakest aspect of the book, but it still works pretty well. The reader is shown a lot of information about the dystopian world the characters live in. There's a lot shared about the society itself, such as the class system, as well as how the world came to be in such a state. Some of the world-building makes sense and works for both the story and the setting, while other aspects don't. Certain details took me out of the story, because I could only suspend my disbelief so far. The world-building overall isn't perfect but it makes the setting feel fairly realistic.
I enjoyed the writing in this novel. The author's prose flowed very well and the descriptions were rich and detailed without being too flowery. The story moved at a nice, even pace. The writing built up the tension really well. Given that this is a debut novel, the author hasn't quite solidified his "voice" as an author, but he clearly has a lot of talent and delivers strong, digestible writing.
Onero's Hunt took me by surprise. The characters were deep and compelling, while still being flawed. The novel contained an exciting story, that also had a great deal of tension and stakes. The writing was wonderful. It was a very ambitious novel, and it achieved most of what it aimed to do. All in all, this novel was a great read. I'd recommend it to any reader that likes dystopian fiction, and is looking for something a little out of the ordinary.
Rating: 4.25 Stars
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