Prince of the Wasteland (The Book of Thrice Dead #1) by Joseph Sale

The Writing Collective, 2022 (originally published 2014)

ISBN: 9798841855231

Available: Paperback, Kindle edition

Buy:  Amazon.com | Bookshop.org

With post-apocalyptic novels, there’s King’s The Stand, McCammon’s Swan Song…and then there’s everything else.  However, Joseph Sale’s Prince of the Wasteland ranks pretty high among the books of the “everything else” pile.  Mixing the bleakness of a post-nuclear world with a touch of magic and dark fantasy towards the end, it’s certainly worth the read.

Prince is set entirely in the ruins of New York City,  which is run by a small group of humans known as the Apostles, who have supernatural powers they received from somewhere (the answer to that comes later in the book).  Despite their powers, they are still all too human, as infighting and the problems of the old world still persist (apparently, nuclear war did not solve the problem of drug addiction).  However, they are united in their purpose to maintain their status as rulers, so they destroy anyone else in the city who shows any hint of having the same otherworldly abilities they possess.  The Apostles are certainly the most interesting part of the book. They have cool names like Slick, Bleak Heart, Razor, and the Man in the Black Hat, and their names often pertain to their abilities.  Some of the abilities are what you would expect, but others are quite creative, with Slick’s ability to turn his perspiration into an oily lubricant being the most intriguing, as well as handy for getting in and out of tight places!

The overall plot centers on the Man refusing to kill Lucy, a child with supernatural powers, and what he has to do to hide his disloyalty from the ruler of New York City, the Prince.  He wants to help Lucy, not an easy thing to do, since the Prince has powers of his own that make subversion difficult.  Lucy does play a critical part in the book, but she feels more like a foil to the others.  The real stars of the story are the Apostles, with all the intrigue and excitement that comes with a group of selfish backstabbers trying to work together to stay in power.

There’s also the separate plot thread of the Fool King, who maintains his own sort of kingdom in the sewers, that ties into the main story as it goes along.  It’s a fairly eclectic mix, but it all hangs together to provide a good read that most dark fantasy fans should love.  The main takeaway is although this was one of his first novels, it’s clear that with Prince, Joseph Sale was already a talent to be taken seriously.  His writing isn’t as developed here as it is in the incredible Carcosa series, but it was already a good deal better than many authors.

My bottom line on this one is: definitely worth reading, especially for post-nuke fans.  This is the first in a series of six books, who knows where it will go from here?  Recommended.

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson