I never read this book until now, and I think I understand why. The front cover of a young girl on her horse with her son makes it look like simple, escapist fantasy that happens in the future. And it may have been published and marketed that way, who knows?

But the actual story is much more complex: society began collapsing in the past of this book, bit by bit, industry collapse followed by plague, and the survivors in London live with decaying houses, rusting steel girders, a clan and borderland mentality, and dead cars everywhere. Into this fallen civilization comes White Michael who conceives a son on young Bara, in violence, and when Bara recoveres and gives birth she feels the pull of going to Ireland.

And that's where the girl on the horse motif comes into play. And it's also where the author's originality comes into play: the different adventures early in her journey are logical and fit into the overall civilization, the different groups she encounters on her journey west have their own re-created civilization and history, and what she finally finds is complex and unexpected and not the normal, cheesy fantasy post-apocalyptic fare.

If you can find this book somewhere, give yourself a treat and read it. It's worth the journey. ( )