Atlantic County Library System

UnCovered review by Nancy Wessler, Librarian, ACLS Mays Landing Branch

Rust In The Root is a spectacularly well-written historical fantasy set in an alternative version of 1930s America. In this universe, an event known as the Great Rust has blighted large swathes of the nation, leaving them uninhabitable and destroying their mechanical infrastructure. Uncontrolled magic use has been blamed, and the practice is now heavily regulated. Those who get to wield this power, those left begging for scraps, and those greeted with suspicion fall along America’s traditional fault lines–allowing for a brilliant, if not bleak, exploration of the ways in which Black bodies and talents have always been exploited and sacrificed in the name of American industry.

Enter into all of this: 17-year-old Laura Ann Langston, a small-town girl struggling to survive in the Big Apple. She came to the city to pursue her dream of gaining a license to practice magic so that she might establish her own magical bakery. Fate, however, has far greater plans for her. It’s not long before she’s caught up in the effort to mediate the effects of the Great Rust and begins to uncover the dark secret at the heart of the American Blight.

It must be said that Laura Ann makes for a wonderful chosen one–headstrong and resourceful, confident and forthright; she’s got all of the bravery of an archetypal hero but refreshingly lacks their tendency toward self-sacrificing. And her flaws only make her more engaging. She is surrounded by an excellent supporting cast, the majority of which are African American, and any romances to be found are queer.

There is quite a bit of world-building at the beginning of the book and a decent amount of jargon to assimilate. This may be off-putting for some readers, but after the first few chapters, the book moves at a nice pace. This is a fantasy, as has been said, and there is a certain delight that comes from seeing unicorns in Central Park; but there are also strong elements of horror and definitely some gore. Just as she did in Dread Nation and its sequel, Ireland proves herself very adept at creating a sense of creeping dread and inescapable wrongness. This is a dark story, make no mistake.

That said, the story is not without light. Indeed, this is ultimately the tale of a girl who looks into the darkness, sees all the horror, and says, “Enough. No more. I’m changing things.” It’s a joy to watch her fly.