The final trip into the corn. Who will eat whom?

Happy Release Day to Chuck Wendig again! I cannot believe that it has been an entire year.

The Harvesting by Chuck Wendig

I said I was looking forward to the conclusion to The Heartland Trilogy in my last review. Fortunately, the book did not disappoint. I have definitely had an up and down relationship with the series (reflected on my previous review here). The story has contained many aspects that I could live without, but that's reading for you and what makes it so beautiful. There are so many different voices out there, and they can all exist in fiction. I have never found any of these novels to be unreadable.

The conclusion here is succinct and covers all plot threads. I was really pleased how it all came back around--from all the little lines in the first book to the larger points that make the story. However, the book is a little too short to explore the true depth of the characters that are clearly falling apart. We skim the surface of their insanity but never really brush the causes at heart. While all the characters had dispersed on the wind like pollen, they were entangled in each others lives again to ride out the armageddon (showing that there is almost a fatal attraction to what we know and where we've been) in relatively quick order. The build up for all the action seemed to happen rather abruptly.

The story is once again written elegantly and little high class for some of the plot material, but it keeps you reading. I really was entertained by the inclusion of the biological terror that came from Hiram's Golden Prolific. We got to go back to the roots of bioengineering and its consequences on foods. We returned to the debate of nature versus technology. I would say it even made the first two books make a little more sense with Under the Empyrean Sky concentrating on nature and Blightborn concentrating on technology. We fully experienced both sides of the argument.

I am just pleased that an author managed to come up with an ending that feels conclusive and right. I could certainly read more books in the Heartland, but I won't feel like I have missed out on something if I don't. I even gained a greater appreciation for the first two books I read meaning the foreshadowing was subtle enough to not ruin the outcome.

This series is solid. It may not top my list of all time favorite books, but they are easily recommended to readers of many ages. Plus the price for them is right on Amazon.