Review: The Wrack by John Bierce

The Wrack is a unique fantasy novel that focuses on the spread of a disease called the Wrack and how it affects the people, their cultures, politics and the world at large. An interesting read in pandemic times, and the author mentions how weird it was to be writing and releasing it during the pandemic. Even though the book is a work of fiction about a fictional disease in a world where magic exists I found the inner science nerd in me extremely excited while reading this book. I also love epic fantasy and I think the author pulls of an amazing feat by showing how the Wrack spreads across this entire world, showing the large, epic scale while still having so many beautiful, close, character moments. 

In some ways, The Wrack itself is the main character. There are some characters that show up a couple of times, but in general, don't expect to follow certain characters throughout the novel. The work of fighting the pandemic is a global one and the author allows us to see so many perspectives that we can really appreciate the scale of the issue and the collective effort it takes to solve the mystery of this disease. It gives us windows into so many different viewpoints so that, put together, we can see the big picture. I really love it. And, like I said before, it's still got some very powerful close character moments that are full of emotion. It's almost more powerful for me because those moments aren't from the POV of one or a few "special" MCs. No one in this story is more important than the others, they're all facing the onslaught of this disease in their own ways and the author does an excellent job of portraying all these unique characters and perspectives. 

There's also a really interesting magic system in the world that allows the practitioners to see details about the human body and the effects of the disease that would not otherwise be possible at their technology levels. And running through the whole story is almost a commentary on the human condition, on how societies are set up not just in the way they face diseases, which I found to be really well done and subtly integrated into the main storyline. 

I know that in this pandemic we're all trying to find comfort reads and not dwell on pandemics, but I personally didn't find it difficult to read. It's not grim or dark or overly depressing in my personal opinion. It was full of quiet moments of trying and working hard and people doing what they can - human moments. 

I don't know how much more I can say without spoilers, but I will say this: The Wrack is a unique, well-told tale that you should definitely check out.