Crecheling

The Buza System, Book 1

By: D. J. Butler

Narrated by: Marla Truini

Length: 6 hrs and 58 mins

Publisher's summary

Buza System is Dyan’s world.

She has been a Crecheling, one of the System’s children, trained in a broad range of skills and knowledge and prepared to take her place as an Urbane, a full-fledged adult member of the desert community with a Calling given to her by the System and its Cogitant Council.

Between receiving her Calling and admission into the System, though, stand the Hanging and the Selection. The System has a lesson it wants to teach Dyan about death. Against that brutal experience, and entwined within it, destiny has a different lesson for her, about the family she has never known…and about love.

Crecheling is book one of The Buza System, a dark science fiction tale for young adults and other listeners set in the crumbling ruins and blasted deserts of a future in which all people are not created equal and control is exerted by savage rituals of blood.

©2013 D. J. Butler (P)2018 WordFire Press LLC

Post-apocalyptic dystopian YA western with an introspective subtext

The story starts out feeling like a YA coming of age story, but things take a drastic turn a few chapters in. It’s a post-apocalyptic dystopian western with monofilament whips and bolas that slice through anything, so when people fight, the consequences can be somewhat disturbing.
The full arc of the story is just getting up to speed as the book ends. This one is the first in a series, and works better in that context than as a stand-alone. I have read the second as well, and am waiting for the release of #3.
Best aspect: got me thinking carefully about how to what degree each of us is willing to go into denial about profiting from the suffering of others for our own advantage.

WOW! Great YA novel!

D. J. Butler knocks it out of the park with this first book in a YA series.
Phenomenal worldbuilding couched inside an engaging story with interesting characters.
Dyan is about to leave the Creche and take her place as an Urbane, but first she must make it through the Hanging and the Selection.
Great narration by Marla Truini.
I'm going to be eagerly awaiting the next book.
This is one that I plan on listening to again.

Unique twist on post apocalyptic drama

This is one of those books that I was eager to listen to. I buy audiobooks for works travels and actually looked forward to driving so I could hear this story.

Thinning out the herd..

An interesting adventure. This isn't your typical read. There is a very twisted government in this world, where sacrifices are made to 'thin out the herd' of humans, or that is what they are told. If there weren't sacrifices, they would overgrow and die out, like trees or deer. But suddenly, after some of these people fight back, a young woman, who is part of the system, starts to question everything. And she begins to wonder if the sacrifices are necessary, or if it is just something the government does to oppress its people into obedience.
An intriguing piece, if a bit odd at times. I recommend it if you're looking for a story outside of the box.

Reader Makes the Book

I am pretty sure I never would have read past the first couple chapters of this book on my own. The writing is contrived and the actions and motivations of the characters don’t always add up. That said, the reader was so invested in the story and told it with such authority and spirit, that I stayed with her to the end. The experience was like joining a campfire circle....