Guns of the Waste Land: Departure
by Leverett Butts
The first of four books in author Leverett Butts’s Guns of the Waste Land series, Departure takes off at lightning speed, introducing in its opening chapters a set of fascinating characters, whose roots in Arthurian legend eventually become clear. The novel’s structure—the narrative sometimes unfolding in first person, sometimes in third, sometimes in flashbacks—at first might seem a little jarring, but it not only holds together, it deepens the vivid character portraits.
Butts's painting of characters is priceless, with engaging dialogue, aptly accented for the time period and setting. Genuine laugh-out-loud moments during the interactions of Percy Murratt, Gary Wayne Orkney, Boris McAllister, Ardiss Drake, and others, are not rare; nor are passages of deep poignancy, expressed by an assured authorial voice.
Departure is not a long novel, but it is rich and jam-packed with both action and character-driven drama. I'm now anxious to dive into the following books in the series—Diversion, Dispersal, and Desinence. Departure feels very much like the prelude to an epic work, worthy of both admiration and study.
