Review: The World Without Flags by Ben Lyle Bedard

Armed to the teeth with subtle world-building and a powerful narrative voice, The World Without Flags by author Ben Lyle Bedard is a formidable standalone sequel to his first novel about this dystopian world. Kestrel, an indomitable young survivor, pulls readers on an epic journey across the American wasteland, and in the spirit of Cormac McCarthy, brutal beauty is everywhere in the prose.

The Homestead has been Kestrel’s roost for as long as she can remember, and the writing provides an intimate introduction to a safe haven amongst a world gone mad with a brain-infecting pandemic called Worm. Depicting a place of peace, it seems that the survivors have waited out the disease and can consider rebuilding some semblance of a world, reminiscent of “The Walking Dead.” As humanity returns, so does human nature, and a dystopian civil war comes knocking at the Homestead’s door. On top of that, the Worm has evolved, and the darkly diseased days they thought were behind them may have only just begun.

When Kestrel is forced to choose between the closest person she has to a father and loyalty to her home, she takes a dangerous plunge with a walking dead man on an impossible flight towards salvation. Packed with tension in every exchange, Bedard knows which buttons to push that makes readers sit up a bit straighter and lean in. In the midst of hellish landscapes and cold, impartial violence, there are deep character studies and musings on death, mercy, leadership, and survival. Moral lines are bent and identity is critically examined in this straightforwardly written, yet psychologically complex ride.

The sign of a good dystopian writer is one who can slow-burn a plot until readers are completely sold on the premise of a terrible future. It only takes a chapter or two before the cadence of the narrative voice and the matter-of-factness of the story immerses readers completely. There is little need for flowery description when the bare bones of scenes and dialogue convey the mood of the story so well, and Bedard uses this sparse touch to his advantage. After detailed procedural sections, there will be a turn of phrase, a simple statement or observation thick with meaning and impact, and the novel is peppered with such moments.

On the critical side, there is some repetition of Kestrel’s internal monologue and beliefs, and occasionally there is too-extensive explication of an emotional exchange, rather than letting readers draw their own conclusions. That aside, this novel is a visceral feast – a believable and heart-wrenching tale of stamina, fierce loyalty, and a yearning for family, even as the world burns.

An unsparing vision of the future, The World Without Flags is evocative and stirring, with Bedard using accessible language to unearth gems of universal insight, making his frightening vision of the future stand out among so many others in the genre.