Pink Corrosion

In Costi Gurgu’s Pink Corrosion, Geo Woodman kills Prince Boris after the second Black Rain and becomes heir to the Silkers' crown. He struggles to win the trust of the commanders and council members in his efforts to stop the Silver Star from destroying the Caves. Geo must forge alliances with people like Lord Lakefront while facing enemies within his court, like Lady L and the wicked Silver Star. He faces personal betrayals, political intrigue, and military threats. While he fights to control an already fractured civilization and enforce his leadership in the court, another powerful threat looms ahead — Han the Great. Han has conquered almost half of the world, and will Geo’s world be the next of his conquests?

Pink Corrosion delivers a tantalizing saga set in a bleak, post-apocalyptic world ravaged by Black Rains and environmental disasters. Gurgu excels at crafting grim scenes and deftly infusing the narrative with wanton violence that is characteristic of a decaying society. There are assassinations, battles with monstrous creatures, and civil unrest, which deepen the plot and offer a vividly drawn portrait of the dystopian world against which the narrative unfolds. The characters are elaborately drawn, and I enjoyed how the author uses desperation and motivation to drive their actions. Bree and Geo are a symbol of hope in a setting filled with despair, and I found myself rooting for them and hoping against hope that they would thrive against the oppressive forces and the mounting odds. Gurgu's work explores themes of power, loyalty, and survival in a world where the boundaries between humans and monsters blur, and where grim scenes underscore the brutal reality of their fight for existence. The prose is gorgeous, the dialogue sparkles, and the imagery is as compelling as it is sharply rendered.