David's Reviews > Battle Circle

Battle Circle is a collection of a trilogy of novels set in a post apocaylptic America. The main focus is on the nomads, a warrior culture, who settle differences in gladitorial arenas. The three novels are intertwined, and each one focuses on a different main character, but the main characters make appearances in pretty much each novel.

While the main focus is on the nomads, there are also the "Crazies"-- a group of people who have chosen to mantain some semblance of pre-blast life. The Crazies stock various outposts with food and clothing, even broadcasting television programs (without sound) which the nomads can't even begin to understand. The crazie have a pact with the people of the mountain, who have advance manufacturing abilities, but the mountain is a sealed enclave of which the nomads do not know. When a nomad is exiled, he climbs the mountain and is presumed dead, but really beome part of the undergound society's population.

These three communities are dependant upon one another, but the system begins to break down when Sol, master of all weapons, decides to build an empire like the old Roman empire.

What makes this trilogy interesting is the interpersonal relationships between the characters. The romance, the comardeship, and even the need for vengeance drive each story forward until the stories all come together in the third volume.