Imagine a world where nature evolves leaving humanity behind.

What if there actually a balance that kept the world whole; what if that balance was disturbed? What would nature do to save itself? Would the mass destruction of humankind be in order, maybe so? In the speculative horror novel, The Nature of Balance by Tim Lebbon, something has caused disturbed the balance between man and nature. In a single evening, those who lay down to sleep suffered from brutal dreams from which most did not awaken.

There are those who were lucky enough to survive, the ones who had not gone to bed yet, the insomniacs, the nightshift workers, and those who awaken from their bad dream to screams of their loved ones around them dying brutally. On the other hand, were they truly lucky? While humanity laid shuddering, screaming and dying in their sleep the world shifts and changes. Nature mutates taking on an alien form turning on humanity, ejecting them, leaving a world where only the strongest can survive.

In this newly evolved world, we follow the paths of Blane and Peer. Blane is a naturalist who enjoys spending his time naked in the woods and cannot remember his past. Peer is a shy introvert who does not have many friends and feels as if she has no place she truly belongs. Guided by a mysterious antagonist the duo are destined to meet in order to unravel what went wrong with the balance and the shocking secrets of Blane’s past.

With the touch of an artist, Lebbon coaxes you into the horrifying reality he has created through a magnificent manipulation of words. His words twist around your senses, teasing you, dragging you deeper into the nightmare step-by-shocking-step making it difficult to put down the book. His main characters are a likable sort of people and his antagonists mysterious and tragic. Though they were lacking depth, it was as if you glimmer of the person but not the whole picture. But somehow you still care what happens to them, including the antagonist.

The storyline was intriguing constantly teasing you with questions; the answers just out of reach, making you turn each page in hopes of another glimmer that will help you tie the story together. Lebbon does an excellent job of keeping you guessing just when you think you figured out the storyline he tosses in something new.

Through the entire story, it was like riding on a fast moving train rushing from stop to stop. Never stopping long enough to give you time to take in the history of each stop, to appreciate how it became what it was, before rushing off to the next amazing sight. More time could have been spent on fleshing out the background story of the characters or events, tying them in tighter to the how and why of the story. Supporting characters are loosely weaved throughout the story but you develop no bond to them. If they die, they die…no loss.

Overall, as a speculative horror novel I give Tim Lebbon a high five on doing a smashing grand job. His story was an amazing read that kept me devouring the pages to the end. I still will highly recommend this as an excellent read to my friends, even though I felt it would have been better if it were a longer story to give the full effect of the background of events and characters. The story line was refreshing and I did enjoy being dragged through all the thrilling gory events to the end. I look forward to reading more of his work. ( )