So far Beastlands is an exercise in background story and world building, with the narrative switching between three characters: Kayla Karakka (a Sophiatown sky cadet who, along with her clumsy and mischievous pangron Faro that she has a close connection to, finds herself trying to avoid getting into trouble with the sky cadets commander), Alethea Bashoa (a healer from Ataria in the blue district which is named after the brightly-coloured lakes) and Rustus Fari (a trainee who is on the eve of his final trials to become a fully-fledged warrior).
The early chapters move at a steady rather than spectacular pace as a result of the amount of detail which goes into the scene setting and back stories, but one overarching theme is family - Kayla is following in the footsteps of her mother (despite rejecting such comparisons), Alethea has taken over the healing role from her father after his recent death from the rampant scourge disease that is killing many people and Rustus is trying to live up to his father's expectations in him - and this may provide a common bond which ties the trio together later in the novel as well as providing readers with a concept that many of them can relate to.
The early chapters move at a steady rather than spectacular pace as a result of the amount of detail which goes into the scene setting and back stories, but one overarching theme is family - Kayla is following in the footsteps of her mother (despite rejecting such comparisons), Alethea has taken over the healing role from her father after his recent death from the rampant scourge disease that is killing many people and Rustus is trying to live up to his father's expectations in him - and this may provide a common bond which ties the trio together later in the novel as well as providing readers with a concept that many of them can relate to.