Chelsea Quinn Yarbro was incredibly prolific and talented. She’s best known for her Saint-Germain vampire series, and False Dawn is one of her many standalone sci-fi novels.
False Dawn takes place in a post-apocalyptic 21st century in northern California. A woman named Thea is running from a band of vagrant men known as Pirates—a league of extremely violent and dangerous men on a mission to kill all remaining mutants in the region. Thea—a mutant woman in her 20s—is intent on traveling by foot eastward to a place called Gold Lake, which is rumored to be similar to the Garden of Eden. It provides safe refuge to all mutants.
On her journey, Thea saves a man named Evan Montague. She learns that Evan was once the leader of the Pirates, but now, he is their most hated enemy.
Together, Thea and Evan embark eastward to Gold Lake while building a trusting relationship along the way. They make a series of sacrifices to keep the other alive, and forge an unlikely bond that sees them through their scary and treacherous journey.
False Dawn is incredibly engrossing. On the first page, Thea witnesses a bruised and battered mutant lady hanging from a billboard before being ravaged by rabid and hungry dogs. All the events are action-packed and horrifying. They’re described in grisly detail and don’t leave much to the imagination.
For such a short novel that sits slightly over 200 pages, False Dawn is very vivid. The relationship that develops between Thea and Evan is respectable and sweet without being too over-the-top sappy or ridiculous given the state of the world they live in.
The ending of False Dawn is abrupt and might leave you feeling cheated (at least that’s how I felt). It’s just too short for being such a great book.
Do you remember the movie Cyborg with Jean-Claude Van Damme? False Dawn reminded me so very much of that movie! I loved it.
What did you think about False Dawn?
Last Updated on December 29, 2025 by Sarah Ann
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