What suggestions and hints are given that David’s world is an unusual world?

Uncle Axel describes the Blacklands and the Black Coast as a “desert of charcoal” (60), implying it was burnt to a crisp by the event that caused Tribulation. The Sealand woman also describes a horrific expanse of black melted glass and completely dead land as she travels over the expanse of Blacklands that lead up to Waknuk (179), even hundreds of years after the disaster occurred. The imagery of the Badlands and Blacklands emphasizes the bleak mood of the novel, and serves as a harsh image of what a world destroyed by humans could be like.