Survival and Emergency Preparedness

Listened to this book on my 17 hour drive home.

I thought it was an end of the world book (TEOTWAWKI) and it is but there is a fantasy element to it. For example everybody sees a "flash" when "the change" comes. The flash stops all electricity (i.e EMP) but also renders gun powder and explosives inert . Guns no longer work (the author seems to be anti-gun) based on the character's conversation though it may just be an element to excuse the use of guns to make it harder on the survivors to survive and take that element out of the narrative.

There are some other goofy elements as well but it covers 2 or 3 different groups in the north west who struggle to survive "the change". One groups is a young bush pilot (marine corps vet) who is flying a rich guy and his family to their vacation home in the mountains of Idaho. Another group is kind a group of ex hippies in Portland. The main character is a folk singer and high priestess of of group of druids/pagans/wiccans/witches/ nature worshipers etc.

Being that the pilot is a vet and a bush pilot he is an expert survivor. After crash landing he leads the family and helps them survive in the wilderness. He runs into some white supremacists in the mountains (this is Idaho after all) and kills them and take their horses. He also frees a black guy they had taken as slave . The black guy turns out to be an expert horse trainer, blacksmith and all around good guy who knows how to make swords, knives etc. They also run into the usual gangs of cannibals, criminals, and others. Of course they pick up various experts i.e...sword fighting, nurses, veterinarians, builders, expert bow makers etc.

The nature lovers/pagans/wiccans/coven of witches who all have attended renaissance fairs and know all about swords, knives, shields, armor, bows etc (remember their ain't no more guns) band together and head for the farm one of them has. Along the way they pick up survivors who happen to be experts in all kinds of crafts with all kinds of skills.

Both groups arm themselves with swords, knives, spears, bows/arrows and armor to protect themselves from the hoards of gangs now roving the lands.

Of course we listened to it most of the way home because it's all we had but it was kind of silly after awhile. There is some other goofy pseudo fantasy elements in it as well and I probably won't finish it. My wife however wants to learn to shoot a bow and arrow now...so there's that

It's part of a series. Steve Stirling (a friend of a friend) is kind of an odd duck.

Erich wrote: ↑Sun Feb 19, 2023 9:38 pm It's part of a series. Steve Stirling (a friend of a friend) is kind of an odd duck.

There are some parts of it that are useful in terms of preparing for the TEOTW. But it's it's kind of off kilter for my tastes. Apparently there is more than one series based on "the change". One based on the east coast as well. Kind of like Mad Max but without the vehicles, guns etc as society regresses back into the middle ages.

The group from Idaho just met up with the warlord who is now running Portland. Of course the warlord/"Protector" is a psycho and a former professor of history because we all know those guys secretly want to be the warlord they've always read about in their books.

I may listen to the rest of it as I drive back and forth to visit my mom a couple times a week, basically 45 minutes-hour each way. Nothing else to do and I usually listen to an audio book anyway.

in his defense, it is an interesting premise and would be hard to write in any form of sensible way.

So the question is....do I continue to read it and roll my eyes at it being preposterous or do I move on to something else.

So, he has a parallel series where the same end-of-world event that causes the chaos in the series that begins with your book sends a US nuke sub captained by a Black ninja lesbian back in time. If that helps with your decision. (I liked his The Peshawar Lancers, though.)

I had to stop reading his stuff. FWIW, when I met him he looked exactly like his book jacket photos.

Erich wrote: ↑Mon Feb 20, 2023 9:48 pm So, he has a parallel series where the same end-of-world event that causes the chaos in the series that begins with your book sends a US nuke sub captained by a Black ninja lesbian back in time. If that helps with your decision. (I liked his The Peshawar Lancers, though.)

I had to stop reading his stuff. FWIW, when I met him he looked exactly like his book jacket photos.

Thanks, I'll pass

I'm done listening, it got to the point I cringed whenever I turned it on.

I'm now back to book 2 of the Grail Quest Series by Bernard Cornwell. He's the guy who wrote the Saxon series AKA The Last Kingdom series which they made into Netflix series. He also wrote the Sharpe series which was made into a not very good BBC TV series as well but the books were entertaining. His Warlord Chronicles was good as was his stand alone book Agincourt. His fiction is interesting because it is very historically accurate and his writing style is easy to read.

What's cool is that I can download the audio books to my phone and then play them via bluetooth through my hearing aids while walking or working out or putzing around the house. And of course I can play it through the car/truck radio as well when driving. Pretty handy.

I found the sub captain

Bmyers wrote: ↑Fri Mar 03, 2023 8:47 am I found the sub captain

Funny. But in the books, she's super hot.

I'd forgotten Stirling's earlier dystopian series about South Africans taking over the world (the Draka series) starting in WWII with Marching Through Georgia. I don't know if those are in publication anywhere (or now banned), but they're kinda hi-T books for late adolescents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination

Anyway . . .

Erich wrote: ↑Sat Mar 04, 2023 1:29 pm Funny. But in the books, she's super hot.

I'd forgotten Stirling's earlier dystopian series about South Africans taking over the world (the Draka series) starting in WWII with Marching Through Georgia. I don't know if those are in publication anywhere (or now banned), but they're kinda hi-T books for late adolescents.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Domination

Anyway . . .

I looked through the 6 digital libraries I have access to. The Domination wasn't in any of them.

They're sitting in a box in my garage, so I'm sure you could find dead-trees for cheap on ABE or alibris.