Fabulous reads – Fantastical new take on world’s end

Year One (Chronicles of the One), Nora Roberts, Jonathan Ball Publishers, ISBN: 9780349414942

IT is the end of the modern world as we know it. A virus, later known as The Doom, spreads across the globe at a rapid rate, killing more than just hundreds. The dead count rises to more than two billion in just two weeks. With the mass deaths comes chaos, disorder and something else.

In the birth of the a new world, a wild magic has awoken in a few of the humans that survive. As with all things, there is the light and the dark. These new beings are known as the Uncanny. Their abilities vary, from telekinesis, empaths and seers to elves, faeries and the darkness. There are those that believe the Uncanny are the cause of the world’s downfall and the death of their loved ones. Those that remain try to find a safe haven from the chaos that erupts in cities.

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There are two main groups that form early on in the beginning of the book, each led by a powerful female character, Lana and Arlys. Lana was a chef in the old world, in the new world she is a witch, able to move objects with her mind. Arlys was a reporter but even without technology to aid her, she continues to gather and disseminate information to those hungry for updates. Each character introduced thereafter, no matter the importance of their role, has their own intriguing back story.

This book has one of the most intensely gripping opening sequences of any dystopian novel I have ever read. If you though George R. R. Martin was bad due to his offing characters, wait until you grab a copy of this book. Nora Roberts is ruthless. There are a few moments in the book where Nora is a bit too specific on details that are largely irrelevant but thankfully these don’t crop up too often.

Nora has crafted this fantastically realistic world that will only expand as the true villains of the world rear their ugly heads.

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