The Books We Read » Survival

Under the Dome a novel by Stephen King

Cindi — Sun, 07 Nov 2010 11:14:48 +0000

Here is my take on Under the Dome: it’s quite long and a little disappointing at the end. There you go, a review in one sentence. Under the Dome is a novel about a town in Maine that suddenly and inexplicably has an impermeable ‘dome’ placed around it. It is a wonderful depiction of how a community might change if it was cut off from the outside world. The large cast of characters consists of the good meaning level headed citizens, the power hungry and corrupt citizens, and the citizens in between that aren’t as important and don’t get their own story lines. I felt a great sense of scope and imagery as we are introduced to the town and the well rounded but predictably flawed characters in the novel.

I thought the timeline was a little bit ambitious. This 1000 page book covers a town that goes from normal to melt down in just under a week. I felt the hoarding would have started much sooner. I also felt the military forces outside waited too long and missed opportunities to influence the town’s events when they realized they could no longer control the municipal government. I had a hard time believing things could go so bad so fast, and I consider myself fairly jaded when it comes to what people are capable of. That being said, the short timeline does mean the book is action packed and the pace remains steady.

I felt the good guys spent a lot of time doing stuff that wasn’t helping the main issue, wich was getting rid of the dome. Even after Barbie is given an order to find out what is generating the dome, he seems to get caught in side plots and putting out proverbial fires that would all be moot if they could get rid of the dome. Wouldn’t that be your first priority? I felt the revelation of the cause of the dome was kind of stupid. I also felt that Julia and Barbie’s pivotal moment stories were sort of incomparable. Really Julia? Your shame is on the same level? Your story is the one that matters most?

All in all this book is well written, exciting, and enjoyable. It felt like a warm hug from an old friend reading Stephen King again after so many years. You know, an old friend that likes to swear a lot and kill people in horrible ways. Read it with caution if you don’t like language, sex or violence.

Patriots by James Wesley Rawles

Cindi — Fri, 16 Apr 2010 19:03:49 +0000

Patriots, a Novel of Survival in the Coming Collapse follows a group of survivalists after an economic, societal, and governmental meltdown in the United States of America. This book left me conflicted. How do you like a book that isn’t very good? I still don’t know, but I do. As a novel it stinks, but as an interesting resource jam packed full of knowledge it was engrossing. Imagine if your chemistry text book in high school had instead been written as a novel, where the characters wander through a convenient story which provide them multiple opportunities to teach. Sign me up for that class! From tactical strategy to blood type compatibility to homemade explosives this book has it all.

While the scenario, characters and events all unfold in a natural sequence, it still seemed manufactured. I was left with no sense of the character’s motivations. At some points there are twelve people living in one house with no mention as to their personal relationships with one another. They are only ever just a group, doing x y z.

Patriots falls quite heavily on the guns n ammo side of the survival equation, and the lengthy, detailed, never ending descriptions of EVERY firearm in the ENTIRE BOOK will wear out your patience. (Unless gun descriptions get you hot, in that case this book is tripple X.) I also recommend preparing in advance for the awkward and cliched dialog so your brain doesn’t get hurt stumbling through it. One of the best reviews I’ve ever read suggested you know you are reading a fantasy book when there is a map at the front. Well, you know you are reading a survival book when there is a six page glossary of military acronyms at the back. I did enjoy the quotes at the beginning of each chapter; I loved seeing Gene Roddenberry in there with Shakespeare and Thomas Jefferson. For your daily survival fix I highly recommend checking out the author’s fantastic blog, survivalblog.com. If you can’t survive after reading this book you just aren’t trying.

One Second After by William R. Forstchen

Cindi — Sat, 27 Feb 2010 13:59:15 +0000

Oh, post apocalyptic novels, how I love thee. What kind of phase is this? I can’t seem to get enough. (I am getting killer tips for prepping and food storage though, ha ha.) One Second After covers the fall of American civilization as we know it after an electromagnetic pulse blast (or EMP.) The book follows John Matherson, an ex military man who currently teaches history at the local college, his family, and their small city in North Carolina. The effects of an EMP blast would fry any electronics in a very large radius including car electronics, home electronics, national power grid, communications, etc etc.

Imagine America suddenly being thrust back into the nineteenth century. Everything is very quickly in short supply as the massively fragile web of distribution across the country goes down. Neighbors turn on neighbors and martial law is enforced. Tough decisions are faced as John increasingly takes on a more prominent roll in the community and tries to navigate crime, punishment, outside threats, starvation, and the increasingly dire prognosis for his diabetic daughter. I found this novel balanced with just the right amount of large scale crisis and drama while dealing with everyday impact and personal choices. Not to sound like a horrible human being, but I found this scenario quite frightening just for the fact that no people are actually killed from the high altitude EMP blast. While most post apocalyptic books wipe out a LARGE percentage of the population in the initial attack, with an EMP everyone survives and will have to struggle through the second stage of the catastrophe and resulting die off. I noticed the film rights were sold to Warner Brothers so I will keep an eye out for the eventual release of the movie.

Alas, Babylon by Pat Frank

Cindi — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 07:01:14 +0000

Alas Babylon follows a group of survivors in a small town in Florida after the USA and USSR launch their nukes in a MAD war. I liked this book. On one hand I thought it felt dated, and on the other hand I really enjoyed peeking into the mindset of 1960 and the cold war era. I like post-apocalyptic books in general and this was no exception. I will give the writing a 3 out of 5 and the accuracy a 3 out of 5, but the story as a whole worked quite well. It follows the situations which might start a nuclear war, through the effects of the war, and how the survivors make due, come together, and manage to survive (or not survive in some cases). I thought it had a lot of practical information without being boring, and I liked some of the creative ways the survivors solved their problems. There are a few themes dealing with race and gender roles, but it was published in 1959 and I was expecting that. I also liked how the characters grew and discovered new purpose to their lives, and also the realization that after a nuclear event on this scale it wouldn’t really matter who had won the war.

Into the Forest by Jean Hegland

Cindi — Wed, 07 Oct 2009 04:24:57 +0000

This book follows two sisters as their lives change through tragedy and the decline of the world as we know it. Have I mentioned before I’m an apocalypse junkie? This book is a fairly easy read. It isn’t split into traditional chapters but flows more as a diary. I think the author did a great job of building the relationship between the sisters; allowing them to be separate people while tying them with an inseparable bond. The challenges faced are both common and uncommon for a book with apocalyptic undertones. Their demise of civilization is more of the slow, solitary, isolated kind. I really enjoyed the descriptions of saving and keeping and finding it hard to let go as everything dwindles and eventually runs out. I enjoyed where the author was leading the book, as the material things we come to depend on seem less and less important. However, I wasn’t totally convinced or in love with the ending. It wasn’t horrible, or unexpected, but I wasn’t crazy about it. I think the ‘what if’ hoarder in me could never take that leap. There were some brief love scenes that were fairly tame, and one small love scene between the sisters (which sounds more racy than it was).

The Children of Men by P.D. James

Cindi — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 06:31:05 +0000

This book was well written and very thought provoking. I find myself still working over some of the moral dilemmas given in the book days after reading it. The year is 2021 and the human race is preparing for the end of civilization after worldwide infertility extinguished the ability to procreate in 1995. As the population steadily grows older and no children have been born in the last 25 years, everyone must face the resulting breakdown of society and struggle with the question if anything they do actually matters in the end.

Before I go too far, here are some things that have influenced this review: 1) I saw the movie first when it came out in 2007. 2) I was pregnant with baby #3 when I saw the movie, and have just had baby #4 when reading the book. 3) I am a big apocalypse junkie and tend to like most books dealing with the end of the world as we know it.

In a nut shell here is how I felt about the book: 1) I liked the movie better. I feel like a traitor to books saying that, especially since the movie was incredibly violent. The movie and book are VERY different, even the ending. The book gives a great insight into the characters that the movie lacked, but can be a little slow paced. 2) Children are a miracle and I constantly felt heartbroken thinking of a world without them. What panic and despair knowing there will be no one coming after you, no children to give your love to. 3) As apocalypse books go, this one has all the elements of a great one. It has a unique spin on the genre in the way it lets the characters and the world constantly think about the end and approach it slowly. There is no big disaster, no event that wipes out the population, just a slow grind towards the finish with everyone steadily growing older until no one is left. It sets a great stage to explore the actions of governments and people. Is it worth it to fight injustice if there is no future? Can you really placate a population to look the other way if you offer them security and comfort? (Is it only people under 30 who are willing to die for ideals and challenge the state? ha ha) I would recommend reading the book and then seeing the movie for maximum effect. There was very little language, violence or sex in the book.

Emergency by Neil Strauss

Cindi — Tue, 24 Mar 2009 23:00:51 +0000

I really enjoyed this book. It was a perfect blend of easy reading humor and useful information. I will preface this review by saying I have a strong bias towards survival books of any kind since I am a bit of an appocolypse junkie. I found some of the information in Emergency was common sense or things I have read before, but the author not only provides wilderness/urban survival and planning advice, but also very helpfull stay off the grid, offshore account, second passport kind of advice. Neil Strauss covers a wide range of topics and scenarios, however, specifics for a global pandemic or threat from the American government towards it’s own citizens were lacking. I also would have liked to have seen some more complete examples based on historical accounts of what happens when a civilization collapses. The fall of certain Empires were mentioned, but that was about it. I did love the quotes from the Epic of Gilgamesh at the the beginning of each chapter. What this book did exceptionally well was inspire. I found it really lit a spark in me to continue aquiring supplies and knowledge and made it fun again. I love the way the author showed how he made a schedule for himself to practice and improve the skills he had acquired. While most books tell you how, Emergency showed you why doing it now is important too. I’m sure even knowledgeable appocolypse planners will have a steep learning curve when they need to translate what they know into doing. Make your mistakes now, not when the world ends, ha ha. I would recommend this book to anyone just getting into the genre, as well as to those that have done their research.