Revolution

Grid-Down from NBC
Executive Producer J.J. Abrams

          When an Electromagnetic Pulse (EMP) or some other unknown phenomenon permanently disables all electronics and advanced technology on the planet, ranging from computers to car engines and batteries, civilization collapses and humans are forced to adapt or die.  That is the premise of Revolution, a new television show coming out this fall on NBC.  This is the first time I’ve blogged about a television show, but preparedness, survival and EMP are all topics that have been discussed on this blog so, I thought, this show might be of interest to my readers. 

          After setting up the plot and introducing characters the program jumps 15 years into the future.  The characters introduced at the start now live in a world that has returned to a pre-industrial age.  One family now lives in a small farming hamlet.  Beyond the small community militias are the law and when they ride into the hamlet life changes swiftly.  A daughter sets out on a daring coming-of-age journey to find family and answers. 

          The executive producer of Revolution is J.J. Abrams, creator of television programs such as Lost, Fringe and Alias.  He also directed and produced Super 8 and the latest Star Trek movie, so he knows how to create interesting dramas and science fiction.  I’m hopeful this show will be one of his best and promote awareness of survival and preparedness topics.

La Chispa

The Revolution Begins

La Chispa
By Perry McFarlin

          The new healthcare legislation cost William Snider his job and home.  As his middle class life falls apart, anger against the government brews.  In an attempt to calm her husband’s growing storm, Sarah plans a family trip to Washington D.C.  Nearly broke they walk along the National Mall with their children.  Through a series of believable events; they experience the “true underbelly” of today’s government.  However, in another believable plot point, the author, Perry McFarlin, shows how podcasters and flash mobs could today change the course of history at such an epic moment.  This moment becomes the spark that the author uses for his title, La Chispa. 

          The first portion of the story closely follows the Snider family and is largely shown to us through events in the plot.  This is the best-written, most compelling part of the story.  Within this first section there are a number of excellent lines, such as “putting plume to parchment,” and a home with “all the luxuries that credit cards could fill it with,” that show the talent of the author.    

          With many stories in this genre, I have trouble believing how the crisis could start, but McFarlin does that well.  However, as the story continues, the reader is introduced to a host of new characters from police officers to gang members and the President.  Each has a role to play in events that spark the coming revolution.  This may reflect how events often happen in reality, many people playing their small role in the grand scheme of history, but as the Snider family fell into the background and new characters moved to the forefront I wondered where the story was going.  I began to doubt that McFarlin would tie up the loose ends by the Epilogue.  To his credit, he does manage to tie up most of the loose ends.

           Perry McFarlin has both talent and potential, but he will need to tighten up his plots and follow that old writers adage, show don’t tell, if he intends to reach a wider audience.  Nevertheless, within the militia-TEOWAWKI genre, La Chispa is a good read.  I suspect that we will be seeing more and better stories from him in the near future.     

Lights Out

EMP and Societal Collapse

Lights Out
By David Crawford

          When an Electro-Magnetic Pulse (EMP) attack destroys the power grid, this intriguing novel begins.  Mark Turner is at work in the San Antonio area when the Burst, as it is called in the novel, sends the nation into chaos.  Telephones and most radios go silent, late model cars die, planes fall from the sky.  Government struggles to maintain order and provide relief, but in the cities, society quickly breaks down.  The novel follows Mark, his friend Jim Davis and a growing community of family and friends as they work feverishly to protect themselves and their families while civilization unravels around them.

          Lights Out has been downloaded from the internet in PDF format over three million times.  It is now available in a 600-page paperback edition and on Amazon.com in Kindle format where it is selling well.

          The author, David Crawford, states in his bio that he resides in San Antonio and is “an avid outdoorsman who likes to hunt, fish, hike, off-road, and shoot,” and that he is a black belt in Karate.  There is definitely something of David Crawford in the character of Mark Turner.

          Most reviews that are critical of the book fault the writing and that is what compelled me to give it four stars.  However, the EMP threat is so real and compelling I can forgive some bad editing (that will hopefully be corrected in latter editions) and the expository telling, instead of showing, through much of the story.  Others, who see the novel as simply as an action novel might be quicker to fault technique.

          The novel is a warning.  In the embedded interview you will hear Crawford state that he wrote the book, “to try to get people to prepare.”  The novel does stir thinking and discussion.  Could it happen?  What would we do?  Are we ready?    

          My wife and I read Lights Out at the same time.  I thought the book compared favorably to One Second After (also reviewed on RuminationsBlog).  Lights Out had the better story, but One Second After had the better writing.  My wife felt Lights Out was the better novel on both counts.  We agree that Lights Out is a realistic, thought-provoking post-apocalyptic novel.  

          At the close of my review of One Second After I said, “The threat is real.  Read the book.”  The threat has not diminished, read both.   

Noah's Castle

Growing up while the world breaks down

Noah’s Castle
By John Rowe Townsend

          Noah’s Castle grips the reader because it examines the struggles of a family when the thin veneer of society breaks down.  In this young adult novel hyperinflation strikes England, causing prices to soar and money to shrink in value and eventually become worthless.  The story explores how the members of the family, and those around them, survive and grow during one winter of the crisis.  Repeatedly, I found myself asking how I would react in the all too real situations presented by the author.

          Around the globe, countless families have faced such inflation in the last hundred years. Post-apocalyptic literature is gripping exactly because it examines how society could collapse and how we might respond. Would we get angry and riot, hunker down with our guns and supplies, suffer with others while trying to help or chart some middle course.  In varying degrees, the author explores each path as we see this world through the eyes of teenager Barry Mortimer.     

          Such books are often more message than well-written tale, but this book has balance.  John Rowe Townsend, is an award-winning writer of numerous children’s and young adult novels.  His experience is clear as he weaves the message nicely into the plot of this story.  However, as you read the story keep in mind that this is an American reprint of a novel originally released in 1975.  Modern novels tend to open with a crisis and move quickly forward, but the first two chapters of this story develop characters and setting.  Also, the father in the story, Norman Mortimer, is unabashedly sexist by modern standards.

          I recommend this engaging and well-written novel for teen to adult readers.    

One Second After

Post-apocalyptic Terror Becomes Reality

One Second After
By William R. Forstchen

          Zombies, vampires and werewolves don’t scare me.  I can read about such things, have a good laugh and forget it.  These things are mere fantasy.  The terrors of this book are all too real.  One Second After is a hard science fiction novel, by William Forstchen, set in the United States after an electromagnetic pulse (EMP) destroys the electrical grid and most modern electrical devices.  If you don’t know what an electromagnetic pulse is or what it can do, click on the embedded video for some background.

          The focus of the novel is a small town in North Carolina, but the EMP affects the nation and much of the world.  At the moment of the pulse all modern transportation stops and telephones and radios go silent.  In the cities, society quickly breaks down.  Pillage and rape become common. In rural North Carolina, civilization teeters on the verge of collapse as hunger, then starvation and disease grip the region.  A barter economy emerges and bullets become a common means of exchange.  With barbarians at the gates and no possibility of help, good people are forced to make hard choices. 

          When you consider differing calamities in post-apocalyptic fiction different books come to mind.  Mention plague and readers often think of Earth Abides, say nuclear war and Alas Babylon comes to mind.  I am certain future readers will think of this novel when the topic turns to EMP.  Would an EMP destroy all electrical devises? Will civilization collapse in mere days? Could we recover and restore America?  The novel serves as a catalyst for our discussion, but the first question we should ask ourselves is, are we ready?

          Most reviews that are critical of the book fault the writing.  Indeed, I gave the novel only four stars not because of problems with premise or plot, but because of the writing. However, the EMP threat is so real and compelling I can forgive some bad editing (that will hopefully be corrected in latter printings) and the expository telling, instead of showing, through much of the story. I read the first 100 pages in one setting and finished the novel the next day.  Others, who see the novel as simply a science fiction story might be quicker to fault technique.

  The threat is real.  Read the book.  

Update on Wednesday, July 28, 2010 at 3:55PM by Kyle Pratt

YouTube removed the video I originally used in this review.  I've included another that explains the basics of an EMP attack.