REVIEW: Year One

Year One
Author: Nora Roberts

Romance novels are not my thing, so I really haven't read many of Nora Roberts novels. The few I have read in the past, I did enjoy. She's a talented writer. Year One is a bit different from her normal romance with a bit of magic/supernatural added. It's the first book in a dystopian trilogy. It is enough of a step away from Roberts' normal genre that I put it on my TBR list immediately.

The basics: The world is decimated by a virus. In mere weeks, billions of people around the world are dead. Those who are immune are left behind, running from reported government forces who want to round them up for medical testing. The virus didn't just kill....it also altered some survivors. Many of those left behind begin showing strange powers....magical powers. Some begin using them for good. Some are overpowered by their new talents and become evil. Other survivors call them The Uncanny. They aren't welcome in most safe places. They are not trusted and often killed. A rag tag bunch of survivors band together in Roberts' book to learn to survive. Those with powers do their best to hide them from outsiders. They just want to survive.

I'm not going to say a lot about the characters or plot to avoid spoilers. But the group is varied....everything from a doctor and a reporter to newborn babies. They have to quickly learn how to survive, scavenging for food, supplies and gasoline....and hiding from violent people who are attacking and killing survivors. A few of them develop magical powers, which they use as discretely as possible to help them survive.

I can't fully know how I feel about this series until I've read the second book. This first novel was a lot of set up -- the virus and its aftermath, the development of magic and the gathering of the survivors the story will focus on. By the time all that was accomplished, the book was over. Great setup, and I think this could be an enjoyable trilogy. I just won't be sure until I read more.

I found it realistic how quickly society fell apart. When 2/3 of the population is dead and dying, the normal workings of daily life would change quickly and drastically. I think the magic side of things developed a little too quickly for me....groups of survivors started using terms like The Uncanny and even elves, faeries, etc really quickly. It wasn't something that hurt my enjoyment of the story....I just found using terms like elf and fairy to be a bit over the top....almost funny in a couple of places. But I would suppose if I was in the middle of the apocalypse with billions of dead people and supernatural magic appearing.....I might start using terms I'm already familiar with to describe the certain people and their powers.

All in all, a nice start to a dystopian series. It's going to be a hard fought war between good and evil. I'm anxiously awaiting the next book.