The knowledge by Lewis Dartnell
Dartnell sets out to outline the
knowledge required to rebuild out modern society after an apocalypse. Full of
interesting information it kind of fails at its stated aim, in my opinion,
because it assumes that the apocalypse is a “nice” one (i.e. doesn’t destroy
the infrastructure too much) and that the folk left behind will have a viable
population for industrial society. However if you’re ready to take those two
assumptions then Dartnell takes a whirlwind tour of restarting electricity,
industrial chemistry, medicine, communications and all the rest of the
technologies that make the modern world what it is. Along the way you’ll get a
great, but brief, overview of all these things. It is, by necessity, brief and
perhaps this is the greatest criticism that can be levelled at the book since
anyone can tell you that the devil is in the details. There are a few
illustrations but if anything it is a primer for the intelligent survivor to
know what knowledge he needs to seek out.
Overall – You’ll need more than
this one book to help you restart civilisation, but having this one book will
give you a good headstart
Premonitions by Jamie Schultz
Karyn Ames hallucinates the
future, she’s the leader of a small crew who procure antiquities and magical
gewgaws using her skills to avoid trouble. However her hallucinations are bad,
they can take over her life, so she takes a drug called blind, only really
available from one fairly creepy drug dealer who lives in a ruin and is overly
fond of rats. When the group are approached by a notorious crime boss who wants
them to steal a relic from a cult the crew agree because there is a two
million dollar payout for them if they do. Told from a variety of POVs
this is a smart, modern supernatural heist novel that is a whole ton of fun.
This is the first in a series, with the intro to the second in the back, so
could feel a bit unfinished in a lesser writer’s hands, however it has a very
satisfying wholeness to the story and yet the world is such that you know
you’re not done with the characters.
Schultz will no doubt be compared
to Wendig as they both have female protagonists who glimpse the future and both
writers have a knack for witty prose and fast moving plots.
Overall – Great start to a series
& I’ll definitely be tracking the second book down
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