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kleonard's review against another edition
1.0
In late 2021 I reviewed a book called Oil and Dust, which was about people in a post-apocalyptic, egalitarian-ish community that is threatened by violent outsiders. This book is very much like it; it's a parable set in a post-apocalyptic, egalitarian-ish community that is threatened by violent outsiders. But where Oil and Dust had finely detailed characters, social systems, and culture, Newton's book does not. In fact, it doesn't have much; a parable about learning that socialism can work, it's got stock characters, dialogue, and a plot from a bad middle-school play. So while it might be ok for young readers--I'd say it's pitched at about a 4th grade reading level--it lacks the depth of ideas, characters, and plot for others.
undermeyou's review
4.0
I really loved the beginning of this story. It reminded me of many of the short works featured on Tor, and I enjoyed the slower character building even if most of the characters didn’t end up being very dynamic. A lot of the characters fit into neat boxes (even the ones that had a bit more duality), so there weren’t many twists in plot or character to looked forward to. My main negative with this one was only that I don’t personally tend to relate well with idealist literature, so the ending felt cheesy and I was dreading it for the last 20% of the book. Thank you to NetGalley for the eARC
jugglingpup's review against another edition
5.0
To see a full review check it out here.
Imagine if Becky Chambers came down to earth and wrote about a dystopian future of found family and community. I can't rave about this book enough.
Imagine if Becky Chambers came down to earth and wrote about a dystopian future of found family and community. I can't rave about this book enough.
scclapper's review
5.0
The publisher sent me this book to review. I can honestly say I never get tired of post-apocalyptic fiction especially when it's uniquely done. This book is around 120 pages but it doesn't disappoint. We start out in the village of Osto, the story told hour by hour as a group of raiders come to pillage and greif the small community. We meet the two main families, the Blys and the Newsomes who are ends with each other. We see friendships being formed and plotting being made as the community must choose who its leader will be. We see the technology and see how they have banded together through this time.
This was a unique and lovely journey and I honestly enjoyed every second of it. If the next novellas are done in the same kinda manor and are as captivating, sign me up.
This was a unique and lovely journey and I honestly enjoyed every second of it. If the next novellas are done in the same kinda manor and are as captivating, sign me up.
lillist's review
4.0
4 Stars - Hopeful tale of a dystopian future
This fairly short novella takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where the remaining humans live in small groups which are constantly under threat to fall prey to groups of raiders. One such village is Osto, led by old but wise Vasha, who is doing her best to create a community that has a chance to survive in a very hostile environment. When a band of raiders threatens to siege them Vasha suggests a deal to their leader Drake: he tries to lead the community for one day and then everybody (the people of Osto and the raiders, who are numerous) may together vote who will be the future leader of Osto. Drake does take the chance to take Osto without fighting and casualties, because even the raiders are wary and maybe ready to settle down. After all, how difficult can it be to manage a small community?!
As can be expected, Drake turns out to be not terribly competent at job this because he does not really understand how a community with families, agriculture and conflicts that need resolving works. A group of raiders is quite a different beast to manage after all.
The way these events play out feels very natural and plausible, the story always stays character driven and the issues Vasha and then Drake have to deal with make a lot of sense. There is a subplot that involves a patriarch with a very quarrelsome personality in conflict with another family, which creates a none too small problem for the whole community and is not easy to solve at all. There was just one thing that did not make a lot of sense to me: Vasha comes up with her plan very quickly, seemingly within seconds which did not really work for me. After all, the stakes are very high and one would think that she either has been thinking about something like that for a while before the arrival of the raiders or would at least have needed some time to come up with this idea after being menaced by them.
Other than that I loved the focus on which things are needed to create and sustain a thriving community in difficult circumstances, and Newton makes a very good point that seemingly 'useless' things like art are absolutely essential, as is creating a welcoming, cooperative culture that values every member of a community. I was also a fan of choosing an old lady with a disability as the leader and the overall hopeful tone.
The prose was lovely and thoughtful, the pacing relaxed but not slow. This story is very much focussed on the human side of things and less on action, but since this is such a short read I think it would appeal to almost everyone who enjoys human stories and/or dystopian settings.
I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!
This fairly short novella takes place in a post-apocalyptic future where the remaining humans live in small groups which are constantly under threat to fall prey to groups of raiders. One such village is Osto, led by old but wise Vasha, who is doing her best to create a community that has a chance to survive in a very hostile environment. When a band of raiders threatens to siege them Vasha suggests a deal to their leader Drake: he tries to lead the community for one day and then everybody (the people of Osto and the raiders, who are numerous) may together vote who will be the future leader of Osto. Drake does take the chance to take Osto without fighting and casualties, because even the raiders are wary and maybe ready to settle down. After all, how difficult can it be to manage a small community?!
As can be expected, Drake turns out to be not terribly competent at job this because he does not really understand how a community with families, agriculture and conflicts that need resolving works. A group of raiders is quite a different beast to manage after all.
The way these events play out feels very natural and plausible, the story always stays character driven and the issues Vasha and then Drake have to deal with make a lot of sense. There is a subplot that involves a patriarch with a very quarrelsome personality in conflict with another family, which creates a none too small problem for the whole community and is not easy to solve at all. There was just one thing that did not make a lot of sense to me: Vasha comes up with her plan very quickly, seemingly within seconds which did not really work for me. After all, the stakes are very high and one would think that she either has been thinking about something like that for a while before the arrival of the raiders or would at least have needed some time to come up with this idea after being menaced by them.
Other than that I loved the focus on which things are needed to create and sustain a thriving community in difficult circumstances, and Newton makes a very good point that seemingly 'useless' things like art are absolutely essential, as is creating a welcoming, cooperative culture that values every member of a community. I was also a fan of choosing an old lady with a disability as the leader and the overall hopeful tone.
The prose was lovely and thoughtful, the pacing relaxed but not slow. This story is very much focussed on the human side of things and less on action, but since this is such a short read I think it would appeal to almost everyone who enjoys human stories and/or dystopian settings.
I have received an advance review copy via NetGalley and voluntarily provide my honest opinion. Thank you very much!
jcrafalski's review against another edition
2.0
"The future second by second" was an entertaining read in the overall, but lacked surprises and emotion, in my opinion. For readers that are unfamiliar with the book's main theme, it would be a better experience, but seasoned readers in the genre will possibly find it flat.
The plot was interesting: a village in the post-apocalyptic world that needs to protect itself from raiders, but its headman decides to offer the leader of the attackers to have a chance at managing the settlement in exchange for a safer take-over. But everything that you could potentially expect from this situation happened and followed the text-book disagreements and clichés of this genre.
The social commentary of the book was well placed, but felt too forced. For me, this whole book felt somewhat forced, as if the author couldn't let the reader get nuances, or was scared of the possibility of some detail escaping attention.
It could also be that I have read too many post-apocalyptic books to recognize the same tropes. But it could also be that Newton tried to hit 10/10 with the situations that would technically add to the drama. Even so, it was well-written and fast paced. I had a good time reading, but it just wasn't remarkable and I don't see the need of this being a trilogy considering how it ended.
The plot was interesting: a village in the post-apocalyptic world that needs to protect itself from raiders, but its headman decides to offer the leader of the attackers to have a chance at managing the settlement in exchange for a safer take-over. But everything that you could potentially expect from this situation happened and followed the text-book disagreements and clichés of this genre.
The social commentary of the book was well placed, but felt too forced. For me, this whole book felt somewhat forced, as if the author couldn't let the reader get nuances, or was scared of the possibility of some detail escaping attention.
It could also be that I have read too many post-apocalyptic books to recognize the same tropes. But it could also be that Newton tried to hit 10/10 with the situations that would technically add to the drama. Even so, it was well-written and fast paced. I had a good time reading, but it just wasn't remarkable and I don't see the need of this being a trilogy considering how it ended.
allysunsun's review against another edition
4.0
I absolutely love dystopian novellas especially when they are done right. In The Future Second by Second the author is able to create a whole new world and society without spending hundreds of pages on backstories and details. Also can we talk about how smart Vasha is? She's the leader of her group and does she ever deserve to be. With lots of well developed characters and looming deadline Meridel Newton hooked me right in and now I can't wait to read more about this world.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for providing me with an arc for an honest review.
sheska_meroba's review against another edition
4.0
I received a copy of this ebook in a Goodreads giveaway.
I can’t really pick out exactly what it was I liked about this book but it just hit right.
I can’t really pick out exactly what it was I liked about this book but it just hit right.
ghosthermione's review
dark
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
sad
fast-paced
5.0
I was given this eARC by the publisher, Interstellar Flight Press, through Netgalley in exchange for a fair review. Thanks for the opportunity!
Over the long weekend I was looking for something short enough that I could get through it quickly on the train, and I happened to have this sitting on my TBR shelf. I’m also not an avid ebook reader, as regulars on my blog know, but I found myself turning page after page until there was no more left to read! It’s very short, and I finished it in an afternoon, which is more than I can generally say for ebooks…
I’m also not a big dystopia, or post-apo fan, but the blurb had me intrigued: what I do enjoy quite a lot are stories of hope. And I think this delivered pretty well!
Newton’s world is one where tech has disappeared, electricity is a thing of the past and raids are common. Within that though, the little commune of Osto has survived for a lifetime, as people work together to take care of their harvest and animals, craft their clothes and build new systems to evolve in this new world. It’s not all rosy though, and I appreciate that even within this tight knit community it’s made clear that there’s always, always gonna be conflicts, abusers, etc. There’s even a strong theme of domestic abuse for a few of the characters. So while it’s a story about hope, it’s not about blind hope.
But at the end of the day it truly is about cooperation and making the best of what you got, and communities coming together and building bridges. When you consider the state of the world today, especially with the climate crisis… I want to say “looming” but at this point it’s no longer looming, it’s definitely there… I think we need more of these kinds of stories that actually tackle the issue and what we can/could do in those situation, without it being just guns and violence. Hopepunk it is!
silenttardis's review
4.0
Surprising a refreshing post-apocalyptical book that takes place many years in the future, well after the world we know is dead…vasha she is around 60 years old and she is the lider of the village of Osto, in the old days people only lived inside the shelter, now things are much better and they also have a kind of a vilage around the shelter, its a wonderful village, people all share what they have, all things belong to everyone, all people work to feed, dress and keep everyone safe, its a village that also have artisans and is full of life and happiness… until certain morning, a big storm is coming, theres still produce in the fields and they could lose everything and to make things more dire, two young ones of the village are missing, they belong to families that don’t meet eye to eye, and of course this give vibes of Romeo and Juliet, and before vasha have time to address these problems someone comes rushing telling vasha that riders are coming, this is a big force and vasha needs to put things on hold… and she gives a very interesting proposal to the leader of the raiders, and that keep me going.
I don’t know how, I just finished this book in a siting, lately I am feeling a bit under the weather but this book keep me going and it was full of hope in a kind of situation that you weren’t supposed to be full of hope…
I really recommend this book to fans of post-apocalyptical books, where rebuilding the world is important, yeah it kind of tickles all the boxes
Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.
I don’t know how, I just finished this book in a siting, lately I am feeling a bit under the weather but this book keep me going and it was full of hope in a kind of situation that you weren’t supposed to be full of hope…
I really recommend this book to fans of post-apocalyptical books, where rebuilding the world is important, yeah it kind of tickles all the boxes
Thank you NetGalley for the free ARC and this is my honest opinion.