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3.83 AVERAGE
3.83 AVERAGE
"The human race is finished, and in its place come the weird and the strange, demons from hell."
I was excited when I heard about [b:Year One|34311452|Year One (Chronicles of The One, #1)|Nora Roberts|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1488360073s/34311452.jpg|55367060]. Roberts's romances may not be my thing, but I did enjoy the first few books of her [b:Naked in Death|479309|Naked in Death (In Death, #1)|J.D. Robb|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1333326143s/479309.jpg|1097497] series, and I've really been in the mood for a dark, post-apocalyptic dystopia. But, sadly, I think what started as a really great dystopian set-up quickly became a very stock urban fantasy novel.
It's honestly quite jarring how quickly it changes. The first few chapters set the scene so well - the creepy arrival of the Doom, the disease that becomes an epidemic almost overnight, the devastating loss of human life across the world... It competes with some of the best pandemic fiction, like [b:The Stand|149267|The Stand|Stephen King|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1213131305s/149267.jpg|1742269] and [b:Blindness|2526|Blindness|José Saramago|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1327866409s/2526.jpg|3213039]. And yet, it failed for me when the fantastical elements came swooping in.
Suddenly, people are developing superpowers and running rabid through the streets. I felt like I’d just been dropped into the latest YA superhero novel and all of the subtle, dark suspense that had been created was obliterated by people shooting fire beams from their hands, and such. Lana and Max are even witches! The perfect opening fell into a chaotic story that seemed so at odds with the beginning.
I don’t know if it will make a difference to know what you’re getting into beforehand. I just know I found it unpleasantly disorientating to discover that the meat of the novel was very different to the feel of the set-up.
Roberts also uses a really strange fragmented sentencing style that I don't recall her using in her other books. I first thought there were a bunch of errors in my arc, until I realised that the author actually intended it this way. I’m not a crazy grammar person, but even I found the writing style very distracting. The dialogue is often stilted, it’s not always evident who is speaking, and comma splices make up every other sentence.
Jonah, Arlys, Lana and Max are the main focus of the novel, and the latter two are expecting a child who it seems will become central to the war between good and evil, but there are many, many characters in this book and all of them seem pretty black or white; good or bad. The antagonists are so despicable that it is almost comical, and the protagonists are well-meaning and good, without complexity. It's all a little bland.
This is actually the most disappointed I've been in a while - I think mostly because the start of the book was so strong that I had been subconsciously writing a five-star review in my head. It was so sad that this became a standard gory, end-of-the-world story with characters not worth remembering. A real shame.
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adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
/
I've loved the story and seeing what is happening in this world. Sometimes it gets a little tacky, but enjoying it so far.
good escapism. I will be reading the next one. Perfect for what I wanted!
Some remarks to justify my rating...
The Good: This was a strange reading experience for me. Roberts kicks off this series with a couple of opening chapters that sunk their hooks in deep--really deep. I was helpless. I couldn't stop reading. Even after things took a rather gimmicky detour toward the fantastical, I still found myself very entertained by the story. The opening tone of the story is so bleak, so ominous, so enthralling; it was the collapse of everything and those who survived The Doom would be lucky to survive the post-apocalyptic world it left behind. Roberts isn't afraid to dive into the darkness of human nature--make that inhuman nature--but doesn't do enough exploration into the origin of that darkness for it to be meaningful. Her utilitarian elements of survival in a post-apocalyptic reality are well done, albeit too conveniently satisfied to add any real peril to the story. Eventually, the story delivers hope and takes on a lightness that some readers will be grateful for, but I found a little too cute, too soon.
The Bad: Despite enjoying the story and plowing through it in a week, I would echo some valid criticisms that are mentioned in the thousands of other reviews of this book. This is my first Nora Roberts book, recommended by a friend, and I've heard that this is not her typical technical style. That being said, Roberts's writing style in Year One is laborious to read. Lot's of fragments, lots of comma splices, very little flow. I did get somewhat used to it after the first half of the book, but I still found myself stumbling and occasionally having to reread sentences.
The characters have a certain depth of experience, but lack movement. There is very little character progression, with the exception of Lana (one out of more than a dozen named characters), who finds strength (sort of, but not really), and grows up a little. There is no moral gray in Roberts's characters. They are either wholly good, or wholly evil, with very little complexity.
I often found it difficult to follow the dialogue, as she uses almost no dialogue tags even in scenes with a half-dozen characters speaking. Eventually, I decided it usually didn't matter all that much who was saying what (not a good thing), and stopped reading back to try to figure it out.
She overshoots in her attempts to make the action sequences frenetic and exciting, instead making them sloppy and a little confusing. Perhaps the idea was that if she gave the reader the important fragments, they would paint a picture that was perfectly coherent to them, but this wasn't my experience. Instead, my reading slowed to a crawl as I tried to keep track of who was where and which direction attacks were coming from, but still found it difficult to visualize. On more than one occasion the action ended up feeling rushed and left me dissatisfied when it was over.
In Summary: Modern day fantasy, complete with witches, elves, warlocks, faeries, and more, is not my go-to genre. I had to enjoy this book in spite of those elements...and I did enjoy the book. This is the type of story that comes down to expectations. If you come into it expecting fine art, you're going to be disappointed. If you come into it expecting a hole-free plot, you're going to be disappointed. But, if you come with an open mind and uncritical eye, you will leave entertained. Despite its flaws, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. If not for that inexplicable fact, I'd probably have given Year One a 2-star rating.
The Good: This was a strange reading experience for me. Roberts kicks off this series with a couple of opening chapters that sunk their hooks in deep--really deep. I was helpless. I couldn't stop reading. Even after things took a rather gimmicky detour toward the fantastical, I still found myself very entertained by the story. The opening tone of the story is so bleak, so ominous, so enthralling; it was the collapse of everything and those who survived The Doom would be lucky to survive the post-apocalyptic world it left behind. Roberts isn't afraid to dive into the darkness of human nature--make that inhuman nature--but doesn't do enough exploration into the origin of that darkness for it to be meaningful. Her utilitarian elements of survival in a post-apocalyptic reality are well done, albeit too conveniently satisfied to add any real peril to the story. Eventually, the story delivers hope and takes on a lightness that some readers will be grateful for, but I found a little too cute, too soon.
The Bad: Despite enjoying the story and plowing through it in a week, I would echo some valid criticisms that are mentioned in the thousands of other reviews of this book. This is my first Nora Roberts book, recommended by a friend, and I've heard that this is not her typical technical style. That being said, Roberts's writing style in Year One is laborious to read. Lot's of fragments, lots of comma splices, very little flow. I did get somewhat used to it after the first half of the book, but I still found myself stumbling and occasionally having to reread sentences.
The characters have a certain depth of experience, but lack movement. There is very little character progression, with the exception of Lana (one out of more than a dozen named characters), who finds strength (sort of, but not really), and grows up a little. There is no moral gray in Roberts's characters. They are either wholly good, or wholly evil, with very little complexity.
I often found it difficult to follow the dialogue, as she uses almost no dialogue tags even in scenes with a half-dozen characters speaking. Eventually, I decided it usually didn't matter all that much who was saying what (not a good thing), and stopped reading back to try to figure it out.
She overshoots in her attempts to make the action sequences frenetic and exciting, instead making them sloppy and a little confusing. Perhaps the idea was that if she gave the reader the important fragments, they would paint a picture that was perfectly coherent to them, but this wasn't my experience. Instead, my reading slowed to a crawl as I tried to keep track of who was where and which direction attacks were coming from, but still found it difficult to visualize. On more than one occasion the action ended up feeling rushed and left me dissatisfied when it was over.
In Summary: Modern day fantasy, complete with witches, elves, warlocks, faeries, and more, is not my go-to genre. I had to enjoy this book in spite of those elements...and I did enjoy the book. This is the type of story that comes down to expectations. If you come into it expecting fine art, you're going to be disappointed. If you come into it expecting a hole-free plot, you're going to be disappointed. But, if you come with an open mind and uncritical eye, you will leave entertained. Despite its flaws, I still thoroughly enjoyed the book. If not for that inexplicable fact, I'd probably have given Year One a 2-star rating.
As this was my very first Nora Roberts book, I was really looking forward to liking it.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
Extremely unsettling experience to be reading this on January 1st, 2021. Truly nightmare fuel that this might be jinxing it.
A completely different style than her other books this was, richer, less formulaic. Heavier. I feel tired.
A completely different style than her other books this was, richer, less formulaic. Heavier. I feel tired.
Very happy to say the second half WAS way better than the first.